RNI No.
: MAHENG/2018/76663
www.newsandnriconnect.com
MUMBAI: TUESDAY, APRIL 30, 2019 • VOL. No. 1 • Issue No. 58 • IPEPCIL PUBLICATIONS PVT LTD. • 8 PAGES • PRICE: ₹ 8
Gulf NRIs ready to
save Jet Airways
BENGALURU: A Bengaluru
native and CEO of a Saudi-
Arabia-based construction
firm Gold Tower Group
has claimed to be able to
get Jet Airways up and fly-
ing within just 10 days
through Gulf-based NRIs if
the shares held by former
Chairman Naresh Goyal
were sold to the group.
At a briefing for the me-
dia, Mohammed Nagaman
Lateef claimed that three
individuals, two of them
Indians who have now be-
come Saudi Arabian citizens
and an Indian tycoon, were
willing to keep Jet Airways
afloat. “They are willing to
invest anywhere between
Rs 8,000 crore and Rs 10,000
crore, provided that 24pc of
Jet’s shares held by Goyal are
sold to them,” Lateef said.
Lateef said he was in
town to set up his own ce-
lebrity firm, International
More US visas for highly
skilled workers likely
WASHINGTON: A merit-
based immigration pro-
posal being put together by
White House senior adviser
Jared Kushner could lead
to an increase in US visas
for highly skilled workers.
Kushner is expected to pres-
ent the comprehensive plan
to President Donald Trump,
who will decide whether
to adopt it as his official
position or send it back for
changes.
The plan does not pro-
pose ways to address young
people who came to the US
illegally as children who
were protected by former
President Barack Obama
in the 2014 programme
known as Deferred Action
for Childhood Arrivals
(DACA) or those people who
have Temporary Protected
Status. Democrats, whose
support the White House
would need to advance any
kind of immigration legisla-
tion through Congress, have
insisted that the DACA re-
cipients be protected.
Indian economy gets boost from tourism
NEW DELHI: Travel and
tourism industry contrib-
uted a tenth of India’s GDP
in 2018 and accounts for 42
million jobs in the country.
In India, over Rs 16 tril-
lion were created by this
sector alone. The same is
expected to double by 2029,
reaching Rs 35 trillion-mark.
Also, the industry has given
a major boost to the global
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Iconic Federation. His tweet
to the Jet Airways official
handle read: “Hai Jet Air-
ways, whomsoever it may
concern. I wanna speak to
the CEO and Naresh Goyal
regarding the emergency
funding if possible send
me contact details.” He also
claimed that he contacted
SBI officials and expressed
his keenness to fund the
airways. But when he was
asked who he contacted, he
spoke of an official familiar
to him at the Murudeshwara
branch of SBI.
“The official told me that
only those with an aviation
background are permitted to
invest in the company,” he
claimed. Asked about the
turnover of his present firm
Gold Tower Group, Lateef
said it was not right on his
part to share it. A press re-
lease shared on the occasion
said: “I (Contd. on page 2)
Kushner has held about
50 listening sessions with
conservative groups on im-
migration, a senior adminis-
tration official said. He has
been working with White
House economic adviser
Kevin Hassett and policy
adviser Stephen Miller on
the plan and the sources said
there has been some intense
behind-the-scenes jockeying
about the plan. At a Time
magazine forum in New York,
Kushner said he was working
well with Miller, an immigra-
tion hawk, on the topic. The
two men are both long-time
Trump advisers. “Stephen
and I haven’t had any fights,”
he said with a smile.
That drew skepticism
from immigration advocate
Marshall Fitz of the Emer-
son Collective, who gave
Kushner credit for advanc-
ing criminal justice reform
but said immigration was a
dramatically different issue
that Miller was dominating
at the White House. “It’s im-
possible to see how Kushner
economy as well with it
contributing over 10pc to the
global GDP.
India’s phenomenal suc-
cess in travel and tourism
was pushed by several mea- scheme has helped a healthy visa initiative has helped of disposable income, the
sures that the government growth of almost 40pc in- India climb up 14 places in growing love for travel and
undertook. One of these crease in tourists in 2018 the International Openness tourism across age groups,
was the launch of the e-visa compared with the previous parameter to 55th position,” and springing up of new
facility. “The introduction year. In 2018, about 2.37 mil- the report said.
of e-visa has led to a strong lion foreign tourists availed
surge in foreign tourist arriv- the e-visa facility,” the report PRASHAD scheme have also the future.
Visitors to Dubai grow at start of 2019
DUBAI: Some 3.14 million
foreign tourists visited Dubai
in Jan to Feb this year com-
pared with 3.05 million in
the same period last year. The
total number of international
guests who visited Dubai dur-
ing first two months of 2019
grew by 90,000 compared
with same period of 2018,
according to data published
by the Dubai Department of
Tourism and Commerce Mar-
keting on its website.
Some 3.14 million for-
eign tourists visited Dubai in
Jan to Feb this year compared
with 3.05 million in the same
period last year, 3.01 million
in 2017 and 2.68 million in
2016, respectively. Western
Europe topped the source
of foreign visitors at 22pc of
the total, with the GCC next
at 18pc and South East Asia
at 17pc. Of individual coun-
tries, India was the primary
source of guests at 3.86 lakh
a drop of nine per cent over
could navigate an issue this
freighted with history and
central to the president’s
re-election strategy in a way
that would actually move
the ball forward,” Fitz said.
Hardline policy
As a White House candi-
date in 2016 and throughout
his presidency, Trump has
advocated a hard-line policy
on immigration, pushing
for a wall to be built on the
US-Mexico border and using
bruising rhetoric to describe
people who have fled Cen-
tral American countries to
enter the US. Republicans
have largely supported his
immigration proposals, but
the latest White House plan
aims to bring them together
on a broader basis. Some in
the US business community
have asked that the number
of highly skilled visas be
raised to attract more em-
ployees from abroad for spe-
cialised jobs amid a boom-
ing US economy. Trump
himself has talked of the
need to bring in more skilled
als since its launch in Sept
2014,” the joint report from
FICCI-Yes bank said.
Benefiting the natives
of over 166 countries, the
the same period last year, from the country in Jan to
while the number of visitors Feb (1.75 lakh ) compared
from the UK rose four per with the corresponding pe-
cent, those from Germany riod last year. The average
increased 11pc and from the occupancy rate for hotel
US the number was up four establishments in the period
per cent. came in at 84pc, compared
Oman led the way in with 87pc last year. Rev-
terms of percentage increase enue per available room
with 25pc more visitors was Dh432 in the Jan to Feb
About 200 US cos ready to
shift production to India
workers. The immigration WASHINGTON: About 200
plan would either leave the American companies are
number of highly skilled seeking to move their manu-
visas each year at the same facturing base from China
level or raise it slightly. to India post the general
The overall goal is to elections, a top US-based
reshape the visa programme advocacy group has said,
into a more merit-based observing that there is a
system, a key Trump goal. fantastic opportunity with
Officials working on the firms looking at alternatives
plan have been reviewing to the Communist giant.
the systems used by Canada The US-India Strategic
and Australia as possible and Partnership Forum’s
models for the Trump effort. (USISPF) President Mukesh
The group has been Aghi said that the compa-
working on a guest-worker nies are talking to them
programme as part of the about how to set up an
proposal to address the US alternative to China by in-
agriculture community’s vesting in India. Aghi said
need for seasonal labour that USISPF’s recommenda-
while not hurting American tion to the new government
workers, but nothing has would be to accelerate the
been finalised, the sources reforms and bring transpar-
said. Trump has sought to ency in the decision-mak-
court farmers in key battle- ing process.”I think that’s
ground states to boost his critical. We would advise to
chances of re-election in bring more transparency in
2020. The proposal will the process and to make it
include recommendations more consultative because
for modernising ports of in the last 12 to 18 months,
entry along the US border we are seeing US companies
to ensure (Contd. on page 2) look at some of the decisions
said. It has also helped in
contributed significantly to
improving India’s position
India’s tourism and travel
in the World Economic Fo-
growth. Also, Ude Desh ka
rum Travel and Tourism Aam Nagrik (UDAN) scheme
competitiveness index. “e-
connecting regional airlines
has been another govern-
ment initiative to boost the
sector. Incredible India , Ad-
venture Tourism guidelines,
India Tourism mart, Swacch
Prayatan mobile applica-
tion are other government
endeavours in travel and
tourism direction.
It is not just the foreign
tourists that have backed
India’s tourism industry. In
fact, the domestic tourists
have also been a strength
of the sector, with them
surpassing the domestic
inbound tourists in oth-
er countries. Availability
travel destinations will
Swadesh Darshan and drive the sector growth in
period, down from Dh501m
last year, while the average
daily room rate was Dh513
compared with Dh574 in
2018.
Latest figures
The tourism depart-
ment’s latest figures come
after the Global Wealth Mi-
gration Report for 2019,
being made, either e-com-
merce or data localisation,
as more domestic-oriented
than global,” he told in an
interview.
Transparency needed
In his reply to what the
agenda of the new Indian
government should be to at-
tract investment, Aghi sug-
gested that New Delhi needs
to accelerate reforms, be
more transparent in the pro-
cess and engage more.”We
need to understand how
we can attract those com-
panies. And that means all
the way from land issues to
customs issues to being part
of the global supply chain.
Those are critical issues.
There’s a whole plethora
of reforms that need to go
further down, and I think
that is also going to create a
lot of jobs,” he said.
He said that Mark Lin-
scott, the former Assistant
US Trade Representative
for South and Central Asian
Affairs, is working with
USISPF member companies
Foreign investors pump
in Rs 17,219cr in April
MUMBAI: Foreign inves-
tors were net buyers on the
Indian capital markets for
the third straight month
in April, pouring in Rs
17,219 crore on favourable
macroeconomic condi-
tions and ample liquidity.
India has been one of the
top recipients of foreign
fund flows among emerg-
ing markets since Feb 2019
on the back of positive
global sentiment, improv-
ing growth outlook, sup-
portive macros and dovish
stance taken by the RBI.
Overseas investors had
put in a net sum of Rs
45,981 crore in March
and Rs 11,182 crore in
Feb in the capital markets
(both equity and debt).
According to the latest
depositories data, foreign
portfolio investors (FPI)
Day of Publishing:
Every Tuesday and Friday
developed by AfrAsia Bank
and New World Wealth, last
week revealed that Dubai
attracted more than 1,000
millionaires from outside
the country last year, sur-
passing major cities like Los
Angeles, Melbourne, Miami,
New York, San Francisco
and Sydney.
The report described
Dubai as the most promi-
nent financial centre in
the MidEast and one of the
safest cities in the region
as well as a popular desti-
nation for high net worth
individuals (HNWIs) and
wealthy expatriates. The
report also said that Dubai
is an example of the power
that business incentives
have in encouraging busi-
ness formation. About 2,000
HNWIs, each with at least
$1 million worth of net as-
sets, moved into the UAE
in 2018, boosting the local
economy.
to come up with a recom-
mendation as to what India
needs to do to enhance
its exports and work up
from that perspective. “One
recommendation, which I
strongly believe is going to
help India is that we should
now start thinking of a Free
Trade Agreement (FTA)
between India and the US,”
Aghi said.
“I think if India is con-
cerned about cheap goods
coming from China, an FTA
will eliminate that need.
You can put barriers to Chi-
nese goods and still have the
US providing access to the
Indian market and Indian
companies having more
access to the US market
and issues like GSP would
diminish,” he said.
Aghi said that they have
formed a high-level manu-
facturing council within
the member companies, led
by John Kern, Senior Vice
President of Supply Chain
Operations at Cisco who are
putting a (Contd. on page 2)
pumped in a net sum of
Rs 21,032.04 crore into
equities but pulled out a
net amount of Rs 3,812.94
crore from the debt market
during April 1-26, taking
the total net investment to
Rs 17,219.10 crore.
“Expectation of a slow-
down in the global econ-
omy led several central
banks to adopt a dovish
stance towards interest
rates in order to provide
a boost to their dwindling
economies. This augured
well for the emerging mar-
kets as it improved global
liquidity which has been
making its way into the
emerging markets and
India is getting its share
from that,” said Himanshu
Srivastava, senior research
analyst, manager research
at Morningstar.
 2 EMIGRATION Tuesday, April 30, 2019

HC directs govt to grant Singapore

immigrant permanent resident status
CHENNAI: The Madras being of Indian descent and logical end. The petitioner, the petitioner to be a citizen
High Court provided relief his father being an Indian who is living in this country of this country. If a person,
to an Indian born in Singa- national and citizen of this for as many as 32 years as who is admittedly of Indian
pore over three decades ago country,” Justice V Part- of now, cannot be made to descent and whose Singa-
who has remained a state- hiban said in his judgment. suffer statelessness despite pore passport had already
less individual for over 20 Kozhy can hope to become being of Indian descent and been revoked in 1997/1998,
years, directing the central an Indian citizen as well af- his father being an Indian cannot be reduced to the
government to grant him ter the court has directed the national and citizen of this level of a refugee in his own
a special resident permit union home ministry to also country,” Justice Parthiban country and cannot remain
within three months. consider granting citizen- said in his judgment. a stateless person having no
The petitioner, who is ship under the provisions The judge was allowing rights whatsoever for his
living in this country for of the Citizenship Act, 1955 a writ petition from Kozhy, lifetime.
as many as 32 years as of as a special case by relaxing who prayed for a direction Despite his stay in India
now, cannot be made to procedural requirements. to the union home ministry for over three decades, the
suffer statelessness despite “In spite of all action that to regularise his stay in petitioner’s status has not
being of Indian descent and was initiated at some level, India and to the Immigra- been defined or regularised
his father being an Indian unfortunately, the claim of tion Officer in Chennai to and if his stay is not regu-
national and citizen of this the petitioner for citizenship grant him long-term visa/ larised in India, where can
country,” Justice V Part- has not been either rejected resident permit. The judge he go without any passport?
hiban said in his judgment or considered favourably. said that unfortunately, the judge asked. Kozhy, who
Petitioner Philip Mam- Somewhere the procedure the claim of the petition- migrated to India from Sin- Indian Ambassador to the UAE Navdeep Suri at the inauguration of the Indian Pavilion at the
men Kozhy, who is living in for grant of such citizenship er has been caught up in gapore when he was three Abu Dhabi International Book Fair 2019.
this country for as many as has blocked the efforts of the procedural wrangles and months old in 1986, had
32 years, cannot be made to
suffer statelessness despite
administration to take the
claim of the petitioner to its
rigmarole, resulting in an
abject negation of right of
been struggling to get Indian
citizenship since then. Tourism to contribute
Singapore Airlines to introduce $70b to Saudi economy
Airbus A350 in Kolkata flights
DUBAI: Saudi Arabia’s according to the research, will see a vast expansion of
travel and tourism sector is with a goal of 30 million its hotel and resort inven-
expected to contribute $70.9 pilgrims to the Kingdom tory during 2019 with over
KOLKATA: Singapore Airlines (SIA) is eral Manager India David Lim said, direct aisle access for every customer, billion to the Kingdom’s by 2030, an increase of 11 9,000 keys of three, four and
going to introduce its Airbus A350-900 “With the commencement of Airbus while the Economy Class cabin has GDP in 2019, according to million from the 19 million five-star international supply
medium haul aircraft from June 3 on the A350 services, Kolkata becomes our 263 seats arranged in a comfortable the World Travel and Tour- Haj and Umrah pilgrims that expected to enter the mar-
Kolkata to Singapore sector, replacing third, Indian point to receive this 3-3-3 configuration, according to the ism Council. visited the country in 2017. ket,” Curtis said. This will
the existing Airbus A330-300 aircraft. It aircraft type. Singapore Airlines’ lat- SIA. The new medium-haul Business International arrivals “More relaxed access drive up competition in the
stated it would also be the first interna- est regional cabin products combined Class seats have been manufactured by to the Kingdom are also to visas and the growth of country’s hotel scene, with
tional airline to bring Airbus A350-900 with our award-winning inflight ser- Stelia Aerospace. With each seat able expected to increase 5.6pc the Umrah market are ex- projected growth in domestic
medium haul aircraft to Kolkata. The in- vice will provide our Eastern India to recline directly into a 76” fully-flat per year from 17.7 million pected to be key drivers in and international visitors set
augural service SQ517 will depart from travellers enhanced comfort and an bed, customers can rest in more com- in 2018 to 23.3 million the growth of international to boost occupancy levels
Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Interna- unparalleled travel experience.” fort, even on the shortest flights. Each by 2023, according to re- tourism in the Kingdom,” throughout 2019, according
tional Airport at 11.50 pm on June 3. The A350-900 features higher ceil- seat measures up to 26” in width with search by Colliers in part- Danielle Curtis, MidEast to Curtis. A significant num-
The new aircraft will initially oper- ings, larger windows, an extra wide retractable armrests that can be raised nership with the Arabian exhibition director at the ber of local tourist trips also
ate a daily service from June 3 to June body delivering more space and comfort and lowered. Other features include Travel Market (ATM), which ATM, said in a statement. adds to the upbeat forecast
8. From June 10, the SIA will operate as well as lighting designed to reduce ample stowage space for personal items, opened at the Dubai World But leisure tourism is also for the country’s tourism
four weekly scheduled services on the jetlag. Fitted with the new regional a business panel with in-seat power Trade Center on Sunday. gaining traction in Saudi Ara- sector, with the number of
Airbus A350 aircraft type. Combined Business Class and Economy Class supply and USB ports, an integrated Religious tourism will bia, with various projects and domestic tourists exceeding
with its regional wing - SilkAir, it of- cabin products, the A350-900 medium reading light unit with adjustable light- continue to be the largest initiatives under the Vision 47 million in 2018, which
fers a daily evening departure service haul Business Class cabin has 40 seats ing intensity and a personal 17” full contributor to these num- 2030 reform plan already Colliers said will increase to
from Kolkata to Singapore. SIA Gen- in a 1-2-1 arrangement that ensures high-definition touchscreen monitor. bers over the next decade, in progress. “Saudi Arabia 70.5 million by 2023.

Singapore one of least corrupt countries Etihad Airways unveils economy class revamp
SINGAPORE: Singapore
continues to see a low in-
cidence of corruption, the
Corrupt Practices Investiga-
tion Bureau (CPIB) has said.
The number of new cases
registered for investigation
by the CPIB remained low.
This is consistent with the
trends in previous years.
The Corrupt Practices
Investigation Bureau is a
government agency in Sin-
gapore which investigates
reports received has been
consistent. In 2018, the
CPIB received 358 corrup-
tion-related reports, a three
per cent dip from the 368
corruption-related reports
received in 2017. The CPIB
registered 107 new cases for
investigation in 2018, a four
per cent increase compared
with the year before. Singa-
pore remains well-regarded
internationally for our anti-
corruption efforts. In 2018,
Transparency International
ranked Singapore in joint
third position (alongside
Finland, Sweden and Swit-
zerland) out of 180 countries
and territories. This was
Singapore’s best ranking
since 2010. With a Corrup-
tion Perceptions Index (CPI)
score of 85, this was also the
country’s best score since
2015. Singapore remained
the only Asian country in the
top 10 ranking, CPIB added.
ABU DHABI: Etihad Airways
unveiled a major economy
class revamp featuring cabin
upgrade and refurbishment
of 23 narrow-body Airbus
A320 and A321 aircraft.
The retrofit programme,
which includes new person-
alised wireless streaming
entertainment to smartphone
and tablet devices, will re-
move entertainment screens
from its Airbus A320 narrow-
body fleet, and is scheduled
aircraft use less fuel, a major
operating cost for all carri-
ers. The A320s are mainly
used on short-haul regional
flights but also to cities
within five hours’ flying of
Abu Dhabi, Etihad said at
the Arabian Travel Market.
Tony Douglas, group CEO,
said as a leading full-service
airline, Etihad is adapting to
meet the specific needs and
requirements of all travel-
lers, providing more of what
experiences, through on-
board digital transformation,
improved choice and rede-
signed cabins and products,”
said Douglas. The airline
said after the retrofit, guests
on narrow-body aircraft
would be able to simply log
on and connect via browser
to wirelessly stream more
than 300 hours of free in-
flight entertainment through
Etihad’s onboard Panasonic
eXW system directly to their
airline is also introducing a
new and improved Economy
dining concept on all its
flights as part of a wider
programme of enhance-
ments to its inflight catering.
On journeys of over three
hours, the main course of the
core complimentary dining
service is now a larger, con-
temporary bistro-style meal
which is higher in quality,
with a focus on fresh sea-
sonal ingredients and more

About 200 US cos ready to...

and prosecutes corruption
in the public and private
sectors. The agency works
closely with partners from
various industry sectors and
the community to combat
corruption.
On an annual basis, the
percentage of new cases
registered for investiga-
tion relative to the num-
ber of corruption-related
for completion in August this
year. Nevertheless, inflight
(Contd. from page 1) entertainment via personal
document together detailing what India needs to do to turn seat back screens will remain
it into a manufacturing hub. “We plan to have the document standard in the Economy
ready by the time elections are over as part of recommenda- cabins on the airline’s fleet
tion,” he said. “What they’re saying is we want a backup strat- of wide-body Airbus and
egy to start manufacturing in India. There are small-small Boeing aircraft.
issues, which can slow them down. And at the moment most The removal of screens
of them are waiting for elections to be over. But there’s a large would save the airline 18
deluge of companies keen to not only manufacture in India tonnes in weight a year. The
but also who want to go after the domestic market,” he said. weight reduction will mean
they really want to enjoy
inflight. “This not only de-
livers greater choice and
personalisation, it also en-
sures we continue to provide
a superior, commercially
wise and sustainable service
offering.”
“As part of our Choose
Well promise, we are em-
powering our guests with
more control of their travel
own devices.
“To view a wider range of
exciting entertainment pro-
gramming, including more
Hollywood blockbusters,
international movies and
premium TV programming
such as HBO and Universal
shows, guests can simply
download the new E-BOX
STREAM app prior to trav-
el,” the airline said. The
destination focused choices,
the airline said.
New cutlery is 85pc light-
er, reducing aircraft weight
and fuel burn. Each year,
the airline will also remove
27 million plastic lids and
other containers, support-
ing its drive towards greater
sustainability and to reduce
the use of single-use plastics
by 80pc by 2022.

Sri Lanka bans veil US-Indians contribute more money

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka has came days after local Islamic
banned any sort of face-
covering. President Sirisena
said he was using emergen-
clerics urged Muslim wom-
en not to cover their faces
amid fears of a backlash
to Tulsi Gabbard over Harris
WASHINGTON: Much to According to AAPI Data, munity that constitutes a in third with $9.3 million, town hall, raised $7 million.
cy powers to ban any form after the bombings carried
the surprise of the purveyors based out of the University population of 3.7 lakh in his followed by South Bend, Gabbard and Booker since
of face-covering in public. out by jihadists affiliated to
of the fundraising data of of California, Riverside, that state. Harris’s home state of Indiana, Mayor Pete But- launching their campaigns
The restriction took effect ISIS. Muslims in the major-
the Democratic presidential publishes data and policy California where she was tigieg, who capitalised on a in January had raised $1.95
immediatety, he said in a ity Buddhist nation account
statement. for about 10pc of its 21 mil- candidates, Republican Tulsi research on the Asian Amer- born and raised and where flurry of publicity, includ- million and $5 million re-
Gabbard of Hawaii — the first ican and Pacific Islander she went on to be elected ing a much-watched CNN spectively.
More US visas for...
“The ban is to ensure lion population. Most Sri
national security... No one Lankan Muslims practise a Hindu-American US Con- community, in the first quar- District Attorney of San
should obscure their faces liberal form of the religion gresswoman, but of non-Indi- ter that ended March 31, Francisco, then Attorney
(Contd. from page 1)
to make identification dif- and only a small number of an ethnicity — who is hardly a Gabbard, an Iraq War vet- General and in 2016, a US
safe trade while preventing illegal activity. It also aims to
ficult,” the statement said. It women wear the niqab. blip in the polls — has raised eran, had raised more than Senator, boasts of an Indian
decrease the number of immigrants able to enter the US
three times more from the $237,000 from the Indian population of over 7.12 lakh. based on their family ties. Trump has already taken steps
Indian-American community American community and But in overall fund-rais- to address those immigrants who overstay their visas.
than US Senator Kamala Devi Indian green card holders in ing, Gabbard and Booker, Kushner, who is Trump’s son-in-law, is also a main
Published by IPEPCIL Publications Ltd Harris of California – of Indian the US--who are also eligible have been no match for Har- architect of a MidEast peace proposal that the president is
RNI No.: MAHENG/2018/76663 -Jamaican parentage. to contribute to US political ris, who was number two in expected to unveil this summer. His objective on the im-
Publisher: Supreet M.J. Harris has consistently campaigns—compared with terms of fundraising in the migration plan at the very least is to have a document that
Editor : E.L. Vaidyanathan been one of the top five con- Harris’s paltry $76,300 from first quarter, pulling down represents the president’s immigration policy and provide
tenders in the race thus far, the community. more than any other first- something that Republicans can rally around.
Volume No.: 1, Issue: 58
since her impressive roll-out Harris’s haul from the time presidential candidate
Published at: Office No. 1001, 10th Floor,
Navjivan Commercial Premises Co-op. Society Ltd.,
launch in January before a Indian community was even in the field with $12 million. Gulf NRIs ready to...
crowd of over 20,000 in her less than US Senator Cory She was second only to US (Contd. from page 1)
Lamington Road, (Dr.D.B.Marg), Mumbai Central, hometown of Oakland that had Booker of New Jersey, who Senator Bernie Sanders of request Naresh Goyal and the CEO Vinay Dubey to have a
Mumbai - 400 008. Ph.: 022 - 23001102 / 23001103. even President Trump, with had received more than Vermont, who pulled down board meeting with all employees and me so that we can
Printed at: Inquilab Offset Printers Ltd., 156, D J Dadaji Road, his penchant for crowd sizes, $131,000 from the Indian $18 million. Former Texas speak to the Gulf countries Qatar and Dubai to invest in
Tardeo, Mumbai-400 034, Maharashtra, India. clearly exhibiting rally envy. American and Indian com- Rep. Beto O’Rourke came India’s leading airlines.
 Tuesday, April 30, 2019
GULF JOBS & OPPORTUNITIES 3

FINAL CLIENT INTERVIEW ON 30th APRIL, 2nd & 3rd MAY 2019

FINAL SELECTIONS ON 30th APRIL 2019

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 4 GULF JOBS & OPPORTUNITIES Tuesday, April 30, 2019

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu visits National Museum of Indian Cinema, in Mumbai.

Amazon P2P pay rides on
United Payments Interface
MUMBAI: Amazon Pay, the
digital payments arm of
ecommerce major Amazon,
is now foraying into peer-
to-peer transactions through
Unified Payments Interface,
the real-time inter-bank
settlement mechanism.
Amazon went live on
UPI with Axis Bank in Feb-
ruary this year. Now with
peer-to-peer payments, the
company intends to offer
the entire suite of payment
products to its UPI users.
Earlier it was reported
that Amazon had started
testing its UPI-based pay-
ment solution, after it got
stuck last year due to data
localisation mandate from
the central bank.
Now, having ad-
hered to all the
regulatory re-
quirements, Am-
azon Pay wants
to go full throttle
into consumer
payments.
“We have a
highly engaged
set of consumers
on the Amazon application.
Since our payment prod-
ucts are embedded within
the existing app, it can help
rapid scale of adoption,”
said Vikas Bansal, director
for Amazon Pay, India.
He further said that
besides using Amazon Pay
for online shopping, con-
sumers are using it for bill
payments, recharges, scan
and pay for offline trans-
actions as well. More than
80% of the transactions are
originating from beyond
the tier-one cities in India,
he said.
“Now with bank trans-
fers, we are bringing in
more features. One can
transfer through the virtual
ID, through bank account
details as well,” Bansal
said. “We will store the
recently-done transactions
which will make it easier
for the user to make recur-
ring payments.”
Amazon further claims
to have a 2 to 3 percent-
age points higher payment
success rate than industry
standards.
“We will be improv-
ing and strengthening our
bank and NPCI integrations
further to aim for a 100pc
success rate,” he said.
Students make up over half of overstaying foreigners in B’luru
BENGALURU: The number
of foreign nationals with
expired visas staying in
Bengaluru has come down
to 842 as compared to over
1,000 last years. A majority
of the people in the list
hail from Nigeria, Congo,
Sudan, Yemen and South
Sudan. Over 60 per cent
of them are on student
visa while most of the oth-
ers hold entry or medical
visa, according to figures
from Foreigners Regional
Registration Office (FRRO).
“We frequent update
the local police stations
and they have been taking
immediate action,” Labhu
Ram, Foreigners Regional
Registration Officer, said,
adding Students make up
over half of overstaying
foreigners in Bengaluru
that the police impose
a fine on them and the
immigration department
gives them an exit visa to
deport them. “Those who
have genuine reasons and
want to extend their visa
can provide their docu-
ments online and an exten-
sion is provided within 24
hours if they go through
the process correctly,” Ram
added.
The Karnataka High
Court on last Friday asked
the government to deport a
Pakistani couple overstay-
ing in the city, saying, oth-
erwise, it would amount to
spending taxpayers’ money
on illegal entry. The court
ordered FRRO and home
ministry to deport Kasiff
Shamshuddin and Kiran
Gulam Ali, who have com-
pleted their sentence for
illegally staying in India,
by May 5. The Karachi
natives had obtained Aad-
haar cards by providing
forged documents.
The total number of for-
eign nationals in the state
comprises about 26,000
persons registered with
FRRO, besides those who
visit the country on short-
term visas, including busi-
ness and tourist visas, who
need not enrol themselves
with the registration office.
However, there contin-
ues to be a grey spot in the
issue. A foreigner with a
pending case cannot leave
until the case is disposed.
While the other detained
foreign nationals are de-
ported on priority, those
facing criminal cases are
allowed to stay until the
case is closed, which may
take months, and some-
times years, depending on
the severity of the case.
The offender remains
in the country while the
case is on trial, B S Mohan
Kumar, Assistant Commis-
sioner of Police (Women
and Narcotics), Central
Crime Branch, said. “So
local police stations need
to keep a close watch and
prevent further illegal ac-
tivities,” he said. Seven
foreigners were under ar-
rest for drug possession as
on March 31.

Indian embassy warns job-seekers RRB ALP Technician revised results

of fake job recruiting agents
DUBAI: Indians looking for
employment in Qatar must
be wary of fake job recruit-
ing agents, the Indian em-
bassy in Doha has warned,
advising the job-seekers
to ask for a copy of the
agent’s ID proof to ensure
authenticity.
“Please do not trust any
recruiting agent who prom-
ises you a job in Qatar on
a business/visit visa,” the
embassy said in a Twitter.
The embassy advised the
job-seekers to “always ask”
for a copy of the agent’s
Qatar ID to be sure of the
authenticity of the job being
offered.
“Always ask for a copy
of the agent’s Qatar ID and
save it carefully, so that
the Embassy can help you
better, in the event of any
fraud,” the embassy said.
“Before an Indian worker
accepts employment from a
Foreign Employer/Company,
it would be safer to check
their credentials on the e-
Migrate portal, POE Offices
or by emailing the Indian
Embassy in the country
concerned,” it said.
Indian nationals com-
prise the largest expatriate
community in Qatar num-
bering around 691,000.
They are engaged in a
wide spectrum of profes-
sionals, including medicine,
engineering, education, fi-
nance, banking, business,
media and labour.
MUMBAI: RRB ALP tech-
nician revised results are
declared for the second
computer based test. Can-
didates can download score
card from the official web-
site of RRBs. The link will
be live from April 27 to
May 10.
The RRB ALP techni-
cian CBT exams were con-
ducted on January 21, 22,
23 and February 8.
“The 2nd Stage Com-
puter Based Test (CBT)
conducted on 21-01-19, 22-
01-19, 23-01-19 and 08- 02-
19 by Railway Recruitment
Boards for the posts of As-
sistant Loco Pilot (ALP) and
Technicians against CEN
01/2018 has been evaluated
again duly considering the
representations received
from candidates after the
publication of the result
on 05-04-19. As RRBs have
addressed the representa-
tions on questions, answer
key etc. received from the
candidates post publication
of result on 05-04-19, RRB
regrets inability to entertain
any further correspondence
from the candidates on the
same,” an official RRB no-
tice reads.
The RRB aptitude tests
will be released on sched-
uled on May 10, 2019
in three
shifts.
The dura-
tion of the
Computer
Based Ap-
titude Test
will be 71 minutes.
“The Computer Based
Aptitude Test will have a
Test Battery comprising of
five tests and candidates
will have to secure a mini-
mum T-Score of 42 in each
test of the test battery to
qualify for the post of As-
sistant Loco Pilot. This is
applicable to all candidates
and no relaxation is permis-
sible on any ground. There
will be no negative marking
in Computer Based Apti-
tude Test. The guidelines
and sample Mock link for
Computer Based Aptitude
Test will be available on
the official websites of
RRBs and RDSO (www.
rdso.indianrailways.gov.
in>Directorates>Psycho-
Technical) from 02-05-19 to
10-05-19,” the notice reads.

IIMB’s NSRCEL to host Social

New MBBS syllabus to roll out in August
NEW DELHI: This August,
undergraduate medical stu-
dents across India will
come into class to study
a syllabus that has been
revised after over two de-
cades. Touted as a unique
curriculum patented by
the Medical Council of
India (MCI), this “living
document”, which means
that it is open to review
and revision as required,
is currently in its final lap
of preparation before it is
implemented.
Hectic preparation is
on with the core group of
40,000 medical teachers —
previously trained by the
MCI — ensuring the “last
group” training for teach-
ers in individual colleges.
“This is a massive exercise
in itself,” said a senior MCI
official.
The group has been
trained to teach the new
components, including eth-
ics, clinical exposure, inter-
department co-ordination
(teaching the same topic
simultaneously), skill en-
hancement modules and
a new foundation bridge
course for graduates.
“Teachers also have to be
alert to the annual revision,
which will include chang-
ing laws, new diseases,
discoveries and updated
research information,” said
Dr Vanish N Super, member
of the expert group of the
MCI’s academic cell.
But not all teachers are
happy with the updated
syllabus, pointing to several
critical omissions.
“The syllabus isn’t
wholesome and inclusive,”
said Dr Satendra Singh,
disability activist and medi-
cal doctor at the University
College of Medical Sciences
and Guru Tegh Bahadur
Hospital, Delhi.
“Disability competen-
cies for health profession-
als are missing from the
document. The importance
of empathetic non-verbal
communication and unique
medical problems associ-
ated with patients with
disabilities has to be part
of the new syllabus. De-
spite our submissions, after
extensive consultation with
stakeholders, we are taken
aback by the fact that there
is no mention of it in the
actual document,” he said.
Outdated, dangerous
Adds Dr Zakirhusain
Shaikh, Assistant Professor,
Department of Community
Medicine, Hamdard Insti-
tute of Medical Sciences
and Research, Jamia Ham-
dard, Delhi: “Having an
outdated medical curricu-
lum is not just dangerous
and life-threatening but also
illegal when it doesn’t con-
form to the legislation and
judicial orders of the land.”
He added that the new syl-
labus was gender-sensitive.
Dr. Shaikh said that,
recently, the World Health
Organization (WHO) has
changed the term Gender
Identity Disorder (GID) to
Gender Incongruence, and
removed it from the catego-
ry of mental disorders, but,
“This hasn’t been catered to
in this new syllabus. Simi-
larly, the American Psychi-
atric Association has also
discarded the term GID and
adopted Gender Dysphoria.
Why then is the MCI still
stuck with GID is baffling.”
He added, “The entire
document doesn’t mention
the word transgender even
once, forget about including
any other guidelines for
transgender health. It still
has in the curriculum, un-
der the heading of ‘sexual
offences’. Transvestism is
described as sexual perver-
sion. All this when Section
377 regarding unnatural
sexual offences and Sec-
tion 497 regarding adultery
have been termed uncon-
stitutional by the Supreme
Court.”
Start-up Santhe on May 10
BENGALURU: The innova-
tion and entrepreneurship
hub of the Indian Institute
of Management Bangalore
(IIMB), NSRCEL, will be host-
ing ‘Social Start-up Santhe’
on May 10. This event would
include workshops, panel
discussions by eminent lead-
ers, peer-to-peer sessions and
other activities.
The events is aimed at
bringing together entrepre-
neurs and change-makers in
the social sector to create op-
portunities for cross-learning
and visibility.
The Chief Guest for the
event would be Sameer
Garde, President, Cisco India
and SAARC.
IIMB would also pro-
vide a dedicated space for
stalls by social ventures like
‘Suite of Services’ which
will offer services relevant
to legal, technological, hu-
man resources HR and more
to other organizations in the
social sector.
First batch graduation
The NSRCEL Social Ven-
tures Incubation Programme,
in collaboration with Michael
& Susan Dell Foundation, will
be celebrating the graduation
of its first batch of eight
social ventures at the event.
Initially funded at Rs 18
lakhs, the programme fostered
cross-learning and sharing of
the best practices through a
mix of programmes and other
incubatees under its fold.
The programme saw its
inception in September 15,
2017. Each social venture had
an incubation period of upto
18 months.
Professor Suresh Bhaga-
vatula, faculty and Chair of
the Entrepreneurship area at
IIMB, said, “IIMB has always
been helping start-ups and
encouraging them to grow
and become successful busi-
nesses. Events such as this
would further IIMB’s cause.”
 Tuesday, April 30, 2019
Air India Recruitment: check for more details
S
tate-run Air India Lim-
ited has invited applica-
tions for the recruitment
to several posts of Senior
Trainee Flight Dispatcher. The
candidates will be selected
after a face-to-face interview
which will be conducted on
May 6 and 9. The selected
candidates will be offered
a fixed-term contract of five
years. For more information,
the applicants are advised to
visit the official website of
the state-run airline.
Here are some important
details
Senior Trainee Flight Dis-
patcher: 70 posts (Scheduled
Caste- 10, Scheduled Tribe- 5,
OBC- 18, Economic Weaker
Section- 7, General- 30)
Important Dates and Venues
for Interview
May 6, 2019: Executive
Director (Operations), Air
India Limited, headquarters
near Jorbagh Metro Station,
Min marks needed to qualify UPSC invites applications for CAPF posts
T
for JEE Advanced 2019
T
he National Testing
Agency (NTA) will
declare the result for
Joint Entrance Examination
(JEE) Main 2019 by April 30
at its official website, jee-
main.nic.in. The JEE Main
is the qualifying exam for
JEE Advanced which is the
entrance exam for admis-
sion to the Indian Institute
of Technology (IITs). But
not everyone who clears the
JEE Main is eligible for JEE
Advanced.
The JEE Main which
concluded on April 12 is
an entrance exam for admis-
sions to both engineering
and architecture related
undergraduate courses. The
JEE Main score is accepted
by the private and govern-
ment colleges alike. So all
those who clear the JEE
Main are eligible to admis-
sion to the UG courses.
For each college, there is a
different cut-off.
For JEE Advanced, only
the candidates who secure a
rank in top 2,45,000 are eli-
gible to appear for the exam,
according to official noti-
fication. The ranks scored
in JEE Main 2019 will be
First guideline on digital health interventions
T
he first international
guidelines for pri-
oritising, integrating
and regulating digital health
tools, released, underline
the benefits of 10 digital ap-
proaches to improve public
health and essential services
but warn that technology
cannot and should not re-
place traditional health
services.
With 51pc of the world’s
population having access to
broadband internet service,
the World Health Organiza-
tion’s (WHO) guidelines on
digital interventions use
evidence to identify how
tools that use smartphones,
tablets and computers can
make health systems more
efficient, responsive and
resilient to resource con-
straints.
“Safe and secure digital
health technologies can
significantly improve the
quality, accessibility and
sustainability of health ser-
vices. New digital health
technologies can help con-
nect health professionals
to patients in hard-to-reach
areas, improve detection,
diagnosis and treatment
of health problems, and
support management and
monitoring of public health
Safdarjung Airport New Del-
hi-110003
May 9, 2019: In-Charge
Flight Dispatch Operations
Department, Air India Lim-
ited Corporate Building- 4
Old Airport, Santa Cruz-East
Mumbai-400029
Educational Qualification
The applicants must have
passed 10+2 or its equiva-
lent with Physics and Math-
ematics from any recognised
Board.
Technical/ License qualifica-
tions
announced along with JEE
Main 2019 result by the
NTA. Thereafter, based on
the score secured in JEE
Advanced, candidates are
given admission to IIT and
those who do not qualify
can apply.
The percentages of vari-
ous categories of candidates
to be shortlisted are: 4pc
for EWS category, 27pc for
OBC-NCL, 15pc for SC,
7.5pc for ST and the re-
maining 46.5pc is open for
all. Within each of these
four categories, 5pc hori-
zontal reservation is avail-
able for PwD candidates, as
per the official notification
by the IIT Roorkee.
Also, to be eligible for
the exam, candidates should
match the eligibility criteria
Number of attempts: A
candidate should have ap-
peared for the class 12 (or
programmes so decision-
makers know whether their
policies are working,” said
Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh,
regional director of the
World Health Organisation
South East Asia Region
(SEARO), of which India
is a part.
Several countries, in-
cluding India, have inte-
grated digital technologies
into public health systems
to improve outreach and fill
gaps in traditional health
services.
“There are many good
examples from the region.
India’s electronic vaccine in-
telligence network — eVJN
— is providing the country’s
immunisation programme
with real-time information
on vaccine stocks and flows
through a simple mobile
application. India has also
launched a path-breaking
integrated health informa-
tion platform, a country-
wide information system for
managing disease outbreaks
in the first instance but with
potential for many others
uses,” Dr Khetrapal Singh
said.
Among the initiatives
that have worked are digital
tools for training and public
health communication such
GULF JOBS & CAREERS
Sr Trainee Flight Dispatch-
er (Category 1) and Trainee
Flight Dispatcher (Category
2)- Candidates holding Cur-
rent/Lapsed DGCA (India).
Flight Dispatcher’s Approval
on Jet Aircraft.
Junior Trainee Flight Dis-
patcher (Category 3)- Candi-
dates who have passed Flight
Dispatcher’s Course from an
approved institute and have
undergone “On the Job Train-
ing” and are yet to obtain the
approval of DGCA.
Posting
equivalent) exam for the
first time in either 2018 or
2019. No candidate is al-
lowed to take the exam for
more than two consecutive
years.
Age limit: Candidates
should have been born on
before October 1, 1994.
Further relaxation of five
years is allowed
for SC, ST, PwD
candidates.
The JEE Ad-
vanced will be
conducted by the
IIT-Roorkee in
two papers. The
paper -1 will be-
gin at 9 am to be concluded
at noon and paper 2 will be
held from 2 pm to 5 pm.
Who are considered for-
eign nationals?
Candidates who are not
citizens of India (by birth
or naturalized), do not be-
long to OCI/PIO category,
and whose parents are not
citizens of India and do
not come under OCI/PIO
category at the time of reg-
istering for JEE (Advanced)
2019 are treated as foreign
nationals, as per the official
notice.
as text reminders to preg-
nant women to attend an-
tenatal care appointments,
reminders to get children
vaccinated, and decision-
support tools to guide health
workers provide care.
“Other countries in the
region (SEARO), which is
home to 26pc of the world’s
population, are increasingly
using SMS messages, voice
messaging and other digital
tools to provide large-scale
prevention services for non-
communicable diseases to
people at all levels of lit-
eracy through the BeHe@
lthyBeMobile Initiative.
Countries are also intro-
ducing electronic medical
records, which should help
improve continuity of care
for people with long term
health conditions,” said
Dr Khetrapal Singh. The
On appointment, an ap-
plicant will get a posting in
Delhi or Mumbai. However,
they may be transferred to
any location based on op-
erational requirements of the
airline.
Stipend
Sr Trainee Flight Dis-
patcher: Rs 40,000
Trainee Flight Dispatch-
er: Rs 25,000
Junior Trainee Flight Dis-
patcher: Rs 20,000
Salary
On the completion of
training and acquiring DGCA
Flight Dispatcher’s Approval
on the fleet of Air India Lim-
ited, the candidates will get
monthly gross emolument of
Rs 70,000.
The candidates will also
receive a loyalty bonus of
Rs 60,000 per year after
the completion of each year
of the fixed term contract
period.
he Union Public Service
Commission (UPSC)
in its latest recruit-
ment notification has invited
candidates to apply for the
Central Armed Police Forces
(Assistant Commandants) at
upsc.gov.in. Interested can-
didates can visit the official
website of UPSC to apply for
the vacant posts now. The
Commission has invited ap-
plications as it intends to fill
323 Assistant Commandants
posts (Group A) in the Central
Armed Police Forces (CAPF),
namely- Border Security Force
(BSF), Central Reserve Police
Force (CRPF), Central Indus-
trial Security Force(CISF),
Indo-Tibetan Border Police
(ITBP) and Sashastra Seema
Bal (SSB). The last date to
fill the application is May 20,
2019; 6 PM.
Important dates:
Last date to fill online appli-
cation: May 20, 2019; 6 PM
Online Applications can be
withdrawn: May 27, 2019 to
June 3, 2019; 6 PM
Written exam for CAPF re-
cruitment: August 18, 2019
The exam for the recruit-
ment of Central Armed Police
Forces will be conducted
to fill the below mentioned
vacancies-
Border Security Force (BSF)
BeHe@lthyBeMobile is a
joint WHO-International
Telecommunications Union
initiative that assists nation-
al governments to develop
mHealth services to prevent
and manage non-commu-
nicable dis-
eases, such as
heart disease, Your wellness
diabetes and
cancers, and their risk fac-
tors, such as high blood
pressure and high blood
glucose.
Digital technology adds
value, but it is not a silver
bullet, warns the WHO
guidelines. While there is
some evidence on the ef-
fectiveness of telemedicine,
commodity management,
health worker decision-
support and education, con-
tent and digital tracking
of patients’ health status,
Union Bank of India releases admit
card for SO recruitment exam 2019
U
nion Bank of India
has released the admit
card for its Specialist
Officer (SO) recruitment
exam on www.unionbanko-
findia.co.in.
Te n t a t i v e
ex a m d a t e f o r
UBI SO Exam 2019
is May 17, 2019.
There are a to-
tal 181 vacancies
that will be filled
through this re-
cruitment drive.
How to download
Vi s i t U n i o n
Bank of India
website - union-
bankofindia.co.in
Click on the recruitment
link available at the bottom
of page
You will have redirected
to a new page
Click on ’current open-
– 100
Central Reserve Police Force
(CRPF) – 108
Central Industrial Security
Force (CISF) – 28
Indo-Tibetan Border Police
(ITBP) – 21
Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB)
– 66
Eligibility Criteria: The Com-
mission has invited applica-
tions from both male and
female candidates
Age limit: 20 to 25 years as
on August 1, 2019
Candidates must meet the
prescribed Physical and Med-
ical Standards for admission
to CAPF
A bachelor’s degree from a
recognised educational in-
stitution in the country is a
must for the above mentioned
posts.
How to apply:
Step 1: Visit the official
improving governance, and
digital support for vaccina-
tions, birth and death notifi-
cations for support; gaps in
the available evidence make
it difficult to assess whether
tools are effective in every
context.
“ T h e
WHO sounds
a mixed note
of welcome and caution, just
as Louis Pasteur advised his
research fellows, ‘keep your
enthusiasm but let strict
verification be its constant
companion’,” said Dr K
Srinath Reddy, president,
Public Health Foundation
of India.
The guidelines are pri-
marily meant for public
health delivery, it can also
serve as a playbook for de-
velopers and manufacturers
of digital health devices,
who need to generate more
evidence to show their prod-
ucts improve on established
healthcare practices. “They
come at a time when sev-
eral applications of innova-
tive digital technologies are
claiming to transform the
outreach, effectiveness and
affordability of healthcare.
While there is great promise
of such benefits, especially
in primary health care,
5
ings’ link download UBI SO admit card
Click on the link that The UBI SO online
reads ‘Download hall ticket’ exam 2019 will be held
Key in your registration at Delhi NCR, Chandigarh,
number/roll number and Lucknow, Kolkata, Patna,
B h u b a n e s w a r,
Hyderabad, Ben-
galuru, Chennai,
Bhopal, Mumbai/
Navi Mumbai/
Greater Mum-
bai/ Thane and
Ahmedabad.
Details of va-
cancy
Fire officer - 1
post
Economist- 6 post
Security officer -
19 post
password/ DOB and submit Integrated treasury officer-
Your admit card will be 15 post
displayed on the screen Credit officer- 122 post
Download and take its Forex officer- 18 post
print out. Then click to check official
Direct link is provided to notification.
website of UPSC at upsc.gov. ducted on August 18, 2019.
in / upsconline.nic.in
Step 2: Click on ‘ONLINE
There will be two papers for
the same, wherein, the Paper
APPLICATION FOR VARIOUS I will be held from 10 a.m. to
EXAMINATIONS OF UPSC’ 12.00 Noon and Paper II will
Step 3: Now fill the two be held from 2.00 p.m. to 5.00
part of the ‘Registration’ for p.m. Paper- I will be a: Gen-
which the links will be avail- eral Ability and Intelligence
able on the page test for 250 marks whereas
Step 4: Enter all the neces- the Paper II will be a General
sary details Studies, Essay and Compre-
Step 5: Once completed, hension for 200 marks.
take a print out of the finished Physical Standards/Physi-
form for future use cal Efficiency Tests and Medi-
Selection process: Can- cal Standards Tests: Candi-
didates will be selected for dates who qualify the written
exam will be called for a
Physical Standards/ Physical
Efficiency Tests and Medical
Standards Tests once they
clear this, they will then have
to face an interview panel.
Interview/Personality Test:
This round will be for 150
Marks and candidates who
qualify the Medical Standards
Tests, will be called for Inter-
view/Personality Test. They
will be issued ‘a Detailed Ap-
Central Armed Police Forces plication Form (DAF) in which
only when they clear the among other things, they will
Written Examination, which be required to indicate their
will be followed by a Physical preference of Forces.’
Standards/Physical Efficiency Final Selection / Merit:
Tests and Medical Standards The final merit list will be
Tests and lastly an Interview/ drawn on the basis of marks
Personality Test obtained by the candidates in
Written Examination: The the Written Examination and
written test CAPF will be con- Interview/Personality Test.
disease surveillance, patient revise the guidelines to
tracking, counselling, tele- keep pace with the innova-
medicine and supply chain tions and evidence,” said
management, the perfor- Dr Reddy.
mance of new technologies It’s imperative to ensure
needs to be carefully evalu- patient safety, privacy, trace-
ated,” said Dr Reddy. ability, accountability and
“India is emerging as a security. “This is a very
crucible of innovation in
digital technologies and can
fast-moving area. To take
greatest advantage of the
become the world leader, as potential of digital tech-
in the case of generic drugs. nologies, people must be
As it sets out to do so, the confident that information
WHO guidelines will point is secure and confidential.
the direction. In a rapidly With that assurance, the
emerging and expanding benefits stand to be im-
field, WHO will also need mense,” said Dr Khetrapal
to frequently update and Singh.
Fun Corner
Sudoku Puzzle Rules: To solve a Su-
doku puzzle, every digit
         from 1 to 9 must appear
in each of the nine verti-
         cal columns, in each of
the nine horizontal rows
         and in each of the nine
boxes.
         Solution for Puzzle # 58
will be in next issue.
        
         Sudoku Puzzle 57 Answer
        
        
        
        
        
                 
        
                 
        
        
Puzzle #: 58 Difficulty : Medium
 6 IN FOCUS
GULF FAQs
Salary cut for indiscipline can’t exceed 10 days
As per the UAE Labour Law, what are
the employers’ rights to take disciplinary
action against employee misconduct? Our
employer used to cut 15 to 20 days wages
from the salary. Does an employer have the
right to do this and what is the maximum
period for which salary can be cut?
According to the UAE Federal Law No.
8 of 1980, as amended, the Labour Law
provides clear provisions to employers to
take disciplinary action against their em-
ployees. This is covered in detail in the
chapter six of the UAE Labour Law from
the Article no. 102 until Article no. 112.
“There are certain cases where an employer
may fine or even dismiss an employee for
misconduct and breach of duties and it is
important for all employees to understand
the circumstances when these penalties
can be imposed. According to Article 102
of the UAE Labour Law, there are disci-
plinary rules that an employee should be
aware of. Nevertheless, Article 102 states
that disciplinary rules may be imposed
by the employer or their representative in
the following forms: disciplinary penalties
which may imposed by the employer or its
agent upon its employees are as follows: a
warning, fine, suspension from work with
reduced pay for a period not exceeding 10
days, forfeiture or deferment of periodic
increment, forfeiture or deferment of promo-
tion, dismissal from service but reserving
right to end-of-service benefits, dismissal
from service together with forfeiture of all
or part of the benefits, provided that the
penalties shall not be imposed for reasons
other than those specifically prescribed in
Article no. 120 of this law.
How to sell my shares?
I am a partner in an LLC Company. I am
planning to sell my share to my son and
my wife and get out from the company
as a partner. My question is what is the
procedure as per the law to sell my share?
The Company Commercial Federal Law
no. 2 for the year 2015, Article no. 80 “Pro-
cedures of Assignment of the Partner’s Share
in the Company” mentions the following: 1.
If a partner wishes to assign his share to a
person who is not a partner, with or without
consideration, such partner shall notify the
other partners through the manager of the
company of the assignee or the purchaser
and the terms of the assignment or the
sale. The manager shall notify the partners
as soon as he receives the notice. 2. Every
partner may demand to pre-empt the share
as set forth in clause one of this article
within 30 days from the date of notifying
the manager of the agreed price. In the event
of dispute on the price, such share shall
be assessed by one or more experts with
technical and financial experience in the
subject matter of the share, as nominated
by the competent authority on demand by
the applicant for pre-emption and at his
expenses. 3. If the right of pre-emption is
used by more than one partner, the share(s)
offered for sale shall be divided among
such partners pro rata to their respective
shareholdings, subject to the provisions of
Article (76) of this law. 4. If the period as
set forth in clause two of this Article has
lapsed without use of the pre-emption right
by a partner, the relevant partner shall be
free to dispose of his share.
Working on holidays
I’ve worked in a company for more than
three years. My employer used to give
me work on a public holiday, but didn’t
pay me any extra money for it. He only
gives compensatory leave in exchange for
such days. My question is, does the UAE
labour law entitle the employer to not
pay a worker any extra for working on a
public holiday and only compensate them
with a lieu day?
Federal Law No. 08 of 1980, Article no.
81, mentions the following: “Where the
circumstances of the worker to work on
public holidays or rest day in respect of
which he is entitled to full or partial pay,
he shall be granted compensatory leave
in respect of such days, together with a
bonus equal to 50pc of his remuneration.
If he is not compensated for such days by
leave, his employer shall pay him a bonus
equal to 150pc of his basic remuneration
in respect of the days worked.”
Salary cut
I am an employer, in what cases does the
UAE labour law allow me to reduce the
employee salary legally and what is the
maximum percentage allowed to cut from
their salary as per the UAE labour law?
I refer you to UAE Federal Law No. 08
of 1980, Article no. 60, which mentions
the following: “No amount of money may
be deducted from a worker’s remuneration
in respect of private claims, except in the
following cases:
a) The recovery of advances or amounts
of money paid to the worker in excess of
their entitlements, on condition that the
amount deducted in this case does not ex-
ceed 10pc of his periodic remuneration. b)
Contributions which the worker is required
by law to pay from his remuneration, e.g.
towards social security and insurance
schemes. c) The worker’s contributions
to savings fund or repayment of advances
repayable thereto. d) Contributions towards
any welfare scheme or in respect of any
other privileges or services provided by
the employer and approved by the Labour
Department. e) Fines imposed upon the
worker for any offence he has committed.
f) Any debt payable in execution of the
judgment of a court of law.
The deduction shall not exceed one-
quarter of the worker’s remuneration.
Where two or more debts are payable,
the maximum shall be half the worker’s
remuneration and the sums of money at-
tached shall be divided pro rata among the
beneficiaries, after payment of any legal
alimony at the rate of one-quarter of the
workers remuneration.”
Frozen account
We are two managers in an LLC company.
We get paid a salary in addition to other
allowances. Since three months, we have
not received our salary as the company’s
bank account is under a freeze by a court
order. What legal recourse do we have
to claim our pending salary and other
allowances?
Labour cases in the UAE are governed
by Federal Law No. 8 of 1980. However,
Article (1) of the mentioned law defines
the employment contract as “any agreement,
whether for a limited or for an unlimited
period, concluded between an employer
and an employee under which the latter
undertakes to work in the service of the
employer and under his management or
control against a remuneration payable to
him by the employer.” Article (3) of the
same law says the law applies to all em-
ployees and workers in the UAE, including
Emiratis and expatriates.
Therefore, it should be noted that the
partners in a business are not considered
as employees--- instead they are treated as
investors in their businesses. However, if
you hold an employee position, additional
to your status as a manager, you will be
considered as an employee working in the
company. For example, if the company
sets your salary and other allowances, car
expenses and annual leave for one month,
based on this you will be entitled to your
labour rights including an end-of-service
gratuity. So for the parties in a business
relationship, it is sufficient for the juris-
diction of the Dubai Civil Court, not the
Labour Court, to hear the case.
Severance package
I have been working in a company based
in Dubai for five years. The company is
a free zone company. In my labour con-
tract, it is mentioned that my salary is on
a commission basis only. It is also men-
tioned that the employer is not entitled to
pay end-of-service rights as long as I am
working on a commission basis. As per
the UAE Labour Law, do I have the right
to get the end-of-service benefits in case I
resign and leave the company? Do I have
the right to request the court to force my
employer to provide me with the end-of-
service certificate because my employer is
refusing to do so?
As per the UAE Labour Law, an em-
ployee who works on a commission basis
has the right to get paid for end- of- service.
Anything to the contrary is considered
against the law. As per the UAE’s Labour
Law, Federal Law No (8) of 1980, Article No.
125, “An employer shall provide a worker
at the latter’s request and on the termina-
tion of his contract, with a certificate of
termination of service, which shall be free
of charge, it shall specify the dates of his
entering and leaving the employer’s service,
his total period of service, the nature of
the work he has performed, his last remu-
neration and any bonuses he has received.”
Therefore, as per the above-mentioned ar-
ticle, the employee has the right to request
the labour court to force the employer to
provide the employee with end- of-service
certificate in case the employer refuses to
provide the employee with such a letter.
Emirates has unveiled future of aviation pavilion for Expo 2020 Dubai. The 26 slanted architectural fins that
cover the entirety of the pavilion will hold over 800-metre of LED lights.
Selling fake UAE visa gang busted
NEW DELHI: An official
at the General Directorate
of Residency and Foreign
Affairs (GDRFA) in Dubai
has cautioned the public
against falling prey to in-
dividuals and companies
peddling fake UAE visas.
Brigadier Khalaf Al Gaith,
assistant director-general in
charge of GRDFA’s Violators
and Foreigners Follow-up
Section, said those wanting
to come to the UAE must
obtain visas from legal
channels only.
The warning comes
close on the heels of a
crackdown on a fake UAE
visa racket in India. Two
men were arrested by Delhi
police last week after it
emerged that they sold
fake UAE employment visas
to 17 unsuspecting jobs-
eekers from UP.
The suspects had been
evading arrests for some
time but were finally
caught .
Police said that one of
the accused used an inge-
nious method to attract cus-
tomers. Much like a street
vendor, he sold visas using
a loudspeaker. The suspects
Ramadan begins on May 6 in Gulf nations
DUBAI: Ramadan will
begin on May 6 in most
Islamic nations, accord-
ing to the International
Astronomical Centre. The
new crescent moon will be
impossible to spot with the
eye in most Arab nations,
across East and South East
Asia and in southern Eu-
rope on Sunday, May 5.
Because it will only be
possible to see the moon
with a telescope that day,
the first day of the holy
month will fall on Mon-
day, May 6, according to
Mohamed Shawkat, the
director of the centre. Eye
sighting of the moon will
also be difficult in west-
ern and southern African
countries and most of the
Gulf NRI girl gets acceptance letters from US varsities
DUBAI: It is a problem of
plenty for a Dubai-based
Indian girl who has been
offered acceptance letters
by seven prestigious US-
based universities, including
Ivy League schools, leav-
ing her surprised as she
never expected the variety
of choices she has been left
with. Simone Noorali (17),
has been offered acceptance
letters from the University
of California in Berkeley,
Johns Hopkins University,
Emory University, George
Town University and George
Washington University.
The girl who studied at
the Uptown School in Mirdif
Tuesday, April 30, 2019
reportedly charged Rs1 The GDRFA Dubai has Dubai, verify its validity
lakh from each customer. long been urging people at the GDRFA’s website
Deputy Commissioner of to use its smart channels www.dnrd.ae
Police (IGI) Sanjay Bhatia — the GDRFA website or • Tourist visas can be is-
said shortly after the 17 app — to apply for visas. sued through UAE-based
job-seekers who had flown “Those who get a company airlines such as Emirates,
to the UAE on fake visas visa should visit our web- Etihad, flydubai and Air
were deported, immigration site www.dnrd.ae to check Arabia. They are also
officials filed a complaint if it’s genuine or not. Alter- issued through UAE-
against the two suspects. A natively, you could look up based hotels and travel
similar racket was busted the “Visa Inquiry” section agencies.
by Gujarat Police in March on the GDRFA app. • Get help on visas and
this year. “Many people fall How to avoid visa fraud entry permits issued from
prey to the fake visa racket. • Don’t fall for social media Dubai through Amer’s
“Recently, we busted a gang adverts promising visit chat service by calling
from Bahrain that was of- visas to the UAE. 8005111. People out-
fering UAE visas on Face- • If you have an entry side the UAE can call
book,” Brig Al Gaith said. permit/visa issued from 0097143139999.
Oman visa ban extended to more sectors
MUSCAT: The ministry of private sector institutions nies with more than 100
manpower has extended which engage in construc- workers, companies that
its visa ban on some oc- tion and cleaning work.” execute government proj-
cupations in the country, This ban will last for ects, Small and Medium
as the Sultanate contin- six months and excludes Enterprises that are regis-
ues to push its Omanisa- some types of companies tered at the Public Author-
tion policy. This latest such as SMEs or compa- ity for SME development
decision by the ministry nies with more than 100 and which is registered at
extends the expat visa employees. This decision the Public Authority for
ban for companies work- has also cancels out deci- Social Insurance, as well
ing in construction and sion 338/2014, which froze as enterprises that are reg-
cleaning activities. Min- expat work permits for istered as multi-nationals
isterial Decision 200/2019 this sector but included and operate in industrial
included a “freeze on per- different exceptions. The free trade zones,” accord-
mits for expat workers in decision excludes “compa- ing to the decision.
Kuwait bans expat
workers from 20
US on May 5, although it will begin looking for the
should be relatively easy new crescent moon after
African countries
KUWAIT CITY: The Kuwaiti
in Central America. The Maghrib prayers on the
General Directorate of Resi-
prediction is in line with 29th day of Sha’ban, the
dence Affairs has announced
many other astronomers, Islamic month preceding
a ban on recruitment of do-
who have predicted Rama- Ramadan. If it cannot be
mestic workers from five Af-
dan will begin on May 6. seen or is known using
rican countries. The latest ban
The job of officially calling calculations to not be
raises the list to 20 countries.
the start – as well as the in the sky, it is consid-
According local media,
end of Ramadan – will be ered to be the 30th day
the Kuwaiti ministry of for-
down to the Moon Sight- of the month. But if the
eign affairs issued a circular
ing Committee. new crescent is spotted,
mentioning the names of
Why is a moon sight- Ramadan begins the fol-
the five countries, which
ing committee used to lowing day. The process is
include Ethiopia, Burkina
announce the start of the repeated again to mark the
holy month? The Islamic end of the holy month and Faso, Bhutan, Guinea and
calendar is determined by the first day of Shawwal, Guinea-Bissau. Additionally,
moon phases, which are the 10th month. However, the other 15 African countries
either 29 or 30 days long. searching for the new cres- are Djibouti,Kenya, Uganda,
So the presence of a new cent can be a little tricky, Nigeria, Togo, Senegal, Mala-
moon signals the start of a because it is usually faint wi, Chad, Sierra Leone, Niger,
new month in the Islamic and is only seen for about Tanzania, the Gambia, Ghana,
calendar. The committee 20 minutes. Zimbabwe and Madagascar.
in Dubai and has managed many universities. The whole research purposes. When her
to keep straight As since process is about discover- acceptance letters started
IX has also received accep- ing yourself. Everyone has pouring in, Simone was sur-
something unique to offer,” prised as she did not expect
Simone told a TV channel. the variety of choices she is
“While applying to univer- being left with, the report
sities, it forced me to look said. Asked which university
back at my life and try to she would choose, Simone
figure out the reason behind said her decision will be
everything I did. I had ex- based on which varsity of-
plained all of that eloquently fers the best programme in
to universities in my college international relations and
application essays,” she said. economics.
Simone is also an ac- “I would advise students
tance letters from Ivy League complished pianist and has to do what they love and not
schools such as Dartmouth written a book on human force themselves into doing
College and the University trafficking in India titled anything. That’s such a big
of Pennsylvania. “I honestly “The Girl in the Pink Room”, part of motivating yourself
think there is no secret to is being used in a few schools and finding what you love
being accepted into this by teachers and students for to do,” she said.
 Tuesday, April 30, 2019
Canara Bank, Canara HSBC
OBC Life launch Webassurance
P L
ublic sector lender
Canara Bank and its
life insurance partner
Canara HSBC Oriental
Bank of Commerce Life
Insurance have announced
the launch of ’Webassur-
ance’
Four life insurance
products of Canara HSBC
OBC Life would be made
available to customers of
Canara Bank, covering the
key needs of child future,
savings and investments,
retirement planning and
protection, a release said.
Canara Bank Manag-
HDFC Life Insurance L&T finishes STP project in UAE Toonz Media launches
net profit rises
H T
DFC Standard Life
Insurance has re-
ported a five per
cent rise in standalone net
profit to Rs 364.01 crore for
the fourth quarter ended
March 31. It had registered
a net profit of Rs 346.84
crore in the corresponding
quarter of 2017-18.
The company’s total
income increased to Rs
14,374.56 crore during the
quarter, from Rs 8,134.61
crore a year ago. “In line
with our stated strategy, we
continue to focus on profit-
able growth and providing
the best value proposition
to our customers, partners
and shareholders,” HDFC
Life Insurance Managing
Director and Chief Execu-
tive Officer Vibha Padalkar
said.
Net premium collec-
tion grew to Rs 10,247.50
crore, compared with Rs
8,900.02 crore in the year-
ago quarter.
For the entire fiscal, the
standalone net profit in-
Petronet plans mini LNG terminal in Andaman BigBasket to invest $100m
P A
etronet LNG Ltd plans
to set up a floating
LNG terminal in An-
daman and Nicobar Islands
which will be utilised to
feed city gas distribution
business of selling CNG
to automobiles and piped
cooking gas to households
in the island.
Petronet has made an
application to sector regu-
lator, Petroleum and
Natural Gas Regula-
tory Board (PNGRB)
for a city gas licence.
In its application
it said, NTPC Vidyut
Vyapar Nigam Ltd is
looking at setting up
a 50 MW gas-based
power plant in Hope
Town in South An-
daman and plans to
appoint a gas supplier
for the same.
“ Pe t r o n e t ( h a s )
proposed to set up
a Floating Storage
Regasification Unit
(FSRU) to regasify LNG to
supply gas to the power
plant. This would (also) be
the source for the supply
of gas to city gas distribu-
tion (CGD) network at Port
Blair,” the company said in
the application.
Gas will be imported
in its liquid form (LNG or
ing Director and CEO R A
Sankara Narayanan said,
“There is a large and rap-
idly growing section of our
customers who are digitally
savvy and prefer to engage
online for their banking
requirements. This cus-
tomer segment also likes
to have control over their
purchase process and look
for convenient availability
of products and services
online“.
He said, with Webassur-
ance the bank will be able
to service the protection
needs of its younger and
‘Cocoon’ concept lab
creased 15pc to Rs 1,276.79
crore, from Rs 1,109 crore
a year ago.
The company’s embed-
ded value (EV) increased
20pc to Rs 18,301 crore
at the end of March 2019,
it said.
The EV is similar to the
book value of companies in
other sectors. It is sum of
the company’s net worth
and the present value of all
future profits to sharehold-
ers from the existing book
of the company, including
new business written in
the year.
Value of new business
(VNB) rose 20pc to Rs
1,537 crore, against Rs
1,282 crore in the cor-
responding period of the
previous fiscal.
VNB is used to mea-
sure profitability of the
new business written in
a period. It is the current
value of all future profits
to shareholders measured
at the time of writing of
the new business contract.
liquefied natural gas) from
international suppliers.
It will be converted back
into its gaseous state at an
FSRU at the high-sea. “Gas
shall be sourced from long
term or spot LNG market,”
Petronet said.
The company current-
ly operates a 15 million
tonnes a year LNG import
terminal at Dahej in Gujarat
and has another 5 million
tonnes a year unit at Kochi
in Kerala.
Petronet said Port Blair
has a population of around
1.5 lakh made up to some
39,000 households. Port
Blair has 1.2 lakh vehicles
with majority 86,402 being
two-wheelers.
CORPORATE NEWS
net-savvy customers.
“This initiative inte-
grates together the digital
capabilities of the bank
and the company to pro-
vide a convenient and
hassle-free option for the
bank customers to fulfil
their insurance needs. We
are confident that this
initiative will help further
increase our reach into
Canara Bank’s customer
base and ensure we reach
out with relevant solutions
to all customers in the Ca-
nara Bank family,” Canara
HSBC OBC Life Managing
Director and CEO Anuj
Mathur said.
Canara HSBC OBC Life
is jointly owned by two
public sector banks Canara
Bank (51pc) and Oriental
Bank of Commerce (23pc)
and HSBC Insurance (Asia
Pacific) Holdings (26pc),
the Asian insurance arm
of banking and financial
services groups HSBC.
L
&T, along with its
joint venture partner,
BESIX, has finished
building a Sewage Treat-
ment Plant (STP) in the
United Arab Emirates.
The 3,75,000 cubic me-
tres per day STP has come
up in Jebel Ali (Phase 2)
and is claimed to be the
biggest in the UAE. L&T in
a statement added that the
plant was finished ahead
of schedule, maintaining
the highest standards of
Petronet assessed the
city’s gas demand by 2027
at 0.077 million standard
cubic meters per day, more
than half of which will
come from the use of CNG
in transport.
Household demand was
put at 0.015 mmscmd and
an almost similar con-
sumption from commercial
establishments.
The geographical area
for its city gas network at
Port Blair will span some
50 square kilometers, ac-
cording to the application.
PNGRB has sought com-
ments on the application
made by Petronet by June 6.
It may allot the city gas
licence to the company
L&T Finance
Holdings net
jumps 2-fold
&T Finance Holdings
said that its consoli-
dated net profit more
than doubled to Rs 552.12
crore during the quarter
ended March 2019.
The company had
posted a Rs 270 crore
net profit in same period
a year ago. Total income
for the said quarter rose
to 3,383.92 crore from
Rs 2,762.71 crore a year
ago, the company said in
a BSE filing.
Total expenses during
the quarter stood at Rs
2,634.56 crore as against
Rs 2,396.53 crore.
quality and safety.
The Jebel Ali Sewage
Treatment Plant Phase-2
Expansion is Dubai Munic-
ipality’s strategic project of
3,75,000 cubic metres per
day, to meet current and
future demand generated
from the surrounding area
that will see major new
developments, including
Expo 2020. The Jebel Ali
facilities have a total treat-
ment capacity of 675 mil-
lion litres per day (MLD),
if there is no competitive
offer for setting up a CGD
network on the Islands. In
case there are offers, the
applicants as also Petronet
would be asked to make a
bid for the licence. Accord-
ing to Petronet, the FSRU
will have the capacity to
import 0.15 million tonnes
per annum.
Andaman & Nicobar
islands currently
meets its power needs
mainly from Govern-
ment owned diesel
generation units with
balance power pur-
chased from indepen-
dent power producers
such as Surya Chakra
Power Corporation Ltd
at Bamboo flats and
other Hired Power
plants at Phoenix Bay.
Gas being environ-
ment-friendly fuel will
help the ecology of the
Island.
The planned 50
MW power plant by NTPC
will be sufficient to meet
current as well as future
electricity needs of Anda-
man and Nicobar Islands.
The proposed LNG ter-
minal will cost about Rs
496 crores while the power
plant may cost about Rs
215 crore.
BoB goes in for new organisational structure
B
ank of Baroda—
the recently created
banking behemoth
post its three-way amalga-
mation with Vijaya Bank
and Dena Bank—is going
in for organisation struc-
ture revamp to improve
the overall efficiency of
operations and have bet-
ter control and monitor-
ing mechanisms in the
combined entity.
For this purpose, this
bank—which now in all
has 9447 branches—-has
decided to introduce a
new layer in the organisa-
which includes the exist-
ing 300 MLD of Phase–1.
“This is, perhaps, the
first project of this mag-
nitude and complexity
that has been completed
and delivered ahead of
time, with not
a single minute
lost due to in-
cidents of any
kind,” said S.
N. Subrahman-
yan, Chief Ex-
ecutive Officer
& Managing Di-
rector, Larsen &
Toubro. “With
water becom-
ing such a pre-
cious commod-
ity the world
over, projects
like these make
a huge differ-
ence to the
ecology and it is always
good to be associated with
such projects,” he added.
The STP has been built
on a build, test, commis-
sion, operate and maintain
mode, company officials
said.
libaba-backed com-
pany BigBasket
is pumping in $
100 million (about Rs 698
crore) to strengthen its
supply chain by setting
up vending machines and
smaller distribution cen-
tres across various cities
it operates in. The online
grocery platform -- which is
registered as Supermarket
Grocery Supplies -- had
recently raised $ 150 mil-
lion in funding, led by
Mirae Asset-Naver Asia
Growth Fund, CDC Group
and Alibaba Group.
Founded in 2011, Big-
Basket operates in 25 Indi-
an cities. It plans to utilise
the proceeds of this fund-
raising - which has placed
the Bengaluru-based com-
pany in the unicorn club
(companies with valuation
of $ 1 billion and above)
- to further penetrate into
existing markets with more
investments in the first
mile, scaling-up of its sup-
ply chain and for develop-
ing new reseller channels.
“We want to enable
two-hour delivery in top
10 cities that we operate in
by July this year. For that,
we have been investing in
strengthening our distribu-
tion centres. We have 18
tional hierarchy by creat-
ing a position of General
Manager—-Chief Coordi-
nation.
The position of General
Manager—Chief Coordina-
tion will be a rank above
the General Manager and
one level below the Execu-
tive Director and will be
responsible for and drive
multiple areas of operation
instead of a single func-
tion, P.S.Jayakumar, Man-
aging Director, Bank of
Baroda said in an internal
note to employees.
All the 9447 branches
oonz Media Group,
leader in the anima-
tion industry has
come up with what it
claims as the first ever
‘Cocoon’ Concept Lab for
budding animators.
The initiative is de-
signed to support authentic
storytelling and ideas by
facilitating individualised
concept development for
emerging budding creators
and writers with a ready
TV/ digital series idea or
screenplay.
Creators of selected
unique concepts will be
mentored by experts in
the field and the idea will
be developed for further
execution, a spokesman for
large and 80 smaller dis-
tribution centres together
with our resellers and this
will be ramped to 20 large
and 100 smaller ones by
June this year,” BigBasket
co-founder Vipul Parekh
said.
This move will help
BigBasket reduce delivery
time and ensure quality of
dairy and fresh produce,
he added.
The company expects
its capital expenditure to-
wards these initiatives to
be about $ 100 million
this year.
“We are ramping up our
milk subscription business
- BB Daily - under which
we have built the supply
chain to deliver milk and
other items in the morning.
The service was started
around September last year
and our sellers already
carry out 90,000-100,000
orders a day. We are aim-
ing to take this to a million
orders a day and a stronger
supply chain infrastructure
will play a key role in this,”
he said.
Another area where the
company is investing is
in towards setting up un-
manned vending machines
- BB Instant - in office and
apartment complexes.
7
will now report to an
unified Regional Office/
Zonal Office structure of
the bank and there will
not be any separate ROs/
ZOs of the individual
three entities running in
parallel.
The domestic
retail network of
branches is now
being organised
under 18 zones
and five field
heads of Retail
Distribution who
in turn will have
overall responsi-
bility for driving
business of 2 to
5 business under
them.
In the revised structure,
apart from the 18 zones,
there will now be a total of
108 regions. It is also pro-
posed to gradually move to
a city vertical structure in
5 cities of Mumbai, Delhi,
Ahmedabad, Bangalore
and Chennai, to start with,
according to Jayakumar.
the animation house said.
Individual mentors will
track, advise and inspire
them to create pitches for
being presented at the Ani-
mation Masters that Toonz
Media Group will host on
May 3 and 4 as also for
future pitches worldwide.
Toonz Media aims to
represent such concepts
received from various do-
mestic and international
markets and provide a plat-
form for industry aspirants,
the spokesman said.
P J a y a ku m a r, C E O,
Toonz Media Group, said
that the Concept Lab will
be a perfect launching pad
for prospective creators.
Selected concepts will be
presented in the pertinent
markets.
“Toonz has a distin-
guished history of pitching
concepts in various markets
in the world. Its global
footprint will enhance the
prospects for upcoming
talents in the industry,”
he added.
“We see a huge potential
of these machines. Custom-
ers can use their app to
access the machine and
buy products. The only hu-
man intervention is in re-
stocking. We have already
placed such machines at
200 sites in Bengaluru and
over the next one year, we
want to have 2,000 such
sites across the 10 large
cities where we operate,”
Parekh said.
Also, given that these
machines are placed within
apartment and office com-
plexes, the risk of vandal-
ism is lower.
Parekh said with these
investments, BigBasket
- which competes with
SoftBank-backed Grofers
as well as Amazon.in and
Walmart-owned Flipkart
- will continue to build
further on its leadership in
the grocery business.
“We have been re-engi-
neering our supply chain
to allow for faster delivery
to our resellers and 0to
reduce the time from farm
to our customers. This
coupled with an expansion
in our range of private label
products will create a solid
foundation for growth in
both revenue and profit-
ability,” Parekh said.
 8 Travel / Entertainment Tuesday, April 30, 2019

Jet Airways crisis: windfall

for foreign carriers
T
he grounding of Jet
Airways is turning
into a quick windfall
and long-term opportunity
for international airlines
keen to scoop up nearly a
million outbound passen-
gers from what was once
the nation’s largest airline.
Jet, which previously had a
fleet of around 120 largely
Boeing planes, was forced
to indefinitely halt all flight
operations on April 17 after
its banks rejected the car-
rier’s plea for emergency
funds. The carrier’s descent
into crisis has benefited
international airlines in
the form of rising fares and
demand.
Fares from India to cities
such as Dubai, London, New
York, Singapore and Bali
in the first quarter of 2019
rose between four per cent
and 32pc from a year ago,
according to travel portal
MakeMyTrip.
In the peak travel
months of May and June,
fares to London have spiked
as much as 36pc and tick-
ets to San Francisco are up
nearly 20pc from a year
ago, according to data from
travel portal Yatra.com. “For
the next three months it’s
actually bonanza time for
international players,” said
Ashish Nainan, a research
analyst at CARE Ratings.
“At least until the middle of
June, the fares are not going
to come down.”
Due to rising demand,
even before Jet’s lessors
grounded planes, carriers
such as British Airways,
Cathay Pacific, Singapore
Airlines and United Air-
lines saw an upto a 27pc
increase in passenger num-
bers from India in the last
quarter of 2018, data from
India’s aviation regulator INDIAN WOMEN’S ASSOCIATION FESTIVE BAZAAR: Besides celebrating India’s rich culture industries, the Bazaar is also a platform to
showed. showcase the entrepreneurial spirit of female Indian entrepreneurs who bring exotic merchandise from India to Singapore.

Indian hotel sector fares well LuLu opens Air India ticket cancellation
hypermarket changes done for free
F
aiz Alam Ansari thinks levels increased to 66pc last in discretional spending Also, an increased supply

it is a great time to be a
hotelier in India. He is
the complex general manger
of the Sheraton Grand Ben-
galuru and Whitefield Hotel
in Bangalore. Business is
brisk at the property.
“There is a huge increase
in demand and also the lim-
ited supply of hotels helps,”
says Ansari. The hotel only
opened one year ago – the
100th property in India un-
der Marriott International’s
portfolio of hotel brands,
which include Sheraton,
Aloft and Le Meridien.
The data for the industry
supports Ansari’s optimism.
Average hotel room rates
in 2018 rose by 6.25pc to
over the previous year to
Rs 5,950 while occupancy
year compared with 64pc in
2017, according to a report
released this month by the
consultancy HVS Anarock.
It forecast that revenue per
available room, an indicator
that takes both occupancy
levels and room rates into
account, will grow by 9.5pc
this year. “The hotel indus-
try is currently at the cusp
of an up-cycle,” says Pratik
Tholiya, the associate vice
president for institutional
equity research at Elara
Capital, an investment bank
based in Mumbai. “The oc-
cupancy is at the decade
high and the average room
rates are the highest since
2012.”
A steady flow of for-
eign tourists, an increase
due to a rise in disposable
incomes and the country’s
expanding middle-class
population, plus increasing
business travel, are all fac-
tors driving this trend, he
explains.
Changing tide
There are some short-
term headwinds, though.
“The ongoing general elec-
tions could dampen some
of the sector’s otherwise up-
beat performance in 2019,”
says Mandeep Lamba, presi-
dent for south Asia at HVS
Anarock. During the six
weeks of the general elec-
tion, which runs until May
23, companies are cautious
and may hold off on ex-
pansion plans that would
involve business travel.
of nearly 8,574 rooms set
to open in India this year
could have an impact, he
adds.
“However, the tide is
set to change this year as
market sentiments can re-
cover with the aid of a
stable government, post-
elections, to support the
required economic growth,”
Lamba adds. “Banking on
this important factor and
also considering the limited
new supply in 2020, the
hotel industry can record
its highest-ever occupancy.”
Business tourists make
up 60pc and leisure tourists
40pc of guests for India’s
hospitality industry, ac-
cording to Elara Capital, an
investment bank.
R A
etail chain LuLu
has launched a
new hypermarket
in the suburb of Amerat
in Muscat. Housed within
the premises of Nujum al
Amerat Mall, the inaugu-
ral ceremony was held in
the presence of Dr Yahya
Suleiman Abdullah Al
Nadabi, Wali of Al Am-
erat and Yusuff Ali MA,
chairman and managing
director of LuLu Group.
The new hypermarket,
Lulu’s 24th branch in
Oman and 167th world-
wide, is spread over an
area of about 1.4 lakh sq
feet and designed with a
well-planned floor lay-
out, and liberal parking
space.
ir India has decided
that from May 1, if
a customer wants
to cancel his air ticket or
make changes in it within
24 hours of booking, he/she
will not be charged any fee.
However, this facility will
be available only if the flight
is scheduled at least seven
days after the booking date.
Indian aviation regulator
DGCA had issued a “passen-
ger charter” which specified
the rights of air travellers.
One of the provisions in
the passenger charter has
been implemented by the
national carrier through the
aforementioned decision
that will come into effect
from May 1. A circular is-
sued by Air India’s Chair-
cellation as prescribed by
the DGCA.”
“The passenger has an
option of cancelling or
amending the ticket without
any additional charges, that
is cancellation or change
fee is not applicable, when
the same is done within 24
hours of ticketing,” it added.
However, according to the
circular, the normal prevail-
ing fare and the related fare
conditions on a particular
flight — for which the ticket
is being sought — will be
applicable.
Moreover, the circular
stated that the facility “shall
not be available for a flight
whose departure is sched-
uled less than seven days
from the booking date”.

Indian origin actors making

man on April 24 said: “It has “Beyond 24 hours of initial
been decided that for sale booking time, this option is
and travel, effective May 1, not available and the passen-
2019, all domestic tickets ger has to pay the relevant

waves in global showbiz

will have the free look-in cancellation/change fees for
option for change and can- amendment,” it added.

Invalid visa: Indian held in Lanka

F A
rom Priyanka Chopra
to Lilly Singh, many
actors of Indian origin
are featuring on American
TV shows. Get set to know
more about the brilliant ac-
tors who are making their
mark in international show-
biz. Here’s a few of them
for you:
Priyanka Chopra
Her journey is just so
remarkable. She came from
Bareilly to Mumbai to par-
ticipate in the Miss India
contest and later won the
Miss World crown! Not only
in India, but she gained pop-
ularity in the US for her role
as Alex Parrish on the ABC
show Quantico. In 2016, she
was named in Time’s new
100 Most Influential People
issue alongside the likes of
Mark Zuckerberg and Leon-
ardo DiCaprio.
Priyanka recently got
married to Nick Jonas in
a fairytale wedding. Their
adorable pictures continue
to regale and thrill their fans
She was appointed In-
dia’s official UNICEF Good-
will Ambassador for child
rights in 2010. The global
Lankan resorts face closure
star also started The Pri-
yanka Chopra Foundation
for Health and Education,
which currently covers edu-
cational and medical ex-
penses for children in India.
Lilly Singh
The show — A Little Late
With Lilly Singh — will start
in Sept. It will air in Carson
Daly’s slot on weeknights
at 1.35am. Indian origin
YouTube sensation and a
Canadian born to Indian
parents, Singh gained fame
for her YouTube channel
Superwoman, launched in
2010, which today boasts
14.5 million subscribers.
Lilly Singh is also set to
become the only woman
and LGBTQ person to host
a late night show on a ma-
jor US network. According
to Forbes, she was among
the top paid YouTubers in
2017. Her book How to be
a Bawse: A Guide to Con-
quering Life was a New York
Times No 1 best-seller.
Kunal Nayyar
We have been watching
long-loved astrophysicist
Raj Koothrappali for years on
The Big Bang Theory. Kunal
was born in Hounslow, Lon-
don and he belongs to Pun-
jabi origin, though, he was
brought up and completed
his schooling in New Delhi.
He was also seen in
shows like Prison Break
and The Mindy Project. In
2015, Forbes magazine listed
him third among the world’s
highest-paid TV actors with
earnings of $20 million after
the success of The Big Bang
Theory.
Padma Lakshmi
She is an author, activ-
ist, chef, model and TV
host. Born in Chennai, Lak-
shmi has been the host of
the US cooking competi-
EXCHANGE RATES
tion programme Top Chef Comedy Series in 2010. She n Indian is among the 13 foreign nationals arrested
since season two in 2006, gained much attention for by police in Colombo for violating Sri Lankan im-
for which she received an creating, writing, producing migration laws. The 20-year-old Indian national
Emmy nomination in 2009 and starring in The Mindy was arrested from Mount Lavinia without a valid visa,
for Outstanding Reality Project comedy series. police spokesman S P Ruwan Gunasekara said, adding
Host. Her new movie Late that he would be produced before the magistrate’s court
Her first cookbook Easy Night hits theatres in June on Tuesday. The others arrested for the crime include 10
Exotic won her the Best and she just announced Nigerians, an Iraqi and a Thai national staying in different
First Book award at the 1999 that she’s working on a parts of the Lankan capital. The arrests have come after the
Gourmand World Cookbook comedy for Netflix.After Lankan government beefed up security measures following
Awards. She co-founded the starring in the all-woman the country’s worst terror attacks on Easter Sunday. A total
Endometriosis Foundation heist film Ocean’s eight last of 106 suspects, including a Tamil teacher and a school
of America and is a recipient year alongside Hollywood principal, have been arrested in connection with the blasts.
of NECO Ellis Island Medal stars Sandra Bullock and
of honour. Recently, the Cate Blanchett, her public
UNDP announced her as its presence and profile was
newest Goodwill Ambas- raised considerably. Her
sador. new movie Late Night hits
Mindy Kaling
An actress, comedian,
theatres in June and she just
announced that she’s work-
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