UAE to tow giant icebergs from Antarctic for water need

Bengaluru, Apr 25: Bajrang Dal's former Karantaka satate convenor Mahendra Kumar, who dedicated last decade of his life to expose the misdeeds and lies of Sangh Parivar, passed away today due to cardiac arrest here. He was 47 years old.

Kumar was undergoing treatment at Ramaiah hospital Bengaluru where he breathed his last today (April 25) morning. His final rites will be held in his hometown, sources said.

Kumar, who hailed from Koppa in Chikkamagaluru was a resident of Bengaluru.

He had reportedly involved in the 2008 attacks on Christians' places of worship in Mangaluru and Chikkamagaluru and had faced arrest for that. 

However, he quit Bajrang Dal same year and the apologized to Christians. He joined Janata Dal (Secular) in 2011.

After quitting Bajrang Dal and adopting left ideology, he openly attacked the ideology of right-wing outfits. 

He founded Jana Dhwani movement as a voice for the oppressed classes of the state. He used social media to attack the "manuvaad" for past one decade.

New Delhi, Jan 11: Islamic preacher Zakir Naik has revealed that the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government offered to drop false money-laundering charges against him and provide with a "safe passage to India" in return for his support to the government's move to revoke Article 370 of the Constitution.

In a statement issued by Naik's PR team on Saturday, the Islamic preacher said that he was approached by a representative of the Indian government in September, who offered him the said deal on Kashmir, which he refused.

"Three and a half months before, the Indian officials approached me for a private meeting with a representative of the Indian government. When he came to Putrajaya (a Malaysian city), in the fourth week of September 2019, to meet me, he said that he is coming after personally meeting and under the direct instructions of the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi and the Home Minister of India Amit Shah," Naik said in a video statement released by his Mumbai-based PR team.

Naik, who has been living in Malaysia for the last three years, is facing charges of inciting communal disharmony and committing unlawful activities in India.

"(The representative) said that he wanted to remove the misconceptions and miscommunications between myself (Naik) and the Indian government, and wants to provide me a safe passage to India," he added. "He (the representative) said that he would like to use my connections to better the relationship between India and the other Muslim countries."

"The meeting lasted for several hours. He told me that he wanted me to support the BJP government when they revoked Article 370 in Kashmir. And I flatly refused," he added.

Naik said that after he refused the offer, he was further asked to not make public statements against the BJP or Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Dubai, May 7: Indians in the UAE have voiced scepticism about a "massive" operation announced by New Delhi to bring home some of the hundreds of thousands of nationals stranded by coronavirus restrictions.

"It is just propaganda," said Ishan, an Indian expatriate in Dubai, one of seven emirates in the UAE and long a magnet for foreign workers.

He was reacting to his government's announcement this week that it would deploy passenger jets and naval ships to bring home citizens stuck in a host of countries.

India's consulate in Dubai said it received about 200,000 requests from nationals seeking repatriation -- mostly workers who have lost their jobs in the pandemic.

One vessel was heading to the UAE, India's government said, while two flights were scheduled to depart the UAE for India on Thursday.

But the plans drew scorn from Ishan, who was a manager at a luxury services company before he was made redundant last month.

"It's like throwing a dog a bone," the 35-year-old complained on Wednesday, dismissing the Indian government's efforts as a drop in the ocean.

"Let's say they repatriate 400 people on the first day, and about 5,000 people in 10 days, what difference has it made?"

India banned all incoming commercial flights in late March as it imposed one of the world's strictest lockdowns to tackle the spread of coronavirus.

The UAE is home to a 3.3-million-strong Indian community, who make up around 30 per cent of the Gulf state's population.

To the anger of some Indian expatriates, the evacuees will have to pay for their passage home and spend two weeks in quarantine on arrival.

"We are upset over the failure of our government," Ishan said. "What about the people with no money? How are you helping them?"

The Indian consulate could not be reached for comment.

Ibrahim Khalil, head of the Kerala Muslim Cultural Center in Dubai, said the consulate had asked him to select 100 Indian nationals for repatriation.

"We are planning to pay for the tickets of those who cannot afford it," he said, adding that the elderly, pregnant and those suffering from illnesses were a priority.

But one Indian woman, eight months pregnant in the neighbouring emirate of Sharjah, was not one of the lucky ones chosen to go back home in one of Thursday's planned departures.

"We called them but nobody would pick up," the 26-year-old, who requested anonymity, told AFP.

She arrived in the UAE a few months ago to visit her husband, who lives in a shared apartment with another family to save money.

"We have no insurance here and the medical expenses are too costly," said the woman, who was anxious to leave to give birth at home.

"I just hope that I am chosen to go back to India. I don't know why I haven't been considered."