Amid Gulf rift, Qatar offers visa-free entry to 80 nations including India

Agencies
August 9, 2017

Doha, Aug 9: Qatar announced on Wednesday a programme to allow visa-free entry for citizens of 80 countries to encourage air transport and tourism amid a two-month boycott imposed on the Gulf state by its neighbors.

Nationals from dozens of countries in Europe and elsewhere including India, Lebanon, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United States will now receive tourist visas on arrival to the gas-rich country which hosts the soccer World Cup in 2022.

"The visa exemption scheme will make Qatar the most open country in the region," Hassan al-Ibrahim, Chief Tourism Development officer at Qatar Tourism Authority told reporters at a press conference in Doha.

Oil giant Saudi Arabia along with Egypt, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates imposed a boycott on Qatar on June 5 and cut off all transport links with the country after accusing it of supporting terrorism and of close ties to Iran.

Doha denies the charges. Since the boycott began, Qatar has sought to build up its diplomatic and trade ties beyond the Gulf region. The visa scheme is just the latest in a series of measures aimed at preparing Qatar for greater economic independence in the long term. Efforts led by Kuwait to resolve the rift are ongoing.

Qatar has flown in food supplies from Turkey and Iran and chartered new shipping routes via Oman to bring in construction materials but hotel occupancy rates have fallen with Saudis, a key source of tourism, barred by their government from visiting the country.

Visitors from the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council usually account for almost half of all visitors to Qatar.

Air links suspended by the four Arab states represented around 25 percent of flights by state-owned Qatar Airways, one of the region's big three carriers.

On August 3, Qatar approved legislation allowing certain permanent residents to benefit from parts of the state's generous welfare system, including education and health-care services, a first for the Gulf.

Under the law, children of Qatari women married to foreigners and people with special skills "needed by the state," can benefit from the new status.

Foreign workers from countries including India and Nepal account for around 90 percent of Qatar's population of 2.7 million.

Qatar's World Cup organising committee has said the Arab sanctions will not affect preparations for the World Cup.

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News Network
March 16,2020

Kottayam, Mar 16: A trial court in Kerala  on Monday dismissed a discharge petition filed by Bishop Franco Mulakkal, in connection with the case of alleged rape of a nun in which he is the prime accused.

In his plea filed before the Additional District and Sessions Court I, Mulakkal had claimed that prima facie there was no case to frame charges against him.

Dismissing the plea, the trial court said the bishop should stand for trial in the rape case.

The bishop's lawyer said an appeal would be filed in the High Court against the trial court order.

The prosecution had filed its objection to the plea filed by the bishop, accused of raping and sexually assaulting a nun of the same diocese.

The bishop had filed the plea just ahead of commencement of the preliminary hearing on charges against him in January this year.

The case is based on a complaint filed against the bishop by the nun.

In her complaint to the police in June, 2018, the nun had alleged that she was subjected to sexual abuse by the bishop during the period between 2014 and 2016.

The bishop, who was arrested by the Special Investigation Team which probed the case, has been charged with wrongful confinement, rape, unnatural sex and criminal intimidation.

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coastaldigest.com news network
June 15,2020

Bengaluru, Jun 15: A total of over 4,000 COVID patients have been discharged in Karnataka so far, as the state on Monday reported 213 new cases of coronavirus and two related fatalities, taking the total number of infections to 7,213 and the death toll to 88.

On Monday alone 180 patients were discharged in the state after recovery. As of June 15 evening, cumulatively 7,213 COVID-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state, which includes 88 deaths and 4,135 discharges, the health department said in its bulletin.

Out of the 2,987 active cases, 2,931 patients are in isolation at designated hospitals and are stable, while 56 are in Intensive Care Units. Among the two deaths were a 65-year-old man from Dharwad, who was the contact of another patient already tested positive.

He was admitted on June 14 at a designated hospital and died the same day. The other was a 75-year-old woman from Bengaluru, diagnosed with ILI (Influenza Like Illness) A known case of Diabetes mellitus and Hypertension , she was admitted on June 13 at a designated hospital and died on June 15.

Out of 213 new cases 103 are returnees from other states, a majority of them from neighbouring Maharashtra, while 23 are those who returned from other countries.

Among the districts where the new cases were reported, Kalaburagi accounted for 48, followed by Bengaluru urban 35, Dharwad 34, Dakshina Kannada 23, Raichur 18, Yadgir 13, Bidar 11, Ballari 10, Koppal 4, three each from Vijayapura, Bagalkote and Shivamogga, two each from Udupi, Haveri and Ramanagara, and one each from Hassan and Davangere.

Udupi district tops the list of positive cases with a total of 1,028 infections, followed by Kalaburagi 944 and Yadgir 822.

Among discharges also Udupi is on top with total of 736 discharges, followed by Kalaburagi 459 and Bengaluru urban 329. A total of 4,49,331 samples have been tested so far, out of which 5,362 were tested on Monday alone.

So far 4,32,346 samples have been reported as negative, out of which 4,738 reported negative today, the bulletin said.

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News Network
March 1,2020

Mangaluru, Mar 1: Noted Konkani writer and theater personality Richard John Pais died on Sunday after a brief illness, family sources said.

He was 51. He is survived by wife and two children.

Known in literary circles as ‘RJP’, his short stories, satirical writings, and poems were very popular.

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