UAE moots high-speed underwater rail between Fujairah and Mumbai

Mangaluru, May 3: Dakshina Kannada in-charge minister Kota Srinivas Poojary today announced that there will be partial lockdown relaxations in the district from tomorrow (May 4) from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The district falls under orange zone as per the classification done by the union government to contain the spread of coronavirus.

Mr Poojary said that shops can remain open for 12 hours (7 a.m. to 7 p.m.). However, this relaxation will not apply for malls, restaurants, beauty parlors, saloons and dental clinics. 

Even though bars can remain open, they can only sell liquor. People will not be allowed to consume anything inside the bar. 

In auto-rickshaws only one passenger will be allowed to travel apart from driver and in car two passengers will be allowed apart from driver. 

The relaxations come with strict protocols, which the people need to follow, he said, adding that the relief had been provided to make life easier and not for people to come out unnecessarily.

Dubai, May 18: An Indian working in a mining company in the UAE has become the latest expatriate to have lost his job for hate-filled social media posts targeting Islam and Muslims.

Brajkishore Gupta was fired without notice for calling Indian Muslims 'coronavirus spreaders' and hailing the Delhi violence as 'divine justice' in his Facebook posts.

Gupta, who is from Chapra, Bihar, was employed by Stevin Rock, a mining company headquartered in Ras Al Khaimah city.

"This isolated incident involving a junior employee was investigated and dealt with immediately resulting in the termination without notice of this person's employment with Stevin Rock," said the company's business development and exploration manager Jean-Francois Milian.

"Our company policy supports the direction of the UAE government in promoting tolerance and equality and strongly renouncing racism and discrimination and we have sent communications to all of our employees irrespective of their religious or ethnic background reminding them that any such behaviour is unacceptable and will lead to immediate dismissal," Milian was quoted as saying in the report.

Three Indians based in the UAE were either fired or suspended from their jobs for "Islamophobic" posts on social media early this month.

On April 20, India's ambassador to the UAE Pavan Kapoor had warned Indian expatriates against such behaviour.

"India and UAE share the value of non-discrimination on any grounds. Discrimination is against our moral fabric and the Rule of law. Indian nationals in the UAE should always remember this," he said in a tweet.

Last month, Sharjah-based businessman Sohan Roy had to apologise for "unintentionally hurting religious sentiments" through his poem, which alluded to a Muslim religious group.

In March, chef Trilok Singh was fired from a restaurant in Dubai for an online threat against a student in Delhi over her views on the Citizenship Amendment Act.

Hubballi/Vijayapura, Feb 26: A 40-year-old resident of Talikoti town in Vijayapura was arrested on Tuesday and charged with sedition for allegedly saying 'I Love Pak Army' on a social media page and sharing a video of a song, 'Pakistan Zindabad'.

Police said they registered an FIR against Meru alias Merusab Hasansab Byagwat on a complaint filed by a contractor, Ashok Rathod of Nebgiri Tanda.

Byagwat has been booked under IPC sections pertaining to sedition (124A), promoting enmity between communities and making assertions prejudicial to national integration (153 A & B), among others.

In his complaint, Rathod said Meru had posted the video on his social media account on February 22. Rathod said he took a screenshot of the video and made some inquiries before approaching police.

Police said Meru would be produced in court soon.

Police said they are keeping a watch on pro-Pakistan activities. On Monday, slogans praising Pakistan surfaced on the walls of a government primary school in Budarsinghi. In the third week of February, three Kashmiri students shot a video hailing Pakistan and circulated it on social media in Hubballi.