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Mistaken identity: Indian mission to help visitor

April 4, 2012

TroubleDubai, April 4: Freedom is in sight for Indian fisherman Mathew Joseph who has been held in the UAE for nearly three months in an unusual case of mistaken identity. The Indian mission here has promised to intervene in his case after verifying that he is not the wanted man Mathew Joseph with whom the former had bizarre likeness in many things.


After Khaleej Times published his plight on Monday, the Indian Consulate in Dubai, which had earlier verified the fisherman’s passport as genuine, secured the passport copy of the wanted man, who had worked as a driver in Dubai, through this newspaper.


On Tuesday, the Consulate informed that the passport of the driver, which was issued by itself in 2004, was also genuine. “From the official records, both the passports (of the same name) were found to be genuine,” the Consulate said in a written statement to KT. “The issue will be taken up by the Consulate with the local authorities concerned,” it added.Also, Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi, who was in Dubai on Tuesday, said he would instruct the Indian mission to pay the fines that Joseph would face for overstay.


On hearing the glad news, Joseph said: “I don’t know how to thank Khaleej Times for this... I wish the Consulate had done the same in January when we had approached it for help.”


The father of three schoolgoing girls said not even Dh1 billion could cure the trauma that he and his family had gone through.


Joseph, 47, was held by officials at the Sharjah International Airport on January 12 when he landed in the UAE for the first time with his brother-in-law George Cyril. He was arrested because of the close similarities he had in his full name, parents’ names, dates of birth, signatures and even in looks with that of his fellow citizen who had fled the UAE in 2010 without paying Dh14, 000 in credit card dues.


Ever since he secured bail after three days by keeping Cyril’s passport as a guarantee, Joseph had been struggling to establish that he is not the one who cheated the bank in Dubai.


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Agencies
August 2,2020

Kuwait, Aug 2: Kuwait has barred entry of foreign passengers from over 30 countries including India and China.

A circular from the Director General Civil Aviation, State of Kuwait directed all airlines operating at Kuwait International Airport to adhere to the instructions in this regard.

"Based on the decision of the Health Authority in State of Kuwait, no foreign passenger coming from the down listed countries will be allowed to enter the State of Kuwait," the circular read.

These include- India, Iran, China, Brazil, Colombia, Armenia, Bangladesh, Philippines, Syria, Spain, Singapore, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Iraq, Mexico, Indonesia, Chile, Pakistan, Egypt, Lebanon, Hong Kong, Italy, North Macedonia, Moldova, Panama, Beirut ,Serbia Montenegro, Dominican Republic and Kosovo.

The circular stated that such restriction will also include the passengers were present 14 days before the date of travel until further notice.

The ban was announced the same day Kuwait began a partial resumption of commercial flights according to Khaleej Times, which quoted authorities stating that Kuwait International Airport would run at about 30 per cent capacity from Saturday, gradually increasing in coming months.

According to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University, Kuwait has reported 67,448 cases of coronavirus while the fatalities related to the virus stand at 453.

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News Network
March 21,2020

Mar 21: Qatari authorities arrested 10 nationals for breaking home quarantine rules as Doha tightens regulations amid the coronavirus outbreak, local daily The Peninsula Qatar reported on Saturday.

The Ministry of Public Health released a statement naming the detainees and said that the violators were currently being referred to prosecution.

The tiny country, where expatriates comprise the majority of the population, on Thursday reported eight more infections to take its tally to 470, the highest number among the six Gulf Arab states that have reported a total of more than 1,300 coronavirus cases.

Government spokeswoman Lulwa Rashed Al-Khater told a news conference the new cases included two Qataris who had been in Europe, with the rest migrant workers.

Qatari authorities on Tuesday announced the closure of several square kilometers of the industrial area in Doha, the capital, which also contains labor camps and other housing units.

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News Network
May 10,2020

Dubai, May 10: Kuwait will enact a "total curfew" from 4pm (1300 GMT) on Sunday through to May 30 to help to curb the spread of the new coronavirus, the Information Ministry said on Twitter on Friday.

Further details of the curfew will be announced soon, it said.

Kuwait on April 20 expanded a nationwide curfew to 16 hours a day, from 4pm to 8am, and extended a suspension of work in the public sector, including government ministries, until May 31.

On Friday the Gulf state announced 641 new coronavirus cases and three deaths, bringing its total number of confirmed cases to 7,208, with 47 deaths.

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