No more than 10K pilgrims for Hajj 2020. Here are the protocols

Dubai, Apr 29: Dubai on April 23 was a suicide, Dubai Police confirmed to Gulf News on Wednesday.

According to Dubai Police, he committed suicide by jumping from a building in Business Bay.

“We received a report about a man plunging to his death from the 14th floor of a friend's building on Thursday. The businessman committed suicide over financial problems,” Brigadier Abdullah Khadim Bin Sorour, director of Bur Dubai Police Station, told Gulf News.

Joy Arakkal receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award from Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan

The police ruled out any criminal suspicion behind the suicide and said they are coordinating with the businessman’s family for the repatriation of his body.

A UAE Gold Card visa recipient, Arakkal was the managing director of Dubai-headquartered Innova Group of Companies which had diverse businesses, with major focus in the oil sector. He is survived by his wife Celine and children, Arun and Ashly, who live in Jumeirah.

Consul General of India in Dubai Vipul confirmed to Gulf News that Arakkal’s family is set to fly home with his body after Indian authorities gives them special permission to travel in a chartered air ambulance.

“They have received the NOCs (No Objection Certificates) from India. We have taken it up with the UAE MoFAIC (Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation) for necessary permits from the UAE side,” Vipul said.

Once the approval is received, a chartered air ambulance will fly in from Bangalore to carry the family and the mortal remains of Arakkal.

Quiet embalming service

A few social workers and community leaders, who were coordinating with Arakkal’s family for the repatriation procedures, attended the embalming service was on Tuesday.

“Only the family members and a few of his employees were present apart from us,” said advocate Hashik T.K.

He said M.K. Raghavan, a member of Indian parliament from Kerala, and R. Harikumar of Elite Group in the UAE, offered great support for securing approvals from Indian authorities.

“We have been requesting the central and state governments to consider the emotional aspect of traditional funeral process in the case of expats who die abroad.”

He said almost two dozen bodies have been flown to India in the past few weeks on cargo flights. But, no family member was allowed to accompany the bodies so far.

Besides Arakkal’s family, the Indian government also issued immigration clearance for the family of a cancer patient from Nottingham, who is seeking treatment, to fly down to Calicut International Airport in Kerala.

Quarantine and funeral
On reaching Kerala, the family members would follow the quarantine procedures as per the government rules, Hashik said.

Arakkal’s’s funeral will be held in his hometown in Mananthavady in Wayanad district where he had built a 45,000sqfit mansion, one of the biggest houses in Kerala, last year.

“It is sad that he could stay in that house for a month or so only,” said a community member.

He said Arakkal had built houses for the poor and also funded the weddings of several young couples back home.

His companies include oil refineries, petrochemical trading, ISO tank cleaning services, shipping services and a telecom company working for infrastructure projects in the UAE.

He had received many awards including a lifetime achievement award from the Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan during his visit to Dubai.

Riyadh, Mar 26: The video summit of the G20 leaders slated for Thursday will unite the global response to the coronavirus pandemic, Saudi Arabia's King Salman said.
"As the world confronts the COVID-19 pandemic and the challenges to healthcare systems and the global economy, we convene this extraordinary G20 summit to unite efforts towards a global response. May God spare humanity from all harm," tweeted King Salman, who will chair the summit.
The summit will be held today via video conference with an aim to advance a coordinated global response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its human and economic implications, the Kingdom had said yesterday in a statement.
India is a member nation of the G20 group. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will take part in the summit, said that the Group of 20 (G20) has an important role to play in the fight against coronavirus.
He said: "The G20 has an important global role to play in addressing the #COVID19 pandemic. I look forward to productive discussions tomorrow at the G20 Virtual Summit, being coordinated by the Saudi G20 Presidency."
The other members of the group include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the UK, the US, and the European Union.
Several international organisations -- including the United Nations, World Bank, the World Health Organization and the World Trade Organization will take part.

Leaders from the Food and Agriculture Organization, the Financial Stability Board, the International Labour Organization, International Monetary Fund, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development -- will also be the part of the conference.

Regional organisations will be represented by: Vietnam, the Chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN); South Africa, the Chair of the African Union (AU); the United Arab Emirates, the Chair of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC); and Rwanda, the Chair of the New Partnership for Africa's Development.

Abu Dhabi, May 18: Bollywood superstar Salman Khan has recorded a special message for Indian expats in the UAE as the country fights the coronavirus pandemic.

Khan - one of the biggest stars of Bollywood for decades - enjoys a large fan following in the Gulf, which is why Abu Dhabi roped in the actor to record a special video message for expats, urging them to cooperate with authorities in the capital and the country as they carry out sanitisation and testing programmes.

In the video, tweeted by the Abu Dhabi Media Office on Sunday night, the superstar appeals to Indians in Abu Dhabi to become heroes by staying home (stepping out for essential work/errands only), following precautionary measures and simply 'do the right thing' by getting tested if they have any Covid-19-related symptoms.

"كونوا أبطالاً، وقوموا بالعمل الصائب"
النجم الشهير سلمان خان، والذي صور أفلاماً عديدة في أبوظبي، يناشد الجالية الهندية باغتنام كرم وإنسانية حكومة وشعب أبوظبي، والتعاون معها من خلال الالتزام بتعليمات الجهات المعنية وإجراء الفحوصات عند ظهور أي عوارض الإصابة بفيروس كوفيد-19. pic.twitter.com/PVfaWg2j4z

— مكتب أبوظبي الإعلامي (@admediaoffice) May 17, 2020

Khan, who has shot his recent super hit films (Race 3) in the capital, assured expats that Abu Dhabi authorities will not leave the community in these challenging times as it is a hospitable city who takes care of all residents.

"Following preventive measures also protects your family from the virus - so do the right thing as heroes do," Khan concludes.

The second phase of Abu Dhabi's sanitisation and testing in labour areas is underway, which started on May 16. Special testing facilities have been set up in the city for this purpose that test thousands of workers everyday.

As of May 17, UAE has confirmed over 23,000 cases along with over 8,000 recoveries and 220 deaths.

The country recently made a breakthrough in treating Covid-19 by using stem cells to help with the recovery.

The UAE leadership has thanked citizens and residents for their cooperation and assured that the country will take care of everyone in the country - with food and medicines being the red line, and that there will be no shortage of either during the crisis. Stimulus packages have been announced to help businesses stay afloat.