Ram temple issue: Ravi Shankar in touch with Imams, swamis

Dubai, Apr 11: An Indian expat in the UAE is facing police action for allegedly insulting Islam on social media in response to a Facebook post on the coronavirus, according to a media report.

Rakesh B Kitturmath, who worked as a team leader at Emrill Services, an integrated facilities management (FM) headquartered in Dubai, was sacked on Thursday after his post sparked outrage on social media, the Gulf News reported.

“Kitturmath’s employment stands terminated with immediate effect. He will be handed over to Dubai Police. We have a zero-tolerance policy towards such hate crimes,” said Stuart Harrison, CEO of Emrill Services.

"As an organisation, we have worked hard over the years to embrace diversity and create a culture of inclusion, where every nationality, religion and background is welcomed and celebrated. We have a strict social media policy for our employees to ensure they respect our values, both inside and outside of work," the newspaper quoted Harrison as saying.

Harrison said they are trying to find out if Kitturmath was still in the UAE, according to the report.

“We have over 8,500 employees so this may take a while. That said, we have fired him. If he’s still in the country, he will be handed over to Dubai Police,” he said.

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Originally from Ranebennuri, Karnataka, Kitturmath joins an ever-growing list of Indian ex-pats who have landed in trouble for alleged Islamophobic messages in recent days.

Earlier this week, Abu Dhabi resident Mitesh Udeshi was sacked for posting a cartoon mocking Islam on his Facebook page while a police complaint was filed against Sameer Bhandari of Future Vision Events & Weddings’ in Dubai after he asked a Muslim job seeker from India to go back to Pakistan.

The UAE outlaws all religious or racial discrimination under a legislation passed in 2015.

The anti-discrimination/anti-hatred law prohibits all acts “that stoke religious hatred and/or which insult religion through any form of expression, be it speech or the written word, books, pamphlets or via online media.”

Dubai, Jul 9: Air India Express has opened ticket bookings for flights from India to the UAE from July 12 to 26. The carrier posted the announcement on its social media pages.

“INDIA to UAE - Flights are open for sale! Bookings could be made through our website (http://airindiaexpress.in), call centre or authorised travel agents. Visit http://blog.airindiaexpress.in for more details,” the budget airline tweeted.

A clause mentioned in the flyer attached to the post added that only UAE residents with permits to return from India can book flights.

Thousands of Indian expats have been waiting to book flights back to the UAE after being stuck home for about four months due to the COVID-19 travel restrictions.

Vande Bharat Mission flights

Under the fourth phase of Vande Bharat Mission, as many as 104 flights will be operating between UAE and India. 

The Air India announced this on Twitter under a post “#FlyAI : Important Information for ICA approved UAE residents who wish to travel to UAE on Vande Bharat Mission flights.”

A flyer attached to the post addressed passengers who wish to travel to UAE on flights being operated under Vande Bharat Mission by Air India and Air India Express in pursuance of agreement between Civil Aviation authorities of India and the UAE.

“AI and AIE operating evacuation flights to Indian citizens from the UAE to India will carry ICA approved UAE residents (returning to the UAE from India) on the outward journey from India to the UAE.”

“On the India-UAE journey, all these flights will carry only those passengers who are destined for the UAE.”

“This arrangement will be operational for a period of 15 days from July 12 to 26,” the airline added.

While most of the Vande Bharat flights are operated by AIE, a few flights from Sharjah are operated by Air India.

Bengaluru, Apr 4: Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Friday asked Primary and Secondary Education Minister S Suresh Kumar to be the government's spokesperson on the Novel Coronavirus crisis management effort, a move that is being seen as keeping too many cooks from spoiling the broth.

At a high-level meeting to review measures on COVID-19 containment, Mr Yediyurappa is said to have taken exception to his Cabinet colleagues making multiple, and often contradictory statements, leading to confusion.

''The CM has directed Mr Kumar to be the only one to brief the media on COVID-19,'' a source from the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) confirmed.