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UAE-based Indian girl in International Children's Peace Prize race

November 20, 2016

Dubai, Nov 20: From a record number of 120 international entries, the expert committee chose Kehkashan Basu from the UAE, Divina Maloum from Cameroon and Muzoon Almellehan from Syria.

girlA 16-year-old Indian girl in the UAE is among three finalists chosen for this year's International Children's Peace Prize for her unique role in improving the rights and position of children.

From a record number of 120 international entries, the expert committee chose Kehkashan Basu from the UAE, Divina Maloum from Cameroon and Muzoon Almellehan from Syria.

The announcement was made by International children's rights organisation 'KidsRights' ahead of Universal Children's Day to be observed tomorrow.

According to the committee, all three have improved the rights and position of children in unique and tangible ways.

Every year, the young prize-winner gains an international platform to share his or her message with hundreds of millions of people worldwide.

In line with the tradition, this year's prize will be awarded by 2006 Nobel Peace Laureate Muhammad Yunus in the Hall of Knights (Ridderzaal) in The Hague on December 2.

Yunus, 76, admired the children, saying they are fighting for a fairer world.

"Our world desperately needs young changemakers like Divina, Kehkashan and Muzoon, who through their work have proved just how powerful and resilient children are. Adults do not have all the answers. Decision-makers should and must listen to the opinions of children, who have the power to ignite change and move the world," he said.

Kehkashan began campaigning for environmental protection at an early age and at the age of just eight, she organised an awareness campaign for the recycling of waste in her neighbourhood in Dubai.

In 2012, she founded her own organisation 'Green Hope' which runs waste-collection, beach-cleaning and awareness campaigns. It is now active in ten countries with more than 1,000 young volunteers.

Through a series of campaigns and lectures, she has demonstrated to thousands of school and university students the importance of proper environmental care.

Kehkashan has addressed various international conferences and was nominated by her father.

Divina, 12, educates children in Cameroon about the dangers of violence and radicalisation, urging them to fight for peace.

Nominated by Nobel Peace Laureate Malala Yousafzai and The Malala Fund, Muzoon campaigns for the access to quality education of girls and against forced marriage.

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Agencies
July 28,2020

Dubai, Jul 28: Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) (ADCB.AD) is letting go hundreds of employees, sources said, the latest in a round of lay-offs by regional banks as pressure mounts to cut costs amid lower oil prices and the coronavirus crisis.

The UAE’s third-biggest lender is laying off 400 employees, two sources familiar with the matter said, after it had committed to not cutting staff because of the crisis.

In a statement, a spokesman said ADCB had pursued efficiency over the last decade by managing out its lowest underachievers after regular reviews, while ensuring talent was deployed in high-growth areas, such as digital banking.

“A certain number of redundancies are therefore expected every year in the normal course of business,” the bank spokesman added.

The sources said the cuts would involve ADCB’s consumer business and several in top management were among those being let go. One source said the bank was looking to close 20 branches.

In March, ADCB had declared, “No employee will be made redundant during 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

UAE banks have been hit by government measures to rein in the spread of the virus, forcing many businesses to shut temporarily.

Last week, Dubai’s largest bank, Emirates NBD, reported a slump of 58% in profits. In June, sources told Reuters the bank started a new round of hundreds of lay-offs.

In May, ADCB reported a fall of 84% in first-quarter net profit as it took impairments of $292 million on debt exposure to troubled hospital operator NMC Health and payments group Finablr.

It was a major lender, with an exposure of about $981 million, to NMC Health, which went into administration this year after months of turmoil following questions over financial reporting.

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News Network
April 18,2020

Apr 18: Taking a strong notice of Islamophobia on social media, Princess Hend Al Qassimi, a member of the royal family of United Arab Emirates, called out a series of tweets by a user named Saurabh Upadhyay.

Upadhyay had posted tweets attacking Muslims over the Tablighi Jamaat congregation held in March in Delhi that led to surge of coronavirus cases cases in India. He also gave into rumours of muslims ‘spiting on food’ to spread the virus.

Princess Qassimi shared the screenshots of his tweets and warned that those engaging in racism and Islamophobia will have to pay penalty and will be made to leave UAE. Upadhyay has apparently deactivated his Twitter handle now.

Responding to his earlier posts, she though the ruling family of UAE is “friends with Indians”, his rudeness was “not welcome”.

“All employees are paid to work, no one comes for free. You make your bread and butter from this land which you scorn and your ridicule will not go unnoticed,” she wrote.

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Agencies
May 1,2020

Saudi Arabia has initiated refund of work visa fee to foreigners unable to travel to the Kingdom due to the suspension of international flights in the aftermath of Covid-19 pandemic.

Several work visas were cancelled, following which the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, in cooperation and coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, announced the refund. The cancellation and refunding of the stamped visas will be considered effective from the date of issuance of the royal decree on March 18, reported Saudi Gazette.

As a precautionary measure to curb the spread of coronavirus, the Kingdom suspended all international flight. The ministry of health in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday announced 1,325 new Covid-19 coronavirus cases and 169 recoveries. With this, the total number of cases in the Kingdom now stands at 21,402, while recoveries stand at 2,953, as on Wednesday reported KT.

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