Saudi energy minister: Oil market would balance even without cuts

Riyadh, Mar 24: General Directorate of Passports (Jawazat) on Tuesday asked all expatriates in the Kingdom, who have a final exit visa or an exit and reentry visa, to quickly cancel them before their expiry. This is to avoid the prescribed fines for not availing of these visas before their expiry date, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

The new measure was taken following the Saudi government’s suspension of international flights as part of the preventive and precautionary measures to stem the spread of new coronavirus. The Jawazat asked expatriates to verify the validity of such visas and cancel them through Ministry of Interior’s electronic service portals of Absher or Muqeem.

It underlined the need to adhere to the regulations and instructions in order to avoid fines prescribed by law against the violators.

Hyderabad, Apr 12: In the backdrop of rising tide of anti-Muslim hatred and Islamophobia on the social media, a company in Dubai sacked an employee from Hyderabad for his hate-filled posts on Facebook.

Bala Krishna Nakka from Hyderabad, who was working as Chief Accountant at Dubai’s Moro Hub Data Solutions Company, was sacked after his Facebook went viral evoking widespread condemnation. The man had posted images on his Facebook page which showed Muslims as suicide bombers wearing bombs in the form of coronavirus cells.

It triggered demands both on Facebook and Twitter for action against him. In a quick response the company announced that the person was being sacked from his job, as the company had zero tolerance towards hate propaganda.

Moro Hub said in a statement: “At Moro, we take a zero tolerance attitude to material that is or may be deemed Islamophoic or hate speech. The tweets that we have been alerted to do not, in any way, reflect Moro’s brand values.”

Since the outbreak of coronavirus in India, a more intense hate propaganda has been unleashed by right wing elements on social media targeting India’s Muslim minority, some of whom are based in Gulf region.

As both the mainstream media, especially Indian TV channels, as well as social media users, have unleashed a campaign linking the spread of virus to a Muslim missionary organisation, the Tableeghi Jamaat, in India, a fresh war of words has broken out on social media.

While some activists have taken up it on themselves to highlight the hate propaganda and draw the attention of employers to such hate mongers, the right wing social media handles have also launched their own counter-offensives against such activists.

Dubai, May 26: An Indian expat, who recently recovered from COVID-19, fell to his death from a building in Dubai, police said.

The 26-year-old Indian national identified as Neelath Muhammed Firdous from Kerala, fell from the seventh floor balcony of his building where he stayed with six others including his uncle, Naushad Ali, 33.

A Dubai Police official confirmed the incident to Gulf News on Monday and said it had been a suicide.

"He was suffering from a mental disorder and there is no criminal suspicions behind his death," said the official.

"The incident happened on Sunday," the official confirmed.

The victim's relative said: "(He) awoke early to perform prayers and everyone was getting on with their daily morning chores when he walked to the balcony and jumped.

"He was suffering from a mental disorder and had been disturbed for some time. He thought everyone was out to attack him and had stopped eating his food as he thought people were feeding him poison. He was refusing to even take water from us."

The victim had tested positive for COVID-19 on April 10. On May 7, he was discharged from a Dubai hospital after clearing all tests.

The relative told Gulf News that he had registered the victim in the Department of Non-Resident Keralites Affairs (NORKA) last month in order to repatriate him, however he was unsuccessful in procuring a ticket.