Call for sacking of Indian-origin chef in UAE after 'anti-Islam' tweet

Agencies
June 12, 2018

Dubai, Jun 13: A popular Indian-origin chef in the United Arab Emirates has landed in a controversy after he allegedly posted an anti-Islam tweet, triggering calls for his sacking, a media report said on Tuesday.

Atul Kochhar, a Michelin-Star chef well known here for his Rang Mahal Indian restaurant at the JW Marriott Marquis hotel, received flak after taking a dig at Bollywood actor Priyanka Chopra for her tweet over an episode in American television series 'Quantico' that purportedly portrayed Hindu nationalists as terrorists, the Khaleej Times reported.

"It's sad to see that you (Priyanka) have not respected the sentiments of Hindus who have been terrorized by Islam over 2000 years. Shame on You (sic)," Kochhar tweeted. He later deleted the tweet and apologised for the "major error" that was "made in the heat of the moment on Sunday", the paper said.

"There is no justification for my tweet ... I fully recognise my inaccuracies that Islam was founded around 1400 years ago and I sincerely apologise. I am not Islamophobic, I deeply regret my comments that have offended many," Kochhar tweeted yesterday.

The anti-Islam tweet created a furore on social media, with twitterati calling for firing the chef. Popular commentator and Arab journalist Khaled Almaeena tweeted: "You (Kochhar) have offended me..As a person who loves India its people no matter what their caste or creed. As a secular and liberal, it truly is a horror statement."

Some said they would boycott the restaurant. "Chef celebrity showed his true colours. I won't eat here after reading the racist tweets by the head chef," a UAE resident posted on his Facebook page.

"I have cancelled my wedding anniversary meal for next month at your restaurant. You knew exactly what you meant as you tweeted that message," another Twitter user added.

JW Marriot hotel, however, distanced itself from the chef's comments. "We are aware of the comments made by Chef Atul Kochhar. We would like to stress that we do not share the same views as stated in the remark, nor is it a representation of the culture of diversity and inclusion that we pride ourselves on at the hotel," the hotel tweeted yesterday.

Comments

Muslim
 - 
Wednesday, 13 Jun 2018

kick him out of UAE....he eats muslim money and bashes islam.. coward

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News Network
July 3,2020

New Delhi, Jul 3: India reported the highest ever single-day spike of 20,903 COVID-19 cases in 24 hours on Friday, said the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

With these new cases, India's coronavirus tally has risen to 6,25,544 cases of which 2,27,439 patients are active cases while 3,79,892 patients have been cured/discharged/migrated.

379 more deaths due to COVID-19 were reported in the country in the last 24 hours, taking the number of deaths due to the infection to 18,213.

As per the Health Ministry, Maharashtra -- the worst-affected state from the virus -- has a total of 1,86,626 cases including 8,178 fatalities while Tamil Nadu has 98,392 coronavirus cases in the state inclusive of 1,321 fatalities.

Delhi has reported 92,175 cases so far inclusive of 2,864 patients succumbing to the virus.

The Indian Council of Medical Research on Friday said that the total number of samples tested till July 2 is 92,97,749 of which 2,41,576 samples were tested on Thursday.

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News Network
January 3,2020

New Delhi, Jan 3: US aviation regulator Federal Aviation Administration on Thursday warned America's airlines and their pilots that there is risk involved in operating flights in Pakistan airspace due to "extremist or militant activity", according to an official document.

"Exercise caution during flight operations. There is a risk to US civil aviation operating in the territory and airspace of Pakistan due to extremist/militant activity," said the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in a notice to airmen (NOTAM) dated December 30, 2019.

The NOTAM is applicable to all US-based airlines and US-based pilots.

The US regulator said in its NOTAM that there continues to be a risk to US civil aviation sector from attacks against airports and aircraft in Pakistan, particularly for aircraft on the ground and aircraft operating at low altitudes, including during the arrival and departure phases of flights.

"The ongoing presence of extremist/militant elements operating in Pakistan poses a continued risk to US civil aviation from small-arms fire, complex attacks against airports, indirect weapons fire, and anti-aircraft fire, any of which could occur with little or no warning," it said.

The FAA said that while, to date, there have been no reports of man-portable air defense systems or Manpads being used against the civil aviation sector in Pakistan, some extremist or terrorist groups operating there are suspected of having access to these Manpads.

"As a result, there is potential risk for extremists/militants to target civil aviation in Pakistan with Manpads," it said.

The regulator added that pilots or airlines must report safety or security incidents - which may happen in Pakistan - to the FAA.

Pakistan on July 16 last year opened its airspace for India after about five months of restrictions imposed in the wake of a standoff with New Delhi.

Following the Balakot airstrikes by the Indian Air Force, Pakistan had closed its airspace on February 26 last year.

Pakistan in October last year had denied India's request to allow Prime Minister Narendra Modi's VVIP flight to use its airspace for his visit to Saudi Arabia over the Jammu and Kashmir issue.

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News Network
May 27,2020

New Delhi, May 27: With 6,387 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, India's count of COVID-19 rose to 1,51,767 on Wednesday, said the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

170 people have also died in the last 24 hours due to the infection.

Currently, there are 83,004 active cases while 64,425 COVID-19 positive patients have been cured/discharged and one has migrated. So far, a total of 4,337 deaths have taken place across the country.

Among all states, Maharashtra has the highest number of COVID-19 cases with 54,758. Tamil Nadu has 17,728 cases with Gujarat at 14,821 cases. The national capital has 14,465 reported cases of coronavirus.

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