1. Home
  2. Indian-origin loses job for posting torn Singapore flag

Indian-origin loses job for posting torn Singapore flag

Agencies
August 29, 2018

Singapore, Aug 29: An Indian-origin employee of Singapore's DBS Bank has lost his job after he posted on Facebook an image of the country's torn flag to reveal the Indian flag underneath on the eve of India's Independence Day.

Avijit Das Patnaik had on August 14 posted a picture on the Facebook page of the Singapore Indians & Expats group, showing the Singapore flag on a T-shirt being ripped up to reveal the Indian flag underneath. The group has 11,000 members, according to a Channel News Asia report.

Patnaik, who had been living in Singapore for a decade, had posted the image along with the caption -- Phir Bhi dil hai (Still my heart is Indian)and alludes to a popular bollywood song.

The post had caused outrage in the city-state, with many netizens terming it "offensive" and "insulting to Singapore". The post has since been taken down.

Singapore-headquartered DBS Bank, in a comment to complaints on its Facebook page on August 19, had said that Patnaik had posted the image because he "wanted to show that even as he is in Singapore, he remains Indian at heart".

"Upon realising the graphic was offensive, he took it down immediately," DBS said, adding that it had counselled Patnaik.

Today, the Bank released a statement on its Facebook page, saying that Patnaik was no longer its employee.

"Since the incident, a disciplinary committee has been convened and as of August 24, he (Patnaik) is no longer with the bank," the DBS Bank said in the post.

"DBS strongly disapproves of such actions by our employees. At the same time, it is fair and right that all employees are given the benefit of due process," it said.

When asked about the circumstances surrounding Patnaik's departure, including whether he resigned or was sacked, a DBS spokesman declined to elaborate, according to the report.

"We have nothing further to share beyond the post," it said quoting the bank as saying.

According to the Singapore Arms and Flag National Anthem Act, any person that treats the flag with disrespect may be fined a maximum of 1,000 Singapore dollar.

Meanwhile, according to the Channel NewsAsia report, police have confirmed that a report has been made and investigations are underway.

Comments

Kumarrane
 - 
Wednesday, 29 Aug 2018

FEKU effect...now all the majority DOGS think that they can do anything...

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
February 27,2020

Dubai, Feb 27: Twenty two people have died so far from the new coronavirus in Iran, the official Iranian news agency IRNA reported in a chart it published on Thursday.

The number of people diagnosed with the disease is 141, the chart showed. It did not specify whether those who have died were included in the tally of those infected.

Iranian officials on Wednesday reported a total of 139 cases of coronavirus and 19 deaths.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
June 16,2020

New Delhi, Jun 16: Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday demanded a rollback of hike in fuel prices, saying the government's decision to increase the prices of petrol and diesel during the coronavirus crisis is "wholly insensitive" and "ill-advised".

The government is doing nothing short of "profiteering off its people" when they are down and out, she said in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Petrol and diesel prices were hiked for the 10th day in a row on Tuesday.

"I am deeply distressed that in these exceedingly difficult times since the beginning of March, the government has taken the wholly insensitive decision to increase petrol and diesel prices on no less than ten separate occasions," Gandhi said in her letter.

She accused the government of earning an additional revenue of nearly Rs 2.6 lakh crore through these "ill-advised" hikes in excise duty and increase in prices of petrol and diesel.

"I urge you to roll back these increases and pass on the benefit of low oil prices directly to the citizens of this country.

"If you wish for them to be 'self-reliant' then do not place financial fetters on their ability to move forward," the Congress president said.

Gandhi also urged the government to use its resources to put money directly into the hands of those in need in these times of severe hardship.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
July 29,2020

New Delhi, Jul 29: Coronavirus infections in India continue to mount as the country's total case tally crossed the 15-lakh mark.

India added 48,513 fresh cases in 24 hours, taking the total tally to over 15.3 lakh, according to the Health Ministry’s 8 a.m. update on July 29.

Key Figures

Total number of confirmed coronavirus cases: 15,31,669
Active cases: 5,09,447
Cured/discharged/migrated: 9,88,029
Deaths: 34,193
Number of fresh cases in 24 hours: 48,513
One-day recoveries: 35,175
One-day deaths: 768
India’s coronavirus epidemic is growing at the fastest pace in the world, increasing 20% over the last week, according to Bloomberg’s Coronavirus Tracker. Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka are among the states where the maximum number of daily cares are being reported.

Fresh cases continued to come in at a heightened pace, hovering just below 50,000 for the last six days.

Moderna Inc.’s vaccine candidate against Covid-19 protected against the virus in a trial that inoculated 16 monkeys, an encouraging step on the path to a defense for humans against the pandemic. Pfizer Inc., however, is preparing for the novel coronavirus to endure, leading to long-term demand for a seasonal shot to protect against Covid-19.

“There is a likely scenario that either the vaccine’s immunity will not be lasting forever,” said Chief Executive Officer Albert Bourla in an interview Tuesday, “or that the virus will mutate, or that the virus will find ways to come back again and again.”

Even as the transmission rate of Covid-19 remains high in India, the pace of recovery has risen too. On Wednesday, India reported its third day of over 35,000 recoveries.

Global Update

Flare-ups in virus cases from Hong Kong to Europe are proving difficult for policy makers to wrangle. The U.S. neared 150,000 deaths from Covid-19, even as daily infections slowed in some hard-hit states. China reported 101 new cases, up from 68 a day earlier, with 98 of the total from local infections, mostly in Xinjiang.

Philippine health authorities warned that hospitals and infirmaries risk getting overwhelmed.

Globally, confirmed Covid-19 cases have topped 16.6 million with over 658,000 dead.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.