Saudization: 20,000 Riyal fine for each expat working in gold sector

News Network
November 29, 2017

Jeddah, Nov 29: Gold and jewelry shops that employ foreigners will be asked to pay a fine of Saudi Riyal 20,000 (around Rs 3.5 lakh) for each expat worker after Dec 3 when 100% Saudization of the sector comes into force.

The ministry also intends to appoint permanent inspectors in every market and mall to conduct surprise inspections and punish violators of the Saudization law.

Khaled Aba Al-Khail, spokesman of the Ministry of Labor and Social Development, said field inspectors will track down violators and impose fines after the Dec. 3 deadline.

However, members of the precious metal and stone committee at the Council of Saudi Chambers have expressed their reservation over the success of Saudization in the sector.

“We need to fight tasattur or cover-up business to make Saudization successful,” said Abdul Mohsen Al-Namir, a member of the committee, referring to jewelry shops run by expats in the name of Saudis.

There are more than 6,000 gold and jewelry shops in the Kingdom that employ about 25,000 workers including expatriates. Some of them are owned by foreign investors.

“The success of Saudization depends on the success of fighting corruption. Many owners of gold and jewelry shops and showrooms are foreigners,” Al-Namir told Al-Madina Arabic newspaper.

“Many of the shops are in the name of Saudis but they are actually owned by expats. Some foreigners have entered into partnership business with Saudis,” he explained.

Al-Namir also spoke about the possibility of accommodating Saudis involved in tasattur business as investors.

He asked the ministry to study the reasons for the failure of Saudization and give shops enough time to deal with the reasons that have prevented 100 percent Saudization of the sector for the last 16 years.

“At present Saudization rate in the sector does not exceed 50 percent,” he pointed out.

Abdul Ghani Al-Muhanna, another member of the committee, expressed hope that the ministry’s full-scale Saudization will lead to saving the sector from tasattur (cover-up) business.

“The decline in the number of Saudi employees in the sector is really a matter of deep concern,” he said told Al-Madina newspaper.

He said expatriates were purposely trying to keep Saudis away from the sector to maintain their dominance.

Saudi employees in the sector are forced to work long hours affecting their social and family commitments, Al-Muhanna said.

“Many Saudis receive low salaries which has forced them to leave their jobs at gold and jewelry showrooms,” he pointed out.
 

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Althaf
 - 
Wednesday, 29 Nov 2017

Acche din for saudis. 

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coastaldigest.com news network
July 7,2020

Mangaluru/Udupi, Jul 7: Coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi crossed 100 plus Covid19 positive cases mark again on Tuesday, after slipping to double digit cases for a day on Monday. While Dakshina Kannada accounted for 83 of these cases and one death, Udupi tallied 28 fresh cases taking the combined tally of new cases to 111.

DK stood second behind Bengaluru Urban that recorded 800 out of 1,498 new cases that the state recorded for the day.

In all, 48 primary contacts testing positive led DK district’s spurt of 83 cases, Sindhu B Rupesh, deputy commissioner, said. Influenza like illness (ILI) cases accounted for 20 of the 83 cases, one each were diagnosed with severe acute respiratory illness (SARI) and from pre-surgery sample collected before delivery, two had history of inter-district travel, three each were cases of random, pre-surgery samples and source of infection being traced.

A 65-year-old male from Moodbidri who had co-morbid conditions including diabetes, pneumonia and heart ailment succumbed to the pandemic during the day. He was admitted for treatment at a private hospital on July 3. With this, the death toll due to coronavirus in DK district rose to 26 and two of them are due to non-Covid reasons including a case each of suicide and a person succumbing to liver cirrhosis and they tested positive post death.

G Jagadeesha, deputy commissioner, Udupi district said the 28 new cases took the total positive cases in Udupi to 1390. With 1182 patients discharged and three deaths, Udupi as on date has 205 active cases. Those who tested positive include KSRTC driver who travelled to Bengaluru, vegetable vendor at Adi Udupi market and people with travel history to Tumakuru, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Dubai and two even from DK and rest primary contacts, DC said.

Health authorities in DK district also discharged 99 patients during the day to keep their active cases tally at 650. The two districts combined have 855 active cases as on date. As per revised protocol issued by the department of health and family welfare, the district administration also permitted 28 patients with mild symptoms to undergo home isolation while the rest are being treated either at private hospitals or at the designated Covid19 hospital for DK.

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News Network
June 23,2020

Bengaluru, June 23: A frustrated chartered accountant has committed suicide after killing his wife and mother-in-law in two different cities of India.

The murder-murder-suicide came amid acrimonious divorce proceedings that might have also involved a property dispute, police said.

Amit flew to Bengaluru last weekend to kill his estranged wife at her Whitefield residence before returning to Kolkata, where he shot dead his mother-in-law and then killed himself at an upscale residential complex in North Kolkata on Monday evening.

Amit and his wife Shilpi Agarwal, who is also a CA, had been living separately since last the two years after their marriage turned sour.

Amit took his 10-year-old son from Bengaluru with him on Monday and dropped him at his uncle’s house before heading to his in-laws’ place Phoolbagan, police said.

Neighbours told cops they heard arguments “appeared to be” over some property documents that Amit wanted his in-laws — 70-year-old Subhas and 62-year-old Lalita Dhandhania — to sign.

The first gunshot was heard a little before 6.30pm, following which Subhas ran out of his flat, bolted the door from outside and took refuge inside his next-door neighbour’s apartment. Police arrived a few minutes later to find Amit and his mother-in-law dead. Police found a suicide note from the flat.

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News Network
March 23,2020

Bengaluru, Mar 23: Karnataka government today decided to go for complete lockdown. This includes the closure of all non essential government offices, suspension of all public transport services and banning of mass prayers in places of worships across the state.

Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa had expressed the need for a complete lockdown like the Janta Curfew on Sunday. Going by this, there will be no government transport services at least till March 31 and as many as 19,000 government buses will be off the road.

The government also decided to cancel the famous Karaga festival. The CM said that all celebrations and functions will be called off along with mass prayers in mosques and churches.

The CM said that they have decided to procure 1,000 ventilators and 10 lakh face masks in addition to other health equipments.

Private hospitals have come forward to spare their doctors and nursing staff to attend to Covid-19 patients in government hospitals, the CM said.

Yediyurappa also said that he has directed the health department to paste notification on the houses of residents who are infected with coronavirus. This is being done after people with indelible seals and home quarantined are reported to be roaming freely. The notifications will help neighbours to keep an eye on them.

The CM said the government-run Indira Canteen will serve free food to the poor until the lockdown continues. He also said that action will be initiated against non essential shops that are open despite a directive to shut down.

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