RNI No.

: MAHENG/2018/76663
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Indian-American receives
IEEE McDowell Award
Saudi financial meet to attract regional, intl experts
JEDDAH: A major confer- most prominent financial provides a single platform tee, said sessions at the building relationships be-
CALIFORNIA: Rajesh Gup- Faster Timescales (CRAFT) ence taking place in Saudi conferences in the world for all Saudi financial sec- conference will cover the tween financial institutions
ta, a professor of computer programs. Arabia this month will at- and will be attended by “in- tor stakeholders to engage Saudi financial sector, Is- and investors,” Al-Saif said.
science and engineering at He also leads NSF project tract 2,000 business and ternational corporations, in- in fruitful dialogue,” Al- lamic finance and FinTech. The conference will be
University of California San MetroInsight and a co-PI on financial leaders from the ternational rating agencies, Homoud, said during a press “We envision the FSC held under the patronage
Diego, has been awarded the DARPA/SRC Center on Com- Kingdom, the region and
W. Wallace Mc- puting on Net- across the world.
Dowell Award by work Infrastruc- The Financial Sector
the IEEE Comput- ture (CONIX) Conference (FSC) is to be
er Society for his with the goal to held on 24 and 25 April at
seminal contribu- build new genera- the King Abdul Aziz Inter-
tions in design and tion of distributed national Conference Center
implementation of c y b e r- p h y s i c a l in Riyadh.
microelectronic systems that use The event is being or-
systems-on-chip city-scale sensing ganized by the Ministry
and cyberphysical data for improved of Finance, the Saudi Ara-
systems. services and au- bian Monetary Authority
Gupta cur- Rajesh Gupta tonomy. His past (SAMA) and the Capital
rently serves as founding contributions include Sys- Market Authority (CMA).
director of the Halıcıoğlu tem modeling and SPARK It is the latest high-profile
Data Science Institute at UC parallelizing high-level syn- conference hosted in the
San Diego. thesis, both of which have Kingdom as part of an effort
According to a univer- been incorporated into in- to attract investment, share A press conference at the Ministry of Finance in Riyadh gave details of the Financial Sector Conference to be held this month.
sity press release, Gupta dustrial practice. expertise and develop Saudi experts and specialists in conference at the Ministry being the largest platform of King Salman and at-
has led several large scale Gupta received a bach- Arabia’s financial sector. finance, investment, bank- of Finance. for financial dialogue in the tended by Finance Minis-
projects including NSF Ex- elor of technology in elec- Khalid Al-Homoud, ing and insurance.” Fahad Al-Saif, Head of Middle East and among the ter Mohammed Al-Jadaan,
peditions on Variability and trical engineering from IIT member of the CMA Board “The FSC highlights the the Debt Management Of- top financial sector events SAMA governor, Ahmed
DARPA projects under Data Kanpur, India; a master of of Directors and the FSC Su- Kingdom’s position as the fice, Advisor to the Finance in the world, serving as a Al-Kholifey, and Energy
Intensive Systems (DIS) science in EECS from Uni- pervision Committee, said largest financial market Minister and chairman of key catalyst for innovation, Minister Khalid Al Falih,
and Circuit Realization at versity of (Contd. on page 2) the event was among the in the Middle East, as it the FSC technical commit- forging partnerships and among others.

Most job seekers want to stay Mukesh Ambani among TIME’s

in UAE for at least five years list of 100 most influential people
DUBAI: Nearly three quar-
ters of job seekers in the
UAE and Saudi Arabia
would like to live and work
in the Middle East for more
than five years, according
to a new survey from global
recruitment consultancy
Michael Page.
Close to 30pc said they
would like to stay in the
Middle East for more than
15 years.
Additionally, 64pc of re-
spondents are positive about
the current job market situa-
tion and 80pc of respondents
are optimistic it will get bet-
ter in the next six months,
said the quarterly report.
The Q1 2019 job mar-
ket survey collected data
from 850 respondents in
the Middle East, mainly
in managerial to executive
level roles.
The Q1 2019 job mar-
ket survey collected data
from 850 respondents in
the Middle East, mainly
in managerial to executive
level roles.
The top three reasons
respondents cited for living
and working in the Middle
East were career prospects,
salary and standard of liv-
ing. Dubai remains the most
attractive city for employ-
ment, compared to other
cities in the UAE, Bahrain,
Kuwait, Iran, Jordan, Leba-
non and Saudi Arabia.
The data was collected
on a voluntary basis from
candidates who applied for
a job or submitted a CV on
the Michael Page website.
The 850 respondents, 76pc
male and 23pc female, were
mainly in managerial to
executive level roles. More
than 80pc were between the
ages of 25 and 50 years old.
In terms of professional
experience and education,
70pc had more than five
years of experience and
85pc had college degrees.
Almost half of job seek-
ers said they were looking
for new employment for a
better salary package. Forty-
four per cent said their cur-
rent role was not offering
opportunities for further
development, 38pc wanted
to broaden their responsibili-
ties and 32pc were looking
for a better work-life balance.
NEW YORK: Reliance In-
dustries Chairman Mukesh
Ambani and public-interest
litigators Arundhati Katju
and Menaka Guruswamy,
who spearheaded a historic
legal battle for LGBTQ rights
in India, are among the Indi-
ans who have been named
by TIME magazine in its
prestigious list of the 100
most influential people in the
world. The Time 100 Most In-
fluential People 2019 list was
released Wednesday, naming
the world’s most influential
pioneers, leaders, titans, art-
ists and icons of the year.
The list includes Indian-
American comedian and TV
host Hasan Minhaj, US Pres-
ident Donald Trump, Pope
Francis, Chinese President
Xi Jinping, Pakistan Prime
Minister Imran Khan, iconic
golfer Tiger Woods and Face-
book founder Mark Zuck-
erberg. Writing the TIME
100 profile for Ambani,
Anand Mahindra, chairman
of business conglomerate
the Mahindra Group, said
Ambani’s father Dhirubhai Mahindra cites Ambani’s
was a visionary in Indian promise in 2003 through an
business, whose Reliance advertising tagline that his
Industries conglomerate company would “put the
pioneered ways of targeting world in the palm of your
hand.”
“It won’t be long before he
delivers on that promise,” he
said. Award-winning actor
Priyanka Chopra wrote a pro-
file for Katju and Guruswa-
my, the pioneering women
who led from the front in the
fight to ensure equal rights
for the LGBTQ community
in India and were among the
lead lawyers representing
gay petitioners to have the
Mukesh Ambani ban on consensual gay sex
global scale. struck down in the country.
“But Ambani’s vision is “Arundhati and Menaka
now even more ambitious than have helped take a giant step
that of the father whose bless- for LGBTQ+ rights in the
ings he unfailingly invokes at world’s largest democracy.
the launch of each initiative,” In their committed fight for
Mahindra wrote adding that justice, they have shown us
the scale of his Reliance Jio that we as a society must
mobile-data network, which continue to make progress,
has already connected over even after laws are changed,
280 million people in India and that we must make an
with low-cost 4G, is “impres- effort to understand, accept
sive by any standard.” and love,” Chopra said.

Indian refiners turn to OPEC Walmart committed to Indian

to make up Iran oil gap market: Dough McMillion
NEW DELHI: Indian refiners
are increasing their planned
purchases from OPEC na-
tions, Mexico and the US
to make up for any loss of
Iranian oil if the US enforces
sanctions more harshly from
next month, sources and
company officials said.
All four Indian state-
owned refiners that buy
Iranian oil are confident of
securing additional barrels
from other producers, com-
pany officials said.
The state refiners have
not yet placed orders for
Iranian oil for May, when
the current waiver expires,
pending clarity from the US.
India’s Bharat Petroleum
Corp. (BPCL) and Mangalore
Refinery and Petrochemicals
(MRPL) have tapped Iraq
to make up for Iranian oil,
while Indian Oil Corp. (IOC)
has signed its first annual
contract with US suppliers curbs when they expire after
and raised supplies from June because of the risk of BENGALURU: Walmart CEO McMillon addressed em- These regulations barred in the works. At that time
Mexico. over-tightening the market. Doug McMillon says ‘com- ployees in a townhall, where online marketplaces like too, Walmart had said it
“There will be no supply IOC, India’s top refiner mitted’ to Indian market he was asked a range of Flipkart and Amazon from was disappointed with the
constraints. The supply can and Iran’s biggest Indian almost a year into writing a questions. changes but hoped for a col-
come from both OPEC and client, will cut Iranian oil $ 16 billion cheque for Flip- According to sources, laborative regulatory process
non-OPEC nations like the imports to 6 million tons, kart, Walmart CEO Doug Mc- McMillon expressed satis- going forward that results in
or about 120,000 barrels per Millon said the retail giant faction at the progress made a level-playing field.
day, in the 2019/20 period continues to be committed by Flipkart and said Walmart McMillon lauded the ef-
from 9 million in 2018/19, to the Indian market given is aggressive on the Indian forts of Flipkart for the prog-
and has raised the optional the huge opportunity that market given the size of the ress made in taking online
volumes it can buy from the country presents. opportunity. shopping to millions of new
other producers to 2 million McMillon, who is on a Asked about the recent customers in India.
tons, a company official said. two-day trip to Bengaluru, regulatory challenges in the Sources said McMillon
“Our optional quantities also highlighted that a level- Indian market, McMillon also asserted that Flipkart
under term deals are higher playing field is important to said Walmart has operations should maintain its leader-
US,” said MK Surana, chair- than last year. We have op- ensure growth for businesses across multiple countries ship position in the Indian
man of Hindustan Petroleum tional contracts with Saudi operating in the country. and complies with local laws market.
Corp, which purchased up Arabia, Kuwait and other He was accompanied by in individual markets but Doug McMillon Flipkart Group Chief
to 1.5 million tons per year suppliers ... They will sup- EVP Corporate Affairs Dan asserted that a level-playing selling products of com- Corporate Affairs Officer
of Iranian crude in 2018/19. ply more if we want,” the Bartlett and Dirk Van den field is important and that is panies where they hold Rajneesh Kumar said McMil-
OPEC and other produc- official said, adding his firm Berghe (EVP and Regional what businesses seek. stakes and banned exclu- lon is in India for an internal
ers including Russia have would also buy more US oil CEO Asia and Canada). The The government had sive marketing arrange- business trip.
gradually tightened supply if required. executives also met the lead- tightened norms for e-com- ments that could influence “As part for the trip, he
through 2019 to reduce a IOC also hopes to buy 1.5 ership of Walmart India, merce firms with foreign product price. A separate interacted with Flipkart’s
global glut. OPEC and its million tons of Mexican oil Walmart Global Sourcing investment with effect from e-commerce policy for the leadership team and em-
partners may not renew the in 2019, (Contd. on page 2) and Walmart Labs. February 1. burgeoning sector is also ployees. (Contd. on page 2)

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 2 EMIGRATION Friday, April 19, 2019

Shabnam Asthana awarded Honorary

doctorate by National American University
GST is here to stay MUMBAI: The National American University,
Delaware USA, during its recently concluded

T
he much reviled Goods and Services Tax (GST) has
started receiving accolades from its own critics. In
March, GST raked in its record collection and ended
the financial year 2018-19 on a vibrant note. Gross GST col-
lections of Rs 06 trillion in March have helped the govern-
ment close this fiscal year with Rs11.77-lakh- crore in the
GST kitty, against revised estimates of Rs 11.47-lakh-crore
it set out in the Interim budget, defying all apprehensions
of a significant shortfall. But despite this last-minute rise
in collections, the Centre’s share of GST for the year at
Rs 4.3-lakh-crore hasn’t overshot its revised estimate of
Rs 5.03-lakh-crore. With direct tax collections said to be
falling short by a whopping Rs 60,000 crore for the year,
the Centre’s ability to meet its fiscal deficit target of 3.4pc
depends on whether it manages to mop-up enough non-
tax revenues to fill the gap. Till elections, nothing will
be clear. It is intriguing that GST collections should pick
up in the last three months of FY19 to touch a 13 to 15pc
year-on-year growth, when consumption indicators in the
convocation ceremony held at the Raheja
Classique Club in Mumbai honoured eminent
personalities from various fields with Hon.
Doctorates for their profound “dedication to
the progress and advancement of the society
and the World’s community.”
Shabnam Asthana, noted PR personality
and influencer was awarded an Hon. Doctor-
ate in Business Administration. Shabnam
expressed her elation at being lauded as a
multi-talented professional who had worked
in diverse fields encompassing Journalism,
Marketing, Sales, Corporate Communications,
Corporate Affairs, Administration, PR, Event
Management and training and added that the
prefix of Dr. now came with a greater sense
of responsibility and a big measure of resolve
from her end to continue giving her best to
her profession and the society. The National American University awards honorary doctorate to Shabnam Asthana and other eminent personalities.

UNESCO experts ready to assist DCB Bank net

economy have been losing steam. The last three months
have seen India’s high-frequency economic indicators such
as automobile sales, IIP and core sector output register profit rose 50pc
reconstruction of iconic Notre Dame
sharp deceleration after charting a revival in the first nine MUMBAI: Private sector
months. One possible explanation for this is that better DCB Bank said its net profit
growth in the services sector has buoyed GST collections, rose by 50pc to Rs 96 crore
even as manufacturing has slipped. But it is more likely that UNITED NATIONS: Two- and they lost something that “we are all heartbroken. have left the medieval stone- during the fourth quar-
the GST Council’s drastic pruning of items in the highest thirds of the largely medi- is part of their identity”. The Cathedral is part of the work intact, reminds us of ter ended March 2019 on
tariff band of 28pc and its rationalisation of rates to correct eval roof of the famed Notre healthy core income and

Editorial
sector-specific anomalies in Dame cathedral in Paris restricted bad assets.
recent meetings, have paid have gone after the devas- The bank’s net profit
off in the form of higher col- tating fire in Paris, but UN was Rs 64 crore in the cor-
lections. Harnessing the cen- cultural experts are standing responding January-March
tralised data generated by the GST Network, the revenue by to offer help in rebuild- quarter of 2017-18. Its total
department has also redoubled its efforts to curb evasion ing the iconic structure, income rose 15pc to Rs 400
in recent months. It has tracked down invoice mismatches, UNESCO World Heritage crore during the quarter,
tightened e-way bill rules and has carried out a rash of Centre Director Mechtild compared with Rs 349 crore
raids and even arrests. Rössler said. in the corresponding period
This seems to be bringing dividends in the form of Rössler, who visited the of the fiscal ended March
improved compliance with the number of GSTR 3B return- site said that the cathedral 2018, the bank said.
filers hitting 75.9 lakh in March compared with 72.4 lakh is a universal symbol and The net interest income
in Dec 2018. In a media interview, the CEO of GST Network the centre of France and its increased 14pc to Rs 301
claimed that compliance rates under GST were 15pc better devastation has left people crore, while non-interest in-
than those under the erstwhile VAT and service tax regimes. across nations shocked. come rose 17pc to Rs 99 crore.
Overall, it is good to see the much-criticised GST stabilised She described seeing people For the entire financial
in the second year of its operations, with businesses get- praying outside the stricken year 2018-19, the net profit
ting over their initial reservations with this landmark tax symbol of the city and the Rössler said that a team World Heritage site officially the power of heritage that of the bank rose 33pc to Rs
reform. Buoyant collections in recent months also hold out nation, still trying to take in of UNESCO experts is on known as Paris, Banks of connects us to one another. 325 crore as compared with
a strong message to policy-makers that low tariffs and ease the scale of the disaster. hand to investigate the sta- the Seine, inscribed on the We are receiving mes- Rs 245 crore in the year-ago
of compliance must accompany anti-evasion measures to “I saw many, many peo- bility of the stonework and World Heritage List, in 1991. sages of support from all period. Income during the
meet collection targets. ple going from the Metro, to potential damage to stained Notre Dame represents a over the world. year was up by Rs 1,499
GST was first introduced in France and it was con- the site of Notre Dame, and glass windows, echoing a historically, architecturally, The cathedral, where con- crore from Rs 1,306 crore in
sequently, Japan, South Korea, UK, UAE and Australia I have to say many are still statement by the UNESCO and spiritually, outstand- struction began in the 1160s the preceding fiscal.
followed suit. Introducing anything new is fraught with in a state of shock, because Director-General, Audrey ing universal heritage. It is extending for more than a On the asset front, the
opposition and so was the case with GST in India. A single it’s not only the Christian Azoulay, in which she an- also a monument of liter- century, is considered to be bank’s gross non-performing
tax saves time and operational expenses. GST replaced the community, it’s a building nounced that a rapid dam- ary heritage, a place that the finest example of the assets (NPAs) stood at 1.84pc
nuisance called Octroi, which was the fountainhead of for all of us,” she said. age assessment would be is unique in our collec- French Gothic style of archi- of gross advances as on March
corruption and harassment. “Really, it’s a universal carried out as soon as pos- tive imagination,” said the tecture, with its groundbreak- 31, 2019, as compared to
symbol and it’s the centre of sible with the authorities. UNESCO chief, adding that ing use of rib vaults and but- 1.79pc as on March 31, 2018.
LIPSYNCH France, I think this is really After visiting the site of the inferno which engulfed tresses, stained glass rosettes Net NPA ratio stood at 0.65 per
shocking people profoundly Notre Dame, Azoulay said the cathedral, but appears to and sculpted ornaments. cent as compared to 0.72 pc.
You are never too old to start learning and you’re never

Nine-year old Indian girl Dubai wins top US green

too young to aim high and achieve great things.
— Asa Hutchinson.

wins $1m in Dubai raffle building certification

DUBAI: An Indian girl in
Published by IPEPCIL Publications Ltd Dubai has won $1 million,
six years after she won a
RNI No.: MAHENG/2018/76663
Dh1.2m luxury car.
Publisher: Supreet M.J.
But her father will keep
Editor : E.L. Vaidyanathan the “million-dollar secret”
Volume No.: 1, Issue: 55 from his daughter until the
Published at: Office No. 1001, 10th Floor,
weekend, he said hours af-
Navjivan Commercial Premises Co-op. Society Ltd., ter her name, Eliza M., was
Lamington Road, (Dr.D.B.Marg), Mumbai Central, picked up in a Dubai Duty
Mumbai - 400 008. Ph.: 022 - 23001102 / 23001103. Free (DDF) Millennium Mil-
Printed at: Inquilab Offset Printers Ltd., 156, D J Dadaji Road, lionaire draw.
Tardeo, Mumbai-400 034, Maharashtra, India. The father of the 9-year
old, a grade four student
Indian refiners turn... in a Dubai school, believes
his family can wait for the
(Contd. from page 1)
compared with 1 million tons last year, the source said. big surprise to be revealed
Officials from state-owned National Iranian Oil did not over the weekend unless
immediately reply to requests for comment on the Indian refin- they happen to find it out
ers’ plans to purchase less Iranian crude. Refinery officials said through news reports, in
that their 2019/20 crude import strategy was not contingent which he would not divulge
on Iranian oil, and was more flexible than in previous years. his name.
“We don’t have a watertight plan for the year, we have op- “I have been buying
tional quantities so that it is possible to find replacement if these tickets for 15 years. I
any country goes out for any reason,” said an MRPL official. have spent about Dh300 to
During previous sanctions against Iran, Saudi Arabia Dh400 thousand dirhams so
and Iraq raised supplies to India to grow market share in far. If I can wait for 15 years
the country, the world’s third-biggest oil consumer and for this day, they can wait
ment,” he said.
With nine as his lucky
number, he had bought
ticket No. 0333 online under
Eliza’s name for the promo-
tion’s series 298.
She became the 140th
Indian national to win a
million dollars in the pro-
motion since its inception
in 1999.
Eliza was barely three
years old when she won a
top-of-the-range McLaren
MP4 12C Coupe in DDF
Finest Surprise Draw in
2013. “We couldn’t attend
the prize presentation then
as she fell very sick. We had
to divert our car to the hos-
pital and get her admitted,”
N.M said.
N.M. had then sold the
supercar with a showroom
price of Dh1.2million for
Dh800,000 and used it for
clearing his debts.
However, this time,
DUBAI: Dubai has become tors has been guided by the Sheikh Hamdan pointed
the first city in the Arab vision of HH Sheikh Moham- out that Dubai aims to con-
world and the Middle East
and North Africa to get the
Platinum Rating in the Leed
(Leadership in Energy and En-
vironmental Design) for cities
certification awarded by the
US Green Building Council
(USGBC), said a top official.
“The Platinum Rating is
the highest rating for a city’s
sustainability performance
benchmark. Qualifying cit-
ies are measured, within a
comprehensive framework,
according to 14 metrics re-
lating to the energy and med bin Rashid Al Maktoum, solidate its position as a
water sector, waste treat- Vice President, Prime Minis- global hub for sustainable
ment, transportation, hu- ter and Ruler of Dubai. development. The city is un-
man experience, education, Sheikh Mohammed’s di- dertaking a range of sustain-
prosperity, equality, health, rectives to incorporate sustain- able projects including the
and safety,” remarked Saeed able development strategies in world’s biggest concentrated
Mohammed Al Tayer, the plans for the future have led solar power project and the
managing director and CEO to great progress in the clean world’s tallest solar tower,
of Dubai Electricity and Wa- energy sector, he noted. he added.
ter Authority (Dewa).

importer. Last year, MRPL signed its first annual deal with for a couple of more days,”
Iraq to buy 1.5 million tons of Basra oil in 2019. said the father who identi-
fied himself as N.M.
Walmart committed... N.M. said he has been
(Contd. from page 1) buying the tickets alter-
He is delighted with the progress the team is making to take nately in the names of Eliza
e-commerce to next 200-300 million customers in India, and and his other daughter who
bring a great selection through right affordability construct is a year younger.
to consumers in the country,” Kumar said. “They don’t check the
McMillon also commended Flipkart Group CEO Kalyan, Phone- news. They get to know if
Pe CEO Sameer Nigam and the team for their role in leveraging we won or not from my face.
technology and innovation for solving challenges in India’s digital I am good at hiding my emo-
commerce. Krishnamurthy said Walmart’s long-term, strategic tions. Anyway, I am normal
partnership with Flipkart was immensely valued by everyone. now, after the initial excite-
he had promised Eliza he
would take her on a Europe
trip if she won. “I will do it
when they have their next
vacation,” he said.
N.M says he plans to
save the rest of the amount
for his daughters’ future and
will not stop trying his luck
again.
“I will continue to buy
these tickets. I have already
got the one for the Series
300.”
“This award is a tribute
to the efforts and vision of
Sheikh Mohammed and the
diligent and cohesive efforts
of governmental entities and
authorities in the emirate,”
he added.
Commending the feat,
Sheikh Hamdan bin Moham-
med bin Rashid Al Maktoum,
Crown Prince of Dubai and
Chairman of Dubai Executive
Council, said Dubai’s rapid
growth in various vital sec-
Indian-American receives...
(Contd. from page 1)
California, Berkeley; and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering
from Stanford University.
Earlier he worked at Intel Corporation in Santa Clara,
California, and on the computer science faculty at Uni-
versity of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and UC Irvine.
Gupta holds the Qualcomm Endowed Chair in Embedded
Microsystems at UC San Diego and INRIA International
Chair at the French international research institute in
Rennes, Bretagne Atlantique. He is a Fellow of the IEEE,
the ACM and American Association for the Advancement
of Science (AAAS).
Friday, April 19, 2019
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 4 GULF JOBS & OPPORTUNITIES
Snapdeal: E-commerce
giant hunts for engineers
MUMBAI: E-commerce platform
Snapdeal said it is looking to ex-
pand its technology team with the
addition of 120 engineers this year
as it enhances personalisation and
recommendation features for its us-
ers. The company, which competes
with larger rivals like Amazon and
Walmart-owned Flipkart, said its
‘Snapdeal 2.0 strategy’ (launched
in August 2017) has helped driving
3X growth in business volumes,
while reducing costs by 90 per
cent.
“This resurgence also enabled
Snapdeal to become the first e-
commerce company in India to
become cash flow positive, giving
it the freedom to invest its earnings
in growing the business,” Snapdeal
said in a statement.
The company said it had hired
nearly 150 new team members,
mostly in the technology, engineer-
ing, product and design teams in
2018-19. Interestingly, more than
half of the new hires in 2018-19
were former employees opting to
rejoin across technology, supply
chain, user growth, marketing and
business verticals at Snapdeal.
“In the coming months, Snap-
deal is looking to hire nearly
120 engineers who will work on
various projects in the domains
of machine learning, gamification,
personalisation, cloud-agnostic
production systems, etc.” it added.
Govt to chalk out new policy for coal bidding Air India keen on taking 5
NEW DELHI: Faced with a lackluster
response from bidders, the Central
government is planning to overhaul
the whole coal mining auction pro-
cess. “The current auction process
is not attracting any bidders. In the
past, we had cancelled bidding several
Oyo launches new programme for its partner hotels
NEW DELHI: Aimed at helping its
partners to reach their business goals,
Oyo on Thursday launched a new
programme --- Open Partner Engage-
ment Network - for its asset (hotel)
owners in India and South Asia part-
nered with the company. The service
include support in terms of payment,
finance, technology and innovation,
query resolution.
The company also introduced
upgraded version of an app for asset
owners ‘Co-Oyo’ to monitor progress
and to provide complete visibility on
all business and customer metrics.
“Today with the launch of OPEN-
OYO Partner Engagement Network, we
The positions span across entry,
mid and senior positions in ar-
eas such as artificial intelligence,
machine learning, full stack, Java
back-end, and front-end engineer-
ing, it said.
Snapdeal said it is also looking
at adding vernacular components
to the buying experience. “The
technology team is helping Snap-
deal to deepen its efficiency initia-
tives… improve the experience for
users and also lower the cost of
operations. Technology continues
at the heart of Snapdeal 2.0’s suc-
cess in driving growth, superior
experience and more efficient op-
erations,” it noted.
Snapdeal, which had seen its
business being impacted severely
by the intense competition in the
e-commerce segment, had in 2017
dumped a USD 950-million take-
over offer from rival, Flipkart. It
was then that Snapdeal co-found-
ers, Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal
had said Snapdeal will pursue a
fresh strategy in the Indian market.
This strategy has helped Snap-
deal narrow its consolidated losses
substantially to Rs 613 crore for
2017-18 from Rs 4,647.1 crore
in 2016-17. Apart from trimming
headcount, the company also
sold its payment services unit,
Freecharge to Axis Bank and Vul-
can Express to Kishore Biyani’s
Future Supply Chain Solutions.
times as there were no takers. Last
year, we had tweaked some norms to
make it more business-friendly, but
there is still no interest.
So, there is a need to overhaul the
process,” a senior official from the
coal ministry told this publication. He
said they have consulted the finance
ministry, which would help them
in setting the new terms and condi-
tions. The move was initiated
after the government had to
cancel the sixth and seventh
rounds of coal mine auctions
in March, under which it was
planning to put on sale 19
blocks. Under the sixth round,
the government had earlier
announced the auction of 13
blocks for the regulated sec-
tors, including iron and steel,
cement and aluminium.
In the seventh tranche, the
coal ministry had said it would
auction six coking coal blocks
for iron and steel sector. The
tender process was initiated
on October 25, 2018, also
included the recent proposal
from the coal ministry to al-
low private companies to sell up to
25 per cent of production in the open
market. However, despite this, the
auction attracted no bidder.
are laying the
foundations of a
structured way
of exchanging
ideas, provid-
ing support and
most important-
ly, building a
relationship of
trust on which
we hope to
build the next
several decades
to come,” said
Aditya Ghosh,
CEO, OYO India
and South Asia.
grounded Jet Airways Boeings
NEW DELHI: Air India wants to take
4-5 wide-body Boeing 777 aircraft of
the now-grounded Jet Airways and
may hold discussions for it with the
airline’s lead lender State Bank of
India (SBI).
The move is aimed at catering
the peak demand on various interna-
tional routes such as India-Gulf and
India-UK.
Jet Airways has 10 Boeing 777 in
its fleet which it used to serve vari-
ous popular destinations in Europe
and North America before halting the
entire international operations.
“Air India has expressed its interest
to take some of the B777s on lease.
The initial proposal is there,” an in-
dustry source said.
Stressing on the importance of being
in touch on a real-time basis in this
fast moving world, Ghosh said, “we
are proud to be the first to have this
app in the hospitality industry.”
OYO said its core promises to its
partners include ‘transparent payment
protocols’ under which asset owners
will receive 18 per cent interest on
delayed payments and resolution for
exceptions will be done before the due
date. OYO said it will enable access
to easier financing options for part-
ners looking to make improvements
through banks and other financial
institutions with whom it has forged
partnerships. Further, the company
Friday, April 19, 2019
DISCLAIMER
Readers are requested to verify and make
appropriate enquiries to satisfy themselves
about the veracity of an advertisement
before responding to any published adver-
tisements in this newspaper. NEWS AND
NRI CONNECT, its publisher and owner
IPEPCIL Publications do NOT vouch for
the authenticity of any advertisement or
advertiser or for any of the advertiser’s
products and /or services. In no event can
the owner, publisher, printer, editor, direc-
tor, employees of this newspaper/company
be held responsible/liable in any manner
whatsoever for any claims and /or dam-
ages for advertisements in this newspaper.
A SBI spokesperson could not be
reached for comment on the devel-
opment.
After Jet Airways suspended its
international operations the airfare
on most of the foreign routes have
jumped sharply with tickets on routes
like Mumbai-London becoming pro-
hibitively expensive.
Air India wants to capture the
traffic on these routes by deploying
additional capacity.
Last week, low-cost carrier SpiceJet
had announced to induct 16 B737 into
its fleet which were earlier operated
by Jet Airways. The airline would take
another six aircraft and operate them
on domestic routes in few weeks.
While many domestic carriers have
grabbed the opportunity created by
suspension of Jet Airways’ operations
and launched new flights on domestic
routes, additional capacity is yet to
be mounted on international routes
to fill the gap.
introduced a Central Response hotline
(+91-9310777888) through which
asset owners can directly share their
queries and expect resolutions.
Currently, more than 15 cities in
India have more than 200 OYO asset
owners and that over 640 of its asset
owners were able to clock over Rs
1 crore in gross booking value with
OYO in 2018, it said. The budget hotel
chain has over 8,700 asset owner part-
ners spread across nearly 260 cities
in India and South Asia. In March,
Oyo Hotels and Homes announced an
investment commitment of Rs 1400
crores for the current fiscal in India
and South Asia.
 Friday, April 19, 2019
GULF JOBS & CAREERS 5

NEET 2019: Preparation strategy for last month Aegis School presents
APAC conference
T
he National Eligi- calm yourself mentally and Circumvent trouble On proof. ahead with a section which
bility Entrance Test physically. the exam day, students Take a deep breath and seems doable and scoring.

(NEET) will be con-
ducted by the NTA on May
5, 2019. The national level
medical test by NTA to fill
MBBS and BDS seats will
be held in 154 cities all over
India. This year, for the
pen and paper-based exam,
15.19 lakh candidates have
applied in the 37 day’s
registration window.
As the exam count-
down begins, NEET 2019
is giving medical aspirants
heebie-jeebies. Students
are wrapping the last min-
ute preparation and are
ready to hit the bulls-eye.
Still, what will happen on
the exam day bring jitters
which eventually may bring
the applicant’s confidence
down. So, to do away with
the D-day nervousness,
here are some ways to
A day before the exam
Do not overthink, just pon-
der that tomorrow will be
the usual day, like taking a
regular mock test. Taking a
walk in the fresh air, mild
exercise can help to pacify
the senses. Eating healthy
food and taking tight sleep
helps the body to lighten. It
also relaxes the mind and
boosts the concentration.
must steer away from unes-
sential conversations. It is
futile to ask others “how
much they have prepared”
or “how many mocks they
have done”. Just remember
“self-confidence is the best
outfit”. Also, ensure to have
all the documents on exam
day to avoid any hassle.
Carry the NEET 2019 Ad-
mit Card and valid identity
relax There can be mo-
ments on exam day where
students overwhelm them-
selves with overthinking.
So, in that situation, a little
self-talk can really help.
Give self-motivation and
repeat the mantra “I can
do it”. Also, on the exam
day, be comfortable. Wear
light clothes. Once seated,
relax and sit straight, try
not to slouch or move legs
up and down.
Don’t start right away,
make a strategy When stu-
dents are a little nervous,
they tend to miss some
basic fundamentals. Before
starting the exam, read the
instructions carefully. As
the exam will have three
sections. Just go through
the paper once and have
a quick glance. Then go
Just give the best, the NEET
Result will definitely reflect
the hard work.
Bubble the correct way
in the exam, it is important
to mark the answers in
the right way. Sometimes
students solve all the ques-
tions first and then bubble
the answers. In that case,
it is likely that candidates
fell short of time. So, after
solving every question,
bubble the response with
the correct question num-
ber immediately. If doubt-
ful, mark it, answer it later.
Post-exam, candidates will
able to cross-check them
with official NEET 2019
answer key. As the three-
hours progress, keep the
confidence high. Whenever
there is a dip, just take deep
breaths.
A
egis School of Data
Science presents Ae-
gis People Analytics
Conference (APAC) 2019
scheduled on April 26, 2019
at Four Points by Sheraton,
Vashi, Navi Mumbai with an
attempt to create a new era
of learning and understand
that in turn will pave way
to a deeper understanding
and better development to
advance people analytics
practice in the HR industry.
A recent LinkedIn re-
search report states 77pc
increase in specialized ana-
lytics professionals in Hu-
man Resource in India. With
APAC 2019, HR leaders can
now turn to analytics to an-
swer critical questions about
workforce planning, skills
gap, employee retention, and
more, in order to enhance
the sector.
At the conference, tech
demo will showcase innova-
tions and advancements, that
different companies have
made for the betterment of
your organization and how
these innovations can help
you change the design of your
company in a positive way.
APAC 19 is an hub for HR
community by experts across
sectors as industry veterans
will address benefits of peo-
ple analytics in organizations
with a healthy discussion
between domain leaders such
as Dr Abhijit Gangopadhyay,
Dean, Aegis School of Data
Science (Opening Address),
Courtney Mcmahon, Head
Global People Analytics, AIG
(Keynote Speaker), followed
by panel discussions from
various other speakers.

RRB recruitment 2019 BSF to fill up 1072 vacancies

Application date revised for ministerial isolated category posts of Head Constable posts
A
s a part of its latest gov.in. Interested and rial and isolated category deadline.

B
recruitment drive, eligible railway job aspi- posts. Along with this, the The railway recruit- order Security Force (Radio Mechanic). Can- 12 June 2019: Last date
the Railways has rants need to note that last date of online appli- ment process for ministe- (BSF) has invited ap- didates can apply for the for submission of online
rial and isolated category plicants for posts of recruitment only through application
RRB Recruitment 2019: Revised Schedule posts will be done in a Head Constable in Group online mode. Candidates Vacancies for Head Con-
Closing of Online Registration of Applications: April 22, 2019; till 23.59 hrs Single Stage Computer C. Under the recruitment, who wish to apply for the stable (Radio Operator) –
Based Test (CBT) that will vacancies of 1072 Head recruitment should visit 300 Posts
Closing Date and Time for Payment of Application Fee through-
be followed by a Stenog- Constable posts is going the official website of BSF Vacancies for Head Con-
– Online (Net Banking/Credit Card/Debit Card/UPI): April 28, 2019 till 23.59 hrs to be filled. The online which is www.bsf.nic.in stable (Radio Mechanic)-
raphy Skill Test (SST)/
SBI Challan: April 26, 2019 at 13.00 hrs. Translation Test (TT)/ application process for after May 14, 2019. On 772 Posts
Post Office Challan: April 26,2019 at 13.00 hrs. Performance Test (PT)/ Eligibility Criteria
Final Submission of Applications: April 30, 2019 at 23.59 hrs Teaching Skill Test (TST), Head Constable:
RRB Recruitment 2019: Post cancellation details whichever is applicable. Candidates should
Document verification be 12th passed or
The Indian Railways, in view of the change of work pattern in Diesel Locomo-
and medical examination equivalent from a rec-
tive Works (DLW), Varanasi has withdrawn certain vacancies of DLW. They are ognised university
will be conducted there-
1. Staff & Welfare Inspector- 1 post after. Take a note of the and possess two years
2. Junior Translator/Hindi- 1 post details mentioned below Industrial Training
to know more. Institute Certificate
cations has All those candidates (ITI) in the relevant
also been who have applied for the subject.
e x t e n d e d above mentioned Diesel The age limit of
for t h e Locomotive Works in candidates is 18 to
same posts. the above categories are 25 years. (Relaxation
In order to now allowed to modify will be given to re-
m i s s a n y their RRBs/Railways/PUs the recruitment will start the home page, click on served category students
last minute and category options. from May 14 and end on the recruitment notice and as per government norms).
rush, it is They are allowed to make June 12, 2019. Interested read all the information The recruitment pro-
advised to the required changes till candidates can apply for carefully. cess will consist of written
the candi- April 30, 2019. It is to the recruitment between Below are the important test, physical test, descrip-
dates that be noted that in order to these dates. points regarding the re- tive test and final medical
they fill the make the modification in Out of total 1072 va- cruitment. exam.
application the application, candi- cancies, 300 are for Head 14 May 2019: Com- Fees: SC/ST, female can-
cancelled a couple of va- the vacancies have been form soon enough in dates will not be charged Constable (Radio Operator) mencement of submission didates – No fee; General/
cancies at indianrailways. cancelled in the ministe- order to not miss the any fees. and 772 for Head Constable of online application OBC – Rs 100

Scientists 3D print heart in major medical breakthrough Walking, cycling may help you live longer: Study
F
rom spare parts and sonalized tissues and organs paper explains. The bio-inks

T
guns, 3D printing is in cases when regeneration do not provoke an immune aking the stairs, cy- to get fitter,” said Elin and Health Sciences in ter,” Ekblom-Bak said in a
becoming a promising of cells is difficult and re- response, thereby mini- cling or Stockholm. statement.
approach in engineering per- placement of damaged ones mising complications after walking “ B u t The study included
is expensive. transplantation. to work may it doesn’t
Scientists at the help you live have to be
Tel Aviv University
achieved a break-
through by 3D print-
Your wellness longer, regard-
less of age, sex
and starting
that com-
plicated.
Fo r m o s t
ing a heart using the Scientists extracted fatty fitness level, people,
patient’s own cells. tissue from the patient and a large-scale just be-
For the first time, processed them to form study un- ing more
the scientists used diverse personalised bio- veiled claims. active in
fully personalised non- inks to 3D print the heart, “People daily life –
supplemented materi- complete with cells, blood think they taking the
als as bio-inks for 3D vessels, ventricles, and have to start going to the Ekblom-Bak, from the stairs, exiting the metro
printing, the research chambers. gym and exercising hard Swedish School of Sport a station early, cycling 316,137 adults aged 18-
to work – is enough to 74 years who had their

New method to detect breast, ovarian cancer found benefit health, since levels first occupational health
are so low to start with. screening between 1995

R
esearchers at the
Indian Institute of
Technology (IIT),
Roorkee have identified a
new method to detect two of
led by Professor Kiran Am- For the research, the
batipudi from the institute’s
team collected samples from
biotechnology department,
healthy individuals and
identified certain proteins
compared them to samples
present in the saliva which
collected from stage IV
breast and ovarian cancer
patients, and those ovarian
cancer patients who had
undergone at least three
cycles of neoadjuvant che-
motherapy.
“The salivary proteins
were analysed by mass
spectrometry indicative of
pathophysiology of breast
and ovarian cancers and
were compared to healthy
all four groups. In addition tion exposure. The more you do, the bet- and 2015 in Sweden.
to 409 identified proteins, “Our attempt was to uti-
352 proteins were common lise saliva as a non-invasive Fun Corner
in all groups, while 57 sample source to identify
were either present/absent specific protein biomark- Sudoku Puzzle Rules: To solve a Su-
exclusively in one group or ers, which indicate breast doku puzzle, every digit
         from 1 to 9 must appear
common in any two/three and ovarian cancer metas- in each of the nine verti-
groups,” IIT Roorkee said tasis. In patients who have          cal columns, in each of
in a statement. undergone three cycles of the nine horizontal rows
Prof Ambatipudi said chemotherapy, the salivary          and in each of the nine
that due to the heteroge- proteins can also act as an boxes.
         Solution for Puzzle # 55
neous and asymptomatic indicator of the patient’s
will be in next issue.
nature of breast and ovarian response to chemotherapy,”         
cancers, their early detec- he said.
tion has been difficult using “Although it is essential          Sudoku Puzzle 54 Answer
        
traditional methods such to clinically validate these
        
        
as mammography, blood proteins in a large cohort of         

and ovarian chemotherapy
subjects. Collectively, 646
the worst forms of cancer in act as potential biomarkers proteins were identified, of
flow patterns by colour- subjects but the results of         
        
        
flow Doppler imaging and the present study serve as         
transvaginal ultrasound an initial step towards the                  

women – breast and ovarian indicative of breast and which 409 proteins were examination, due to high development of saliva-based         
        
cancer. The research team, ovarian cancer metastasis. confidently identified across diagnostic costs and radia- clinical tests,” he added Puzzle #: 55 Diffi culty : Medium
 6 IN FOCUS
GULF FAQs
Wage protection
I manage a Dubai company and after
having issues with our previous business
bank, we decided to open a new account
with Emirates NBD. We met a member
of staff on Oct 8. We had to obtain some
additional items but they were forwarded
to the bank by October 26. We chased the
bank several times but were asked for du-
plicate information; items that could have
been provided ages ago. Then, on Nov 22,
we pointed out that due to this delay the
company was about to be penalised as we
had been unable to comply with the re-
quirements of the Wages Protection System
because we did not have an operational
bank account. We continued to chase the
bank, not least as our contact went on
holiday, and we had to find someone else
to tell us what was going on. We are getting
desperate to get this account open so the
business can continue to operate properly.
Can you help?
After receiving this enquiry, I made
contact with Emirates NBD last month
and the bank promised to look into the
matter straight away. You later notified me
that the bank had told you there were no
further requirements and the account has
been opened.A spokeswoman for the bank
subsequently advised: “We are pleased to
inform you that our group customer expe-
rience team contacted (you) and provided
you with the necessary clarifications and the
matter has been resolved. We have offered
you our sincere apologies for this discrep-
ancy and for any inconvenience caused.
Emirates NBD appreciates its customers’
feedback and will take every opportunity
to further review and enhance any internal
processes that require attention.”
Lifetime ban
I left the UAE in 2010 and was reported as
absconding. I then returned and as I was
unable to work, I was then deported and
given a lifetime ban. Can I come back to
the country and work again?
Lifetime bans are usually issued where
someone has been convicted of a crime, so
there may be more to this than has been
disclosed. This falls under Federal Law No.
6 for 1973 Concerning Immigration and
Residence. Article 28 of this law states:
“An alien who has been deported may not
return to the country except with special
permission from the Minister of Interior.”
You can contact the General Directorate
of Residence and Foreigner Affairs for the
emirate in which you were living. This
is part of the Ministry of the Interior and
regulates the entry and exit of travellers to
the UAE. Each emirate has its own similar
office with its own website.
Offshore account
I have an offshore bank account in the
Isle of Man and will be returning to the
UK later this year. Will I have to close this
account when I move home? Can I move
the money to the UK at a later date and
will I be taxed on it when I am back?
There is no legal issue in maintaining
an offshore bank account when you are
UK resident for tax purposes provided the
appropriate declarations are made. You will
need to notify your bank of your new ad-
dress to ensure they are aware of your status
and when it changes.If you are resident in
the UK and move money from your offshore
bank account to one in the mainland UK
you should only be taxed on any interest
that is being transferred. Unlike UK bank
accounts, where interest is taxed on an
annual basis and partly deducted at source
depending on your tax bracket, offshore
banks operate a system of “gross roll up”
of interest, meaning tax is not deducted.
This means that if you transfer any inter-
est earned offshore to the UK this must be
declared just as you would declare income
and may be subject to income tax depending
on your total income and marginal tax rate.
Extending probation
I work for a five-star hotel in the UAE
and have finished my probation period.
My employer, however, wants to extend
my probation period by one more month.
I have signed a paper to agree to this ex-
tension. I only found out my notice period
had been extended after my agreed notice
period had ended. I am concerned they are
taking advantage as I don’t know the law
and I want to know what are my rights.
What to do?
The issue of the rights of employers and
employees is covered in UAE Labour Law
and this applies to the hotel and its staff.
Article 137 of the law states: “The worker
may be employed for a probation period not
exceeding six months where the employer
may terminate the services of the worker
without notification or end of service gratu-
ity. The worker may not be employed by the
same employer for more than one proba-
tion period. Should the worker successfully
complete the probation period and pursues
in his job, the said period shall be deemed
as a part of the service period.” Therefore,
if you have already been with the hotel for
six months, his probation period cannot
be extended and he will be considered a
permanent employee under UAE law. If,
however, the initial notice period was for
a shorter period and the additional month
takes the total period to no more than six
months, the probationary period can be
extended with the agreement of both par-
ties. As you signed a letter to this effect,
this will be considered to be his agreement
to the extension provided the law has not
been breached.
Lump sum to maid
I have employed a maid for several years
but my children are now grown up and
she will be leaving the country to return
to the Philippines. I want to make sure she
gets what she is entitled to but she says
the law has changed and now all helpers
must be paid an end of service gratuity. I
have not heard about this. If a gratuity is
payable, does this have to be backdated
to the start of service, so for six years --
which would be very expensive for me or
just from when this new law was passed?
How is it calculated?
Legislation to protect domestic workers
came into effect in Sept 2017 and this law,
Federal Law no 10 of 2017, was designed
to clarify the rights of all domestic em-
ployees and as well as housemaids. The
law also covers domestic drivers, nannies,
privately employed tutors and coaches,
private nurses and a few other specified
categories. It covers the way that contracts
of employment are set up, days of rest,
holidays, working hours, terminations and
disputes and states that their employment
rights fall under the remit of the Ministry
of HR and Emiratisation. When this new
law was initially discussed, there were
suggestions and requests that it included a
gratuity payment but this is not mentioned
on any UAE Government sites, so I am given
to understand it did not make it into the
final legislation. This means there is no
legal requirement for employers to pay any
gratuity to domestic staff on termination
of their employment. That said, there are
many cases where individual households
decide to make a lump sum payment to
their employees when they leave but they
are under no legal obligation to do so and
any payment is entirely discretionary.
Tax on alimony?
My husband and I are separating with the
intention of eventually getting divorced.
He plans to stay in the UAE, possibly
permanently, but my children and I will
be moving back to the UK in the next
few months. It has been agreed that he
will send money to my UK bank account
every month to support the children and
pay towards my bills. It is unlikely he will
spend more than a couple of months in the
UK each year to visit the children. Does
this will make a difference to the payments
he can make to me? Someone told me the
laws had recently changed and he could
be taxed on the money he sends if I am
residing in the UK. Has the tax situation
changed for a case such as ours?
The UK operates a system of indepen-
dent taxation for married couples, so you
will each be treated separately in respect
of liability for UK taxes and your tax
residency. You will be deemed UK resident
once you move back to the UK but he will
keep his status as UK non-resident for tax
purposes. This means he can send his UAE
income to the UK without it being liable
for UK income tax. There have been no
recent changes in the tax rules for British
expatriates nor have any been announced.
The rules last changed significantly in April
2013 when the Statutory Residency Test
came into effect and clarified the number
of days people can spend in the UK before
becoming liable for UK tax, based on cer-
tain circumstances and what are known as
“connecting factors”’. The previous guide-
line of 90 days is no longer relevant and
many people have found they can spend
more time in the UK than before without
jeopardising their tax status, although the
rules can be stricter if carrying out work
in the UK.
Three Indian teams win awards at NASA annual rover challenge
WASHINGTON: NASA has
awarded three teams from
India as part of the US
space agency’s annual Hu-
man Exploration Rover
Challenge which invites
high school and college
students to build and test
roving vehicles for future
missions to the Moon, Mars
and beyond. The team from
KIET Group of Institu-
tions in Ghaziabad, Uttar
Pradesh, won the “AIAA
Neil Armstrong Best Design
Award”, which recognises
systems best designed to
meet the Rover Challenge
performance requirements,
NASA said in a statement.
T h e M u k e s h Pa t e l
School of Technology Man-
agement and Engineering
from Mumbai, Maharash-
tra, won the “Frank Joe
Sexton Memorial Pit Crew
Award” — for ingenuity
and persistence in over-
coming problems during
the race — as well as the
“System Safety Challenge
Award”. A team from Love-
Indian sailor missing from ship off Dubai coast
ABU DHABI: A young In-
dian sailor aboard a ship,
which was anchored off a
coast in Dubai, has been
reported missing since
March 9, according to a
media report. The sailor,
identified as 23-year-old
Jagadeeswara Rao, had
come to the UAE as a
seaman in September last
year on a visa sponsored
by Emirates Shipping Com-
pany LLC, the report said.
Two Indians sentenced to six-months for stealing
DUBAI: Two Indians get six-month imprisonment for
stealing 900 juice boxes in Dubai. Two Indian expats
and a Pakistani were sentenced to six months of im-
prisonment by a Dubai
court for stealing 900
boxes of juice from a
food catering compa-
ny’s branch at a police
academy.
The court has also
imposed a fine of Dh
150,000 (approx Rs
28 lakh) on the trio.
They were also ordered
to pay a fine of Dh
23,760 (approx Rs 4.50
lakh) each, according
reports. The three will
be deported to their respective countries upon comple-
tion of their jail sentences.
The thefts took place at the company’s branch in Al
Barsha between April 2017 and May 2018. The stolen
Kuwait further hikes healthcare fees for expats
KUWAIT: Expatriates will
now have to pay a fee of
KD10 ($33) when getting
medical treatment at a poly-
clinic, Kuwait’s health min-
istry said.
The measure seeks to
ease congestion at public
hospitals, while allowing
government-run clinics to
take in more patients, it said.
The move comes after the
country increased healthcare
fees for foreigners for the
first time in more than two
decades in 2017.
At the time, the ministry
said that expatriates who
have annual health insur-
ance will need to pay KD2
($6.63) at a polyclinic, KD5
at a hospital, KD10 at out-
patient clinics and KD10 per
day at public wards.
ly Professional University
in Phagwara, Punjab, won
the “STEM Engagement
Award”, presented to the
team that best informed
others about rocketry and
other space-related topics.
Nearly 100 teams took
part in the competition,
hailing from a record num-
ber of countries, including
the US, Bangladesh, Bo-
livia, Brazil, the Dominican
Republic, Egypt, Ethiopia,
Germany, Mexico, Morocco
and Peru. Indian-American
NASA astronaut and two-
Rao disappeared from a
vessel that was anchored
3.5 miles off Port Rashid
in Dubai.
On March 9, Rao’s
friend “Dileep Kumar
called up his home in
Andhra Pradesh and in-
formed that Jagadeeswara
is missing from the ship,
where they worked togeth-
er,” D Ramu, a health and
safety manager at a Dubai
company where the sailor’s
A stay in intensive care
was also changed from being
free to costing KD30 ($100)
per day and a stay in a pri-
vate room in a hospital was
set at KD50 ($165.70) per
day not including surgeries,
tests and x-rays.
Friday, April 19, 2019
time spaceflight veteran
Sunita Williams attended
the second day of the event,
interacting with teams and
participating in the day’s
activities.
The International Space
Education Institute of
Leipzig, Germany, won first
place in the high school
division with 91 points;
and a team from University
of Puerto Rico Mayaguez
won the college/university
division with 101 points.
Teams were awarded points
based on the successful
father Srinivasa works as a
welder, was quoted as say-
ing by the report.
Rao was on duty on
the day he disappeared,
he said, adding that when
his reliever went to take
over the shift, he didn’t
find him on the ship’s
deck, following which he
immediately informed the
ship authorities and the
coastguards. A complaint
has been registered with
the Ports Police, Ramu said.
The Indian Consulate
in Dubai has also taken up
the matter with the local
authorities and is pursu-
ing it. “We had taken it
up with the foreign office,
the police and the Federal
Transport Authority. We
have been pursuing the
matter. However, they have
not been able to find him,”
the Consulate said.
products were worth Dh 23,760 (approx Rs 4.50 lakh).
According to the report, the 33-year-old Indian
warehouse keeper allowed his two transportation
bills that the merchandise was delivered and deposited
at the warehouse. The three have been convicted of
embezzlement, forgery, use of forged e-documents and
criminal complicity.
Maternity costs as well
as the prices for surgeries
were also increased.
Later that year, Kuwait
also more than doubled the
annual health insurance fees
for expats.
Reports said the fee was
navigation of obstacles and
completion of tasks. The
competition, hosted by NA-
SA’s Marshall
Space Flight
Center and
held at the US
Space & Rock-
et Center, this
year marked
25 years since
the inaugu-
ral event, the
statement said.
“We are so
proud to con-
gratulate this
year’s winners,
and every team that com-
peted,” said Bob Musgrove,
Acting Manager of the Of-
fice of STEM Engagement
at Marshall. “The creativ-
ity, skill and resourceful-
ness demonstrated each
year on the rover course are
the very traits that paved
our path to the Moon in
1969, and the ones that will
continue to carry NASA
forward to the Moon again
in 2024,” said Musgrove.
Two women elected to
Qatar municipal council
DOHA: Two women won
seats on Qatar’s 29-member
municipal council, the Gulf
emirate’s sole elected body,
the elections committee said
Sheikha al-Jafiri and
Fatima al-Kuwari retained
the seats they had won in
2015.
Five women were among
the 85 candidates standing
in election for the emirate-
wide council. The other
three failed to win seats.
“There was a large turn-
out by women and the num-
ber of female voters in my
constituency exceeded the
number of males, which in-
dicates their political aware-
ness,” Sheikha al-Jafairi said.
“I wish there were more
women but I tell them do
not despair and continue to
fight.” Qatar held its first
municipal election in 1999.
worker accomplices a
31-year-old Indian and
a 30-year-old Pakistani
to keep a large quantity
of juice boxes when
the deliveries were
made instead of de-
positing them at the
warehouse. They sold
the juice later.
While the keeper
collected Dh 10,800
(approx Rs 2 lakh)
from the unlawful deal,
he signed receipts and
increased from KD50 ($165)
to KD130 ($430) to cov-
er primary and secondary
healthcare.
Foreign residents cur-
rently make up around 70pc
of Kuwait’s 4.6 million popu-
lation.
 Friday, April 19, 2019
Indian exports touched $540b in 2018-19
I S
ndia recorded its high-
est ever exports in the
last fiscal accounting
for $540 billion trade. This
included $330 billion in
terms of merchandise ex-
port and $210 billion in
terms of services, noted
union minister for com-
merce and civil aviation
Suresh P Prabhu. India’s
trade deficit with China
that was a staggering $63
billion has come down
Wipro Q4 net up 38pc Instant car, two-wheeler loan from ICICI bank Sterling and Wilson files
I
T services giant Wipro
said its net profit in-
creased by 38.4pc to
Rs 2,493.9 crore in the
March 2019 quarter, and
announced a Rs 10,500
crore buyback programme.
The Bengaluru-based
company had posted a net
profit of Rs 1,800.8 crore
in the January-March 2018
period, Wipro said in a
Cabinet approves MoUs with five countries IOC to buy crude on real-time basis from New Delhi desk
T I
he Cabinet has ap-
proved the pact with
Cambodia for coop-
eration in communications.
With Denmark, the Cabinet
gave its approval for a co-
operation agreement in re-
newable energy with focus
on offshore wind energy.
The Cabinet was also
apprised about an MoU
signed in May 2018 with
Brazil to collaborate on
innovation in science and
technology besides biotech-
nology education, training
and research. The Cabinet
was apprised about an MoU
under which the Depart-
ment of Posts will issue
postage stamps on Queen
Hur Hwang-ok of South
Korea by 2019-end.
Wind Energy
An agreement was
Amazon to make premium phones affordable
A
mazon is work-
ing towards mak-
ing premium smart-
phones more affordable
for Indian customers by
partnering with banks,
financial institutions and
credit rating companies to
offer buyers credit options
to pay for the devices at
their convenience.
These steps, along with
efforts to constantly bring
on board a broader selec-
tion of smartphone brands,
are aimed at widening and
expanding Amazon’s foot-
print in this category.
“We’ve noticed the mo-
ment we provide some of
the affordability initiatives
to customers, we see an up-
tick in adoption and sales
of the brand,” Noor Patel,
director, category manage-
ment, Amazon India said.
Most mobile-phone compa-
nies have started funding
these affordability plans
by $10 billion in the last
fiscal resulting in saving
of Rs 70,000 crore to the
exchequer.
Prabhu who canvassed
support for DK MP Nalin
Kumar Kateel through road
shows and public meet-
ings, said by paring $10
billion in trade deficit
with China, India has
saved the amount that
would otherwise have to
be repatriated to the neigh-
BSE filing.
Its revenue from op-
erations - under IND AS
accounting norms - grew
8.9pc to Rs 15,006.3 crore
in the period under review
from Rs 13,768.6
crore in the year-
ago period.
For the full fiscal
(2018-19), Wipro
saw its net profit in-
creasing by 12.6pc
to Rs 9,017.9 crore,
while revenue from
operations was up
7.5pc to Rs 58,584.5
crore.
The Wipro board
has also approved a Rs
10,500 crore buyback plan
under which it will buy
back up to 32.3 crore shares
at Rs 325 apiece, the filing
added.
signed in March 2019 be-
tween India and Denmark
for cooperation in the field
of renewable energy with
focus on offshore wind
energy
“The Union Cabinet,
has given its approval for
a cooperation agreement
between Ministry of New
and Renewable Energy of
India and Ministry for En-
ergy, Utilities and Climate
of the Kingdom of Denmark
on strategic sector coopera-
because they see better
returns on investment.
On average, one in
three customers buys a
smartphone on a no cost
EMI basis and one in five
purchases a smartphone
on exchange, Patel said.
“Marrying affordability
with aspiration is the big-
gest insight that we have
got and we’re doubling
down on this one,” he said.
Demand in the pre-
mium smartphone cat-
egory (costing Rs 25,000
and above) on Amazon
India grew close to 33pc
in January-March from a
year earlier compared with
CORPORATE NEWS
bouring Communist giant.
The launch of industrial
corridors within too will
help the country in perk-
ing up its trade volumes,
results of which will be
visible soon.
Noting that his ministry
has finalised the agricul-
ture-export policy, Prabhu
said farmers of Karnataka
will benefit immensely
from it. This will facilitate
in the export of agriculture
and horticulture products,
he said, adding the policy
will also benefit fisher-
men in that fisheries is
an integral component of
the same. “We are looking
at export of value added
fisheries product which
has potential to be a major
foreign exchange earner,”
Prabhu noted.
P
rivate sector lender
ICICI Bank has an-
nounced the launch
of insta car and two-wheel-
er loans that will provide
existing customers final
sanction letters instantly.
The first service, called
‘Insta Auto Loan’, enables
over two million pre-ap-
proved customers to avail
the final sanction letter of
a car loan instantly and
digitally up to Rs 20 lakh
tion in the field of renew-
able energy with a focus on
offshore wind energy and a
letter of intent to establish
an Indo-Danish Centre of
Excellence for renewable
energy in India,” the state-
ment said.
The areas of co-
operation would
include technical
capacity building
for management
of offshore wind
projects, measures
to develop and
sustain a highly
efficient wind industry —
onshore as well as offshore,
measures to ensure high
quality of wind turbines,
components and certifica-
tion requirements, fore-
casting and scheduling of
offshore wind, it said.
40pc growth in demand
for mass phones (costing
between Rs 10,000 and
Rs 25,000) in the same
period.
The average sale price of
smartphones
in India is
expected to
rise by over
18pc to
$190-$210
(Rs 13,000-
Rs 15,000)
by this year-
end amid increasing de-
mand for mid-segment
devices with premium
features, according to ana-
lysts from Counterpoint
Technology Market Re-
search, International Data
Corporation and techARC.
“We’ve seen a shift in
ASPs of smartphones. To
meet the aspirations of
the Indian consumers, we
need to target affordability
of smartphones,” said Patel.
NHPC to tap into overseas funding
tate-run power pro-
ducer NHPC is hop-
ing to tap lending
institutions based abroad
in order to raise funds for
its hydel power capacity
expansion projects, in an
effort to beef up its hydel
power production capacity
by nearly a third to ten
gigawatt by 2022. NHPC’s
current generation capacity
stands at around 7.1 GW,
and the company is look-
ing to shell out a capital
expenditure of up to Rs
3,800 crore for the finan-
cial year ending March
2020. The company has
spent a capex of around
Rs 2,000 crore in the pre-
vious financial year ended
March 2019.
“The government has
recognised large hydro-
for a tenure of up to seven
years, ICICI Bank said in a
statement.
The second initiative,
named ‘Insta Two-Wheeler
Loan’, offers over 12 mil-
lion pre-approved custom-
ers the facility to get instant
sanction of loan up to
Rs 2 lakh
for a ten-
ure of up
to three
years, it
said. Both
the plans
will offer
100 per
cent of
the on-
road price of the vehicle,
it added.
“Armed with the sanc-
tion letter, which is valid
for 15 days, the customer
ndia’s top refiner Indian
Oil Corp (IOC) has set
up a trading desk at its
office in Delhi to buy crude
oil from international market
on a real-time basis, helping
it cut import price by lock-
ing in best price and quality,
it’s Director (Finance) A K
Sharma said.
IOC, which buys 30pc
(15 million tonne) of its oil
requirement from spot or
current market, had set up a
trading office in Singapore in
2017 but has now developed
in-house software and trad-
ing team to buy crude oil on
a real-time basis.
It made the first purchase
through the desk on March
25 when it bought one mil-
lion barrel of Nigeria’s Ag-
bami crude, he said. While
private sector firms like Reli-
Telangana to add
1,000 MW solar power
T
elangana will add
another 1,000 MW
of solar energy ca-
pacity in next six to eight
months taking the total
installed capacity to over
4,500 MW, a senior offi-
cial said. Telangana stands
second in solar with a total
generation capacity of over
3,500 MW.
Another 1,000 MW are
in the pipeline which will
be commissioned likely
in the next six to eight
months, Telangana State
Renewable Energy Devel-
opment Corporation Ltd
Vice-Chairman and MD N
Janaiah said.
power as renewable energy
which might help us ac-
cess cheaper funding from
multilateral lending insti-
tutions,” said Balraj Joshi,
chairman and managing di-
rector at NHPC. Currently,
the state-owned
hydropower de-
veloper is in ini-
tial discussions
with AFD (Agence
Fr a n ç a i s e d e
Développement)
and KfW in order
to lend around Rs
2,800 crore for its
Teesta-IV project
for a tenure of 18 years.
“They have also shown
interest. We have request-
ed World Bank and Japan
International Cooperation
Agency too for the same
project and are trying to
can simply visit his/her
preferred vehicle dealer
across the country, select
the vehicle, submit final
documents and get the loan
disbursed in a few working
hours. This is a marked im-
provement over the current
average of few days that a
customer needs to complete
the entire process,” it said.
Leveraging upon data
analytics and technology,
the bank has introduced
a bouquet of instant prod-
ucts, including the coun-
try’s first instant credit
card, insta personal loan,
instant digital credit called
PayLater, insta overdraft
facility for MSMEs, in-
stant opening of Public
Provident Fund account
facility, among others, the
bank said.
ance Industries have had a
local trading desk for buying
of crude and exporting fuel
it produces, IOC would be
the first state-owned refiner
to set up such a desk.
Sharma said the Singa-
pore desk was used to buy
crude oil on a short-tender
basis where the purchase
was decided in two-hour
time after receipt of offers
from an international seller.
This is compared to 10 hours
Businesses with TO over Rs 2 cr can now
start filing GST audit reports for FY18
B
usinesses with an
annual turnover of
over Rs 2 crore can
now start filing GST audit
reports for fiscal 2017-18 as
GST Network (GSTN) has
made its format available
on its portal. The audit
report for 2017-18, the
first year of the goods and
services tax (GST) imple-
mentation, is to be filed
by June 30.
The ministry on De-
cember 31, 2018, notified
the annual returns forms
GSTR-9, GSTR-9A and
GSTR-9C. The GST Council
in December extended the
last date for filing these
forms by three months to
June 30.
GSTN has now made
available offline utility of
GSTR-9C which can be
filled up by taxpayer and
uploaded on the portal.
tap Canadian Pensions
Funds and Australian
fund,” said Joshi, adding
that the company would
fix the deal as and when
it gets the best deal.
NHPC is also eyeing
renewable energy inves-
tors from across the world.
“We will be conducting a
roadshow soon in Singa-
pore where we will float
these requirements. Be-
sides Teesta-VI and Teesta-
for Rs 4,500 crore IPO
S
terling and Wilson,
a solar engineering,
procure-
ment and con-
struction firm
promoted by
Shapoorji Pal-
lonji and Com-
pany has filed
draft papers
with markets
regulator Sebi
to raise about
Rs 4,500 cr
through an initial public
offer.
The IPO will be an offer
for sale by the company’s
chairman Khurshed Yazdi
Daruvala and Shapoorji
Pallonji and Company, ac-
cording to the Draft Red
Herring Prospectus (DRHP).
taken to decide on purchase
in traditional tenders.
But with a trading desk
at its office in the national
capital, IOC is deciding on
purchases on a real-time
basis, he said. “This helps us
get the best price and most
suitable, value giving crude,”
he said.
In traditional tenders as
well as short tenders floated
through the Singapore office,
IOC would seek quotations
from international sellers for
a particular grade and quan-
tity of crude oil. It would
decide on the price based
on the lowest bid rate with
no scope of any negotiations
on the offer.
However, with the trading
desk now, it on a real-time
basis negotiates with crude
traders, often pitching price
GSTR-9 is the annual
return form for all taxpay-
ers registered under GST,
GSTR-9A is for composi-
tion taxpayers.
GSTR-9C is a reconcili-
ation statement, duly veri-
fied and signed by a char-
tered accountant or a cost
accountant, and required to
be furnished along with fil-
ing of annual return by the
taxpayer whose turnover is
above Rs 2 crore during a
financial year.
EY Tax Partner Abhishek
Jain said the industry was
long awaiting the offline
7
IV, we also need funding
for the Ratle project which
is in Jammu and Kash-
mir,” he said. Meanwhile,
NHPC is looking at taking
over some of the country’s
stressed hydel power proj-
ects to expand its
generation capac-
ity.
For instance,
it says it is inter-
ested in bidding
for Athena Ener-
gy’s Demwe proj-
ect in Arunachal
Pradesh. “After
successfully win-
ning the bid for Lanco
Teesta-VI, we are eyeing
the 1,750-MW capacity
Demwe hydro project as
the tariff is cheaper and
the cost of the project is
also lesser,” said Joshi.
ICICI Securities, Axis Capi-
tal, Credit Suisse Securities
(India), Deutsche Equities
India, IIFL Holdings, SBI
Capital Markets are the
global coordinators and
book running lead manag-
ers. IndusInd Bank and
YES Securities (India) are
the book running lead man-
agers to the issue.
of one with another to get
the best rate. “We have set
up a compliance process,”
he said. “We have estab-
lished an in-house process
where four traders, without
interacting with one another,
lock in the best available
price. A supervisor, who
does not have the benefit
of the identity of the seller,
then instructs for further ne-
gotiations on an offer based
on offers from other sellers.
The traders then negotiate
with the seller to bring down
the price.”
IOC plans to transfer the
trading desk once it stabilises
in Singapore to do the real-
time purchase of quantities
of crude oil it buys from the
spot market. Also, it could
trade on fuel its refineries
would export, he said.
utility and the mechan-
ics of filing the GSTR-9C
online.
“Clarifications like digi-
tal signature of auditor be-
ing required, balance sheet
and profit/loss account
being attached, etc, should
help businesses plan well
for executing this compli-
ance,” Jain said.
AMRG & Associates
Partner Rajat Mohan said
timely availability of the
utility for filing GST an-
nual audit report is a great
assistance to taxpayers,
especially those having a
multi-locational places of
business.
“Taxpayers have more
than 75 days to file GST
annual audit reports and in
case they start early then
there would be no need for
any extensions on the last
day,” Mohan added.
 8 Travel / Entertainment Friday, April 19, 2019

Jet Airways’ last flight

lands in Mumbai
J
et Airways’ last flight (S2
3502) from Amritsar to
Mumbai landed at Mum-
bai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji
Maharaj International Air-
port (CSMIA) at around
12:20 am on Thursday, after
the airline announced on
Wednesday that it is tempo-
rarily suspending all flight
operations.
Jet Airways has tempo-
rarily suspended all flight
operations. This comes
close on the heels of lend-
ers rejecting a Rs 400 crore
emergency funding.
In a statement announc-
ing the suspension of its
flight operations, Jet Air-
ways said that it was in
“constant engagement with
the Directorate General of
Civil Aviation and Ministry
of Civil Aviation in this
regard”.
Spicejet to add five more 90-seater
Bombardier Q400s to fleet
B
udget carrier SpiceJet
said it plans to ex-
pand its regional jet
fleet to 32 aircraft by adding
five more 90-seater Bombar-
dier Q400s.
The move is aimed at
augmenting capacity in the
domestic markets especially
on regional routes, following
the near collapse of Jet Air-
ways, which has resulted in
massive surge in air fares be-
sides mismatch in demand
and supply amid peak travel
season.
Three of these planes
will join the fleet in the next
ten days while the remain-
ing two will be inducted
by June, SpiceJet said in a country’s largest regional The 90-seater variant is ber 2017 worth $ 1.7 billion.
statement. operator, SpiceJet will make part of SpiceJet’s second pur- Spicejet has already
The Gurugram-based no- inducted five
frills carrier had last week planes as part
announced dry leasing of of this order. It
16 Boeing 737-800 NG for also operates a
the carrier. “As part of our 78-seater vari-
efforts to augment capac- ant of the same
ity and minimise passenger aircraft. SpiceJet
inconvenience, SpiceJet will operates 516 aver-
induct five more Q400s in age daily flights to
addition to the 16 B737s we 60 destinations,
announced last week,” Spice- including 51 do-
Jet chairman and managing mestic and 9 in-
director Ajay Singh said. ternational ones.
The sudden reduction of The airline
aviation capacity should in has a fleet of 48
no way hamper air connec- Boeing 737, 27
tivity to the smaller towns all possible efforts in this chase order for up to 50 Q400 Bombardier Q-400s and one
and cities of India and as the direction, Singh said. turboprops placed in Septem- B737 freighter.

Air travel likely to get cheaper Etihad Airways, IBS Software sign contract
to improve operational efficiency
as DGCA reviews airfares
I
n a landmark develop- a press release said. fective decision making for

A
s airfares soared
and flights were can-
celled, aviation reg-
ulator DGCA asked airlines
to reduce fares on ten high-
density domestic routes to
“reasonable levels.
A senior official at DGCA
said that ticket prices on
high-density routes have
risen up to 30pc in last
one month. Civil Aviation
Secretary Pradeep Singh
Kharola said that aviation
ministry will also convene
a meeting of airlines, airport
representatives over capac-
ity expansion and airfare
issues on April 18. Kharola
also said that 90pc of Jet’s
slots which are not being
used were being temporarily
distributed to other airlines.
He added that around
21 planes are expected to
be added to the fleet of
domestic carriers by the
end of May. Together, there
would be a good number of
additional planes to meet
the peak season demand, the
regulatory officer said. Some
of the airlines are also in dis-
cussions with lessors to take
deregistered aircraft of Jet
Airways. SpiceJet recently
had announced inducting
16 Boeing planes, which
were used by Jet Airways
earlier.
Earlier in the day, Civil
Aviation Minister Suresh
Prabhu had called for a
review of issues related
to struggling Jet Airways,
including rising fares and
flight cancellations.
“Directed Secretary @
MoCA_GoI to review issues
related to Jet Airways, espe-
cially increasing fares, flight
cancellations etc,” Prabhu
said in a tweet.
Reeling under a debt
of over Rs 8,000 crore, Jet
Airways has grounded al-
most its entire fleet and is
currently operating only 5
planes, according to civil
aviation officials. The man-
agement of the airline has
sought funds from the lend-
ers to remain operational,
but lenders are yet to final-
ize any plan on this.
Unconfirmed reports
said that Jet Airways which
held a board meeting re-
quested the release of at
least Rs 400 crore from lend-
ers. Jet CEO Vinay Dube is
believed to have written a
letter to chief lender SBI in
this regard. The manage-
ment also reportedly has
warned lenders that it has
board’s approval to halt all
operations if lenders don’t
agree to finance.
In a filing to BSE, Jet
Airways reacted to queries
from the stock exchanges
on a media report that said
“Jet Airways likely to tempo-
rarily shut down its opera-
tions” stating it is awaiting
emergency liquidity sup-
port from the consortium of
lenders led by State Bank
of India.
It said that the opera-
tions have been severely
impacted due to the liquid-
ity conditions and added
“The company’s leader-
ship, in consultation with
its Board of Directors, is
engaged with lenders in
I
connection with the said
emergency funding request
to arrest further deteriora-
tion of its services and
minimize inconvenience to
its guests.”
ment, Etihad Airways,
the national airline of the
UAE, and IBS Software (IBS)
have signed a contract to en-
hance the airline’s operations.
IBS, a leading provider
of new generation IT travel
solutions, was selected to
replace the airline’s existing
network control system and
develop a hub management
system, allowing the airline’s
employees to move away
from manual processes to
highly intuitive technology.
This is expected to help
Etihad increase its on-time
performance, improve oper-
ational efficiency, maintain
network integrity and to
enhance hub connectivity,
India seeks bids for construction
of Expo 2020 Dubai pavilion
ndia’s NBCC (formerly
National Buildings Con-
struction Corporation
Limited) has invited tenders
from leading Dubai-based
developers and engineering
Under the contract, Eti-
had Airways would use IBS
solutions to automate the
monitoring and manage-
ment of guests and baggage
journeys, especially when
the journey involves a con-
nection through the airline’s
Abu Dhabi Hub.
At a global level, the
technology would allow
for more efficient aircraft
assignment and flight track-
ing, throughout the air-
line’s network. The new
systems would also enable
enhanced situational aware-
ness through dashboards
and alerts presented to the
operational control team, as
well as faster and more ef-
operational issues through
suggested resolutions.
“Through this strategic
partnership, we are delight-
ed to integrate IBS technol-
ogy into our control centres
to fulfil our commitment
to delivering exceptional
service,” Vice President
Global Airports & Network
Operations, Etihad Airways,
John Wright said.
VK Mathews, Executive
Chairman of IBS Group said
this deal demonstrates the
industry acceptance of IBS’s
technology solutions to ef-
fectively support the needs
of an airline renowned for
its disciplined business
practices.

Dubai Gurdwara to hold daily iftar during Ramzan

companies for the construc-
tion of the country pavilion
at the Expo 2020 gala event

I
n a heart-warming ges-
ture, the UAE’s only
Sikh Gurdwara in
Dubai, will host iftar for
workers throughout the
holy month of Ramzan,
offering vegetarian meals,
according to a media re-
Five US-Indians awarded
port. The Gurdwara in
Jebel Ali, which has been
hosting an interfaith iftar
during every Ramzan in
the past six years, will of- val celebration.
fer iftar meals to workers
in the area everyday dur- lim workers here. There
ing this year’s Ramadan,
Surender Singh Kandhari,
the chairman of the Guru
Nanak Darbar Gurdwara,
said during Baisakhi festi-
“There are a lot of Mus-
EXCHANGE RATES
are not many places from to be held in the city next
where they can break fast. year.
We will invite these work- The mega pavilion will
ers to have iftar from our be built at an estimated cost
gurdwara,” Kandhari said. of Dh109.5 million ($30 mil-
He said the free vegetarian lion), it stated. and operation and mainte- last date for submitting the
meal (langar) offered to ev- The global open per- nance of the facility. The tenders is May 10, it added.
ery visitor in the gurdwara centage rate e-tenders are
will be given to those visit- open to only those compa-
ing to break the fast also. nies based in Dubai which
“We will add dates, have a valid licence or
fruits, rose milk, buttermilk registration from the gov-
and some Indian snacks ernment, said the Delhi- Subscription Form
like pakora, samosa also for based company in its tender
them. We expect to host 100 notification. Name .................................................
to 200 people every day dur- The scope of work in- Address .............................................
ing Ramzan,” said Kandhari. cludes design, engineering
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grievances of overseas placement community. This council Duration Issues By Post By Courier

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th 6 Months 52 375/- 1000/-
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10th Floor, Navjivan Commercial Premises Co-op. Society Ltd., Lamington Road, (Dr.D.B.Marg), Mumbai Central, Mumbai - 400 008. • Editor: E.L. Vaidyanathan • Volume No.: 1, Issue No. 55 • RNI No. MAHENG/2018/76663.