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UAE retirement funds for expatsABU DHABI: A plan to set up investment funds for the retirement benefits of UAE expats has been set in mo-tion, as the Federal Author-ity for Government Human Resources (FAHR) held a meeting with major firms regarding the system.

The planned new sys-tem will include an en-hanced gratuity scheme and a private sector savings programme that will help retain talent in the country, according to authorities. The FAHR said the meeting, held with leading local and

international expert firms, looked into the best prac-tices in the management of retirement funds and anal-ysed which strategies would work best for the expatriate population of the country. The meeting followed the Workers Incentives and End-of-Service Benefits Conference that took place in Dubai in Feb this year, in which officials had pro-posed that a savings scheme be created for expats.

“With accelerated tech-nological advancements and the increased retire-

ment age and years of ser-vice, there is an urgent need in the region to establish investment funds to man-age retirement and end-of-service benefits, which will provide a saving op-portunity to all employees in the UAE and the regional labour markets,” Director-General of the FAHR Dr Ab-dul Rahman Abdul Manan Al Awar said at the Dubai conference.

At the recent meeting, Al Awar said authorities have conducted a study that will help improve the

end-of-service benefits sys-tem in the country. “The retirement funds will help employees plan properly by taking advantage of end-of-service benefits, enabling them to make use of their financial resources and cre-ating jobs for new genera-tions,” he said.

“I believe the idea of cre-ating a savings system for end-of-service benefits in all sectors is an important strategic step as it will be the first of its kind in the region.” Al Awar added that the roundtable meeting

with major firms and ex-perts involved an in-depth discussion of some of the key points mentioned in the study. Actual experiences, based on best international practices, were also tackled.

While conducting the study, several meetings were held with local gov-ernments, the ministry of fi-nance, the ministry of econ-omy, pension funds, the Securities and Commodities Authority and Departments of Economic Development and Executive Councils in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

Flynas to launch Riyadh-Delhi fl ights

Malaysia sees 22pcsurge in visitors from Arab countriesKUALA LUMPUR: Around 33,000 visitors from Arab countries visited Malaysia in 2018, a 22pc increase on the year before.

Total spending by Arab visitors hit $916 million, with the biggest spenders coming from Saudi Ara-bia, followed by the UAE, Oman, Iran and Kuwait, ac-cording to Datuk Mohama-ddin Ketapi, the Minister for Tourism, Arts and Cul-ture.

The minister said Ma-laysia had been engaging in marketing activities in the Arab region, with one radio station in Dubai air-ing a tourism promotion 20 times a day. He said his ministry is aiming to at-tract 35,000 visitors from Arab countries in 2019.

NEW DELHI: Starting from July 1, Saudi budget carrier Flynas will operate five di-rect flights weekly between King Khalid International Airport, Riyadh, and New Delhi Indira Gandhi Inter-national Airport. The move follows the carrier’s addi-tion of flights to Hyderabad in June 2018.

Flynas signed a codeshare agreement with Jet Airways for the now-grounded air-line’s flights from Jeddah to Mumbai, Riyadh to Mumbai

and Delhi. Flynas recently added destinations include Lahore, Islamabad, Algeria, Trabzon, Erbil, Baghdad, Sarajevo, Vienna, Batumi, Tbilisi and Baku. The air-line has also announced its expansion strategy for the next phase which seeks to add more destinations and contribute towards doubling its number of passengers, which reached 6.6 million passengers on 60,000 do-mestic and international flights last year.

DUBAI: UAE residents and nationals returning back home to Dubai from now until Aug 31 2019, can benefit from further offers using “My Emirates Pass.” Emirates airline is offering UAE passengers discounted fares to select destinations on its network.

For those planning an Eid holiday, UAE travel-lers can avail of reduced fares to cities like London, Bangkok, Paris, Tokyo, Los Angeles etc. The offer ap-plies to Emirates economy class and business class passengers for bookings made until May 30 2019, for travel until Feb 29 2020. Travellers can also book with Emirates Holidays and enjoy a three-night stay at a four star hotel including return flights to Bangkok starting from Dh 2,435 per

Emirates offers fl ight discounts for Eid

person. UAE residents and nationals returning back home to Dubai from now until August 31 2019, can benefit from further offers using My Emirates Pass – an offer that turns an Emir-ates boarding pass into an exclusive membership card providing travellers special benefits and discounts of up to 50pc off in more than 500 leisure and retail outlet locations across the UAE. The pass allows customers to redeem up to 50pc off in over 400 fine dining restau-rants, luxury wellness treat-ments in almost 50 spas and leisure activities such as indoor skiing and water amusement parks. Custom-ers can also take advantage and redeem up to 30pc off at international retail out-lets including popular fash-ion and fitness brands.

Ruler of Sharjah His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi opened the emirate’s largest mosque.

Sharjah Ruler opens largest mosqueSHARJAH: His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Mem-ber and Ruler of Sharjah, inaugurated the emirate’s largest mosque over the week-end. The Dh300-million Sharjah Mosque located at the intersection of the Mlieha and Emir-ates Roads can accommo-date over 25,000 worship-pers. Construction of the project began in 2014.

The mosque, its gar-dens and facilities are built over a total area of two million square feet. The Sharjah Mosque will open up to non-Muslim visitors, with dedicated spaces and pathways defined for them. The mosque is home to a large library that has many

original Islamic works. Over 2,200 cars and buses can be parked in the different parking lots of the mosque complex. A rubber track goes around the mosque for

visitors who wish to go for a walk around the complex. It also has a souvenir shop, museum and fountains.

The Sharjah Ruler toured the mosque’s collec-

tion hall, which houses books and antiques from different Islamic eras. He also viewed a 3D holo-gram show and documen-tary about the mosque.

Saudi’s non-oil sector fares wellLONDON: Saudi Arabia’s non-oil sector is set for a fur-ther boost as the Kingdom’s economic reforms pay divi-dends and work begins on a raft of mega-projects, a report published on Sun-day found. Under the ambi-tious Vision 2030 plan, the country is looking to reduce its reliance on the energy industry and boost private sector business.

Such reforms are pay-ing off, with growth in the Kingdom’s non-oil sector set for an additional “pick up” going forward, accord-ing to a report by Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

“Authorities’ ongoing fiscal reforms and possible one-off revenues are keep-ing non-oil revenues on track,” wrote the bank’s regional economist Jean-Michel Saliba. He said the $69 billion deal in which oil giant Saudi Aramco plans to acquire petrochemicals firm SABIC from the Public In-vestment Fund (PIF), could further boost the non-oil sector. “The likely ramp-up in budget expenditures and, in particular, off-budget cap-ital spending after the com-pletion of the SABIC-Aram-co-PIF deal, suggest non-oil activity is likely to pick up going forward,” he wrote.

The completion of the SABIC deal and the subse-quent financial boost for

Lulu group chairman Yusuffali MA inaugurating Port Muziris hotel in the presence of VJ Kurian, Managing Director, Cochin Airport, Ashraf Ali MA, Executive Director, Lulu Group International, Adeeb Ahamed, Managing Director, Twenty14 Holdings and Ranju Alex, Mar-ket Vice President, Marriott International.

LuLu opens its first hotel in KeralaKOCHI: Abu Dhabi-based LuLu Group opened its first hotel project in India – Hotel Muziris in Kochi -- through its hospitality investment arm Twenty14 Holdings. The Kochi ho-tel also marks Marriott In-ternational’s first Tribute Portfolio branded proper-ty to open in South Asia.

Located at just 300 me-tres from the Cochin Inter-national Airport, Port Muz-iris features 54 rooms. The hotel’s design evokes gran-deur and is reminiscent of the heritage residences found in Kerala, according to Twenty14 Holdings.

“The hotel’s unique-ness is visible through the soulful art spread across the property, the homely local food and the untypi-cal rooms that bring out the vibrancy, vigour, and life of Kerala,” said Adeeb Ahamed, managing direc-tor of Twenty14 Holdings.

Hotel Muziris is among the five hotel projects that Twenty 14 Holdings will

launch in India, with one more hotel and a resort planned in Kerala, while

two are under development in Bengaluru. Another hotel project is under construc-

tion in Hyderabad.Twenty 14 Holdings will

invest $290 million for the

five hospitality projects, Adeeb informed. Twenty14 Holdings currently has as-

sets worth more than $750 million spread across Eu-rope, MidEast and India.

PIF, Saudi Arabia’s sover-eign wealth fund, could help kick-start many of the Kingdom’s planned mega-projects, the report added. That could boost growth in non-oil GDP by two per-centage points “in the medi-um term” — which would

be almost double the 2.1pc rate at which non-oil GDP grew in 2018.

“The possible finalisa-tion of the Saudi Aram-co-SABIC-PIF deal could unlock $69.1 billion of financing to the PIF. This could support a first phase of mega-projects. Authori-ties suggest the transaction would close in 2020, im-plying the growth impact of PIF’s off-budget capital spending could start to be felt next year,” Saliba wrote. Saudi Arabia achieved its first budget surplus since 2014 in the first quarter of 2019, at about $7.41 billion, the country’s minister of fi-nance said in late April.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch said non-oil revenues stood at SR76 billion ($20.3 billion) in the first quarter of 2019, a 46pc rise on the year-ago period. But it cau-tioned that Saudi Arabia’s fiscal surplus is “unlikely to last” later in the year.

“We expect the budget-ary outcomes to deteriorate going forward, following the surprising (first quarter) fis-cal surplus,” Saliba wrote. That surplus was attributed by Saliba to an increase in special dividends paid by Saudi Aramco to the govern-ment, along with seasonal-ity and control of spending.

Government spend-ing during the first quarter was also “unsustainably low,” the bank added, an-other factor in the surplus. “Spending is likely to in-crease in coming quarters, particularly given the sea-sonally low spending fig-ures in the first quarters of the year,” Saliba wrote.

Saudi oil tankers under attack off UAE coastFUJAIRAH: Saudi Arabia’s energy minister said on Monday that two Saudi tankers were targeted in a “sab-otage attack” off the coast of the UAE. Khalid Al-Falih said the two tankers were targeted off the coast of Fujai-rah. He explained that one tanker was en route to the kingdom to be loaded with Saudi crude oil to send to the US to supply Saudi Aramco customers.

“Fortunately, the attack didn’t lead to any casualties or oil spill; however, it caused significant damage to the

structures of the two vessels,” Al-Fa-lih said. Al-Falih’s comments came as the US issued a new warning to sail-ors and the UAE’s regional allies con-demned the reported sabotage of four ships off the coast of Fujairah. The ministry of foreign affairs said that the Kingdom condemned the acts of sabotage that targeted commercial cargo ships near the territorial waters of the UAE.

“This criminal act poses a serious threat to the security and safety of

maritime traffic and negatively affects regional and international peace and security,” the ministry said. The UAE foreign ministry had reported that four commercial vessels were targeted near its territorial waters. The foreign min-istry released a statement saying that the vessels --- targeted at a distance of 115km from Iran --- were “civilian trading vessels of various nationali-ties” and that the UAE was investigat-ing the incident with local and inter-national bodies. (Contd. on page 2)

2 EMIGRATION Tuesday, May 14, 2019

Published by IPEPCIL Publications LtdRNI No.: MAHENG/2018/76663

Publisher: Supreet M.J.Editor : E.L. VaidyanathanVolume No.: 1, Issue: 62

Published at: Office No. 1001, 10th Floor,Navjivan Commercial Premises Co-op. Society Ltd.,Lamington Road, (Dr.D.B.Marg), Mumbai Central,

Mumbai - 400 008. Ph.: 022 - 23001102 / 23001103.Printed at: Inquilab Off set Printers Ltd., 156, D J Dadaji Road,

Tardeo, Mumbai-400 034, Maharashtra, India.

From left: Sujatha Pathy, Murali Pathy, Dr. Kartik Desai, Dr. Chetna Desai, Dr. Arun Bhandari, Gov. Larry Hogan, Vandana Bhandari, Anjana Bordoloi, Krishna Hazarika and Subramanium Muniasamy at the Iftar reception hosted by Maryland Governor Annapolis.

Hinduja brothers top UK’s Rich ListLONDON: The billionaire Hinduja brothers have been named as the wealthiest people in the UK for a third time. Sri and Gopi Hinduja saw their fortune increase by 1.356 billion pounds ($1.7 billion) in the last year to 22 billion pounds, the BBC quoted the list as saying.

The Hinduja Group, a family business, was found-ed in Mumbai in 1914, and now it has interests around the world including in oil and gas, banking, IT and property. British citizens Sri (83) and Gopi (79), who are based in London, are two of the four brothers control-ling the empire. The two moved to London in 1979 to

develop the export business.The third brother Prakash

manages the group’s financ-es in Geneva, Switzerland

while the youngest, Ashok, oversees the Indian interests. Among the properties they own is the Old War Office in Whitehall, which they plan to reopen as a luxury hotel.

The two brothers topped the newspaper list in 2014 and in 2017. The list, which estimates the 1,000 richest

people in the UK, is based on identifiable wealth includ-ing land, prop-erty, other as-sets such as art, and shares in companies. I t does not include the amount con-

tained in people’s bank ac-counts. Meanwhile, chemi-cals firm founder Jim Rat-cliffe, who topped last year’s list, has slipped to third place. His net worth dropped

by 2.9 billion pounds since last year.

For the sixth year in a row, Scotland’s richest per-son was named as Glenn Gordon and his family, the Jersey-based tycoon behind distillers William Grant & Sons. The group produces whiskey including Grant’s, Glenfiddich and The Bal-venie, as well as Hendrick’s gin. Cardiff-born venture capitalist Sir Michael Moritz remained Wales’ richest per-son with a 3 billion pounds fortune. Top of the Music Rich List in the UK - which includes writers and per-formers -- was Andrew Lloyd Webber with a fortune of 820 million pounds.

Hinduja brothers Sri and Gopi

SAN FRANCISCO: In an eagerly-awaited move, the government of India has urged local consulates to grant consular services to Indian American political asylees.

The new policy would abolish blacklists main-tained by local consulates, which identified those who had obtained residency abroad by asking for political asylum. It will allow asylees to be granted Indian pass-ports. If they are US citizens, the policy will allow them to be granted visas to visit In-dia. The move was heralded by the Indian American Sikh community as well as US

Indian consulates to abolish blacklists of Sikh asylees

consular officials.No official announce-

ment had been released by the ministry of external affairs.

But Sanjay Panda, con-sul general of India in San Francisco, told a TV chan-nel that India’s missions throughout the world have been instructed to extend their services to asylees, who are primarily Sikhs from Punjab. “We welcome the new policies which have been undertaken,” said Pan-da, a fierce advocate for extending consular services to all citizens of India resid-ing abroad. In an interview , shortly after taking up

his post here, Panda said: “The thinking has been that anyone seeking asylum is anti-India, and India must disown them. But I look at it very differently.”

“Asking for asylum is not always anti-Indian. There are many reasons for seek-ing asylum,” he said, citing personal enmity, local and economic issues, among other factors. “We have de-cided that anyone who is not patently anti-India should be given a visa.”

Sikh Americans — thou-sands of whom have been unable to visit India for decades — have long advo-cated to remove the travel

restrictions, arguing that the conditions under which they applied for political asylum in the late 1980s and ‘90s no longer exist.

Panda last week explained that the new policies allow consulates to extend their services to all persons of In-dian origin, regardless of how they received their status in the US. He noted that the Indian government does not maintain a blacklist of PIOs who have gained their status abroad by asking for political asylum. “People themselves must state that they received their US status via asylum,” he said, noting that consular forms ask that question.

Raj Chetty named Carnegie Fellow for 2019Indian-American economist Raj Chetty has been named by the Carnegie Corporation as one of 32 Andrew Carn-egie Fellows for 2019.

Chetty serves as the Wil-liam A Ackman profes-sor of public economics at Harvard. For receiving the so-called “Brainy Award,” Chetty will receive a grant of up to $200,000, making it possible for him to devote significant time to research, writing and publishing in the humanities and social sciences. “I’m delighted and honoured to have been chosen as a recipient of the Carnegie fellowship,” Chetty told the Harvard Gazette. “I intend to use the fellowship to dedicate more time to our team’s work on restoring the American

dream at [the research poli-cy institute] Opportunity In-sights, focusing specifically on how we can improve children’s opportunities in communities that currently offer limited prospects for upward income mobility.”

Chetty’s scholarship has been widely cited in the media and in congressio-nal testimony, combining empirical evidence and eco-nomic theory to shape ef-fective public policy. He has received numerous awards for his research, including a MacArthur “genius grant” Fellowship and the John Bates Clark medal, given to an economist under 40 whose work is judged to have made the most significant contribution to the field. The Carnegie fellowship

programme, now in its fifth year, is the most generous initiative of its kind, provid-ing $32 million in grants to more than 160 fellows since 2015, according to Harvard.

Its overall objective is to offer fresh perspectives on the humanities and solu-tions to today’s most urgent issues. Among the other project topics: how targeted ads interfere with elections; the application of Confucian ethics to the moral problems posed by robots; examining cultural identity and the natural world through the history of the bald eagle; how the impact excessive punishment of black women and girls impacts on our democracy and the lasting environmental impact of the Vietnam War, it said.

NEW DELHI: The Indian tech industry will add an-other three million new jobs in the next five years, said Indian Staffing Federation (ISF), the apex body for the “flexi” working industry. With the additions, the size of the country’s tech army will be seven million by 2023.

Rituparna Chakraborty president, ISF, told a TV channel that all these new jobs would come up in digi-tal technology areas such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, Internet of things (IOT), data sci-ence, analytics, big data, blockchain and augmented reality. Jobs would also be created in newer technol-ogy areas that are presently

India to add three million tech jobs by 2023unknown but are expected to emerge and evolve in the next few years.

The ISF’s tech employ-ment projection comes as a big relief to millions of young techies and software engineering students amid talks of the move towards jobless growth with automa-tion that replaces humans with robots. “We, at ISF, are confident of making this job projection for the next five years based on our constant interactions with a wide range of companies, includ-ing Indian tech firms, MNCs, global capability centres of hundreds of international firms, enterprises across segments including e-com, BFSI, pharma and telecom,” she said,

There is a visible behav-ioural change happening in the IT and ITes sectors, Chakraborty added. India now has about 1,300 captive units. Some 400 new captive units are coming up in 2019. “The shift is attributed to a sharp rise in hiring by exist-ing and new global in-house centres (GCCs) due to tech-nology innovation activities in India for their global mar-kets.” Chakraborty further said the industry had been witnessing winds of change in technology. Today, a ro-bot, with infinite memory analytical capacity, is con-nected to the cloud. It’s im-pact on productivity of busi-nesses would be huge. Some 63pc of CEOs think that AI would have a larger impact

than the Internet and some 39pc of them had already started AI-related initiatives in their organisations.

Chakraborty further said: “I would like to em-phasise the fact that India does not have a job prob-lem, but it has an employed poverty problem. When we think about addressing this problem, the only sustain-able way to achieve this is through formalisation, industrialisation, urbanisa-tion and financialisation of the human capital.”

Staffing organisations in India are going to play a vital role in helping the industry reach this hiring milestone in terms of iden-tifying and sourcing billable talent Chakraborty added.

MUMBAI: After some years of a dry drive, Indian tech firms now seem to have turned the corner and es-tablished themselves firmly as digital transformation agents in the global market, international IT experts have affirmed. Growth is picking up for the Indian IT sector and the good news is that most players have a strong hiring plan in place.

Last fiscal’s performance numbers posted by the coun-try’s leading players reflect a clear upswing in the market. All the digital pilot projects that were under way over the last couple of years are now going mainstream and are being scaled into enterprises. This means more work and sizeable contracts for ven-dors and systems integrators, global tech analysts told a TV channel.

Peter Bendor-Samuel, CEO of Dallas-based Everest Group said: “The Indian firms seem

IT sector on recovery pathto have turned a corner and established themselves firmly as important players in the modernisation portion of the new digital market.”

The industry continues to expand above the rate of growth of global GDP. This is driven by digital transformation and increas-ingly the modernisation of IT movement which continues to gather steam. This oth-erwise promising outlook was somewhat clouded by a slowing global GDP for all areas outside the US and the cannibalisation effect that modernisation is having on legacy IT and BPO, he added.

Phil Fersht, CEO and chief analyst of Cambridge-based HfS Research, said that last year had been “ter-rific” for Indian providers — much better than any-one’s prediction. “TCS is fast becoming a monster of IT services and this company is capable of winning any large

deal if it really wants. Infosys is clearly a fast-mover and Wipro has been steady and will get better.’’

Digital services are go-ing mainstream which will propel growth for the next few years. Revenue from the digital business is getting close to 30pc or more of total revenue and growing at a healthy pace, which is a good thing and bodes well for the vendors, said Hansa Iyengar, senior analyst (Ad-vanced Digital Services) at London-based data research and consulting firm Ovum.

Indian IT vendors con-tinue to rely heavily on the US and UK markets for a large portion of revenues. Though this is changing, any protectionist measures in the US (including due to the presidential election next year) and uncertainty around Brexit may impact revenues in the short-term. “Overall, the market seems to

be going back to high single-digit growth, though we can’t really expect the 25pc-plus growth rates common six years ago. Focus has to shift outside the US and UK into growing/emerging markets, including India, to rebalance the portfolio,” she added.Job factor

The Indian IT sector is expected to create some 2.5 lakh fresh jobs in the current fiscal, as per a recent report by staffing services firm TeamLease. These numbers point to a positive outlook for the country’s $167 billion tech industry. The job recov-ery trend is already evident from the hiring by leading players. Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys and Wipro have added 29,287, 24,016 and 11,502 software profes-sionals respectively in the fiscal ended March 31. 2019, or, 64,805 new jobs.

In FY18, TCS added only 7,775 and Infosys, 3,743. R

Ray Wang, principal analyst, founder and chairman of Silicon Valley-based Con-stellation Research, said the larger trend was that firms were doubling down to in-vest in digital transforma-tion. “Most are allocating an increase of 13 to 17pc more for tech projects. They are hiring more services firms because they don’t have the skillsets required in artificial intelligence, machine learn-ing, data sciences, Internet of Things, Blockchain etc.”

“This means IT provid-ers have large opportunities to move forward. Overall, I expect hiring to go up, but the skill mixes will change. Digital transformation is hard to evaluate as what is considered a digital project varies by firm but overall the hiring numbers are all up. The big growth area for 2020 will be cloud migration, Mi-crosoft practices, and AI,” he predicted.

Saudi oil tankers under attack off...(Contd. from page 1)

Rumors about ships in-side the port being sabo-taged were unfounded, the ministry added. The port of Fujairah continues to operate as normal and there were no victims of the sabotage incident. The ministry added that target-ing merchant ships and threatening the lives of crew members is a “danger-ous development,” and that the government considers the acts of sabotage to be a threat to the safety and security of the UAE. The statement came just hours after Iranian and Lebanese media outlets aired false reports of explosions at the city’s port.

The US has warned ships that “Iran or its prox-

ies” could be targeting maritime traffic in the re-gion. America is deploy-ing an aircraft carrier and B-52 bombers to the Gulf to counter alleged threats from Tehran.

Nevertheless, Iran on Monday called attacks on ships in the Gulf “alarm-ing”, after the UAE and Saudi Arabia said several vessels including oil tank-ers were damaged in acts of sabotage off the Emirati coast. The incidents are “alarming and regrettable,” Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said in an English-language statement on the ministry’s website, calling for a probe into the attacks and warn-ing of “adventurism” by foreign players to disrupt

maritime security.Meanwhile, the Eu-

ropean Union’s foreign policy and security chief Federica Mogherini urged to avoid any escalation on Iran. Mogherini said that a discussion would be held how to continue backing full implementation of the nuclear deal. Britain’s For-eign Minister Jeremy Hunt also warned of the risks of an unintended conflict between the US and Iran over the unraveling nuclear deal. “We are very worried about the risk of a conflict happening by accident with an escalation that is unintended,” Hunt told re-porters in Brussels, adding that it was crucial not to put Iran back on the path of re-nuclearisation.

Arrested for allowing 300 expats work illegallyMUSCAT: Two Omanis have been prosecuted for allowing more than 1,300 expats to work illegally for other compa-nies, breaking the expat visa ban law that was introduced to lower unemployment among Omani citizens.

The ministry of manpower say the two Omani nationals had hired workers on so-called “free visas”. The pair are accused of having traded in 88 companies that employed 1302 expats and allowed them to leave the company and go work for others. The actions were in violation of national laws aimed at helping Omanis into work. The law states: “Employers are prohibited from allowing expat workers to work for someone else, employing expat workers who have been permitted to work for someone else or are illegally in the Sultanate.” This latest court hearing comes in the midst of the Omanisation project.

An expat visa ban was introduced 2018 and has already led to the employment of tens of thousands of locals in the private and public sectors. Before Omanisation, almost 71pc of Oman’s labor force were expatriates.

3GULF JOBS & OPPORTUNITIESTuesday, May 14, 2019

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4 GULF JOBS & OPPORTUNITIES Tuesday, May 14, 2019

MUMBAI: Tata Motors is helping skill the youth of the countries it has busi-ness operations in, by im-parting technical training to them in India.

The company’s distribu-tor reaches out to candi-dates who it believes are eligible for training, and pays for the candidate’s return air ticket cost, and a stipend for nine months.

In what it terms as a “one-of-a-kind initiative,” Tata Motors, over the last four years, has trained about 100 people from various countries in Af-rica, ASEAN, SAARC and Latin America, at the Ser-vice Training Centre at its manufacturing plant in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand.

This training of foreign workforce, called the Skill-Pro, was launched by Tata Motors’ International Busi-ness division to train youth in the 46 countries it has operations in. The compa-ny’s distributor partners in

Tata Motors helping in skill development among youth

SSC MTS recruitment process on

these countries help iden-tify underprivileged youth who have the potential, and fly them to India. “The objective is to create skills amongst the youth of the countries we operate in by imparting technical train-ing to them,” says Rudrarup Maitra, head, International Business, Commercial Ve-hicles, Tata Motors. “Un-til now, we have trained people from 20 countries.”

SkillPro is an inten-sive, nine-month course that involves both theory and practical knowledge on commercial vehicles, including the types of en-gines, gearbox, axle sys-tems, repairing of trucks, and even live projects on vehicles. The schedule includes a 10-day visit to a dealer where the stu-dents attend to the prob-lems of actual customers. In addition to technical knowledge, soft skills are provided, including Eng-lish-speaking tutorials, and

yoga and music classes. There is also a weekly visit to one of the CSR activities in and around Jamshedpur. Post this nine-month pro-gramme, the students have to attend a three-month on-the-job training in their home country with the distributors who initially shortlisted them.

The chief mentor of this training is Ajoy Lall, head of Manufacturing, Commercial Vehicles, Tata Motors.

The training, Maitra says, is hands-on. “The students start from abso-lute zero, and are handheld on the basics. They learn about the aggregates and components, and how they work; they also work on the assembly line, and get an opportunity to work on all the latest technolo-gies, which even many of their seniors might not have been exposed to. In addition, they have an opportunity to work with

our vendor partners in India. And our data shows that by the time they go back to their respective countries, they have a far greater understanding of the industry.”Student selection

Initially, the company’s distributor reaches out to candidates who it believes are eligible for training. These candidates, Maitra says, are usually from un-derprivileged sections of the society. The distributor pays for the return air ticket cost of the candidate, and

a small stipend for nine months. Tata Motors takes care of boarding, lodging, training, and visit and excursion costs locally, as also extracurricular activi-ties and medical costs.

After the nine-month

training is over, the stu-dents work under probation for three months with the respective distributor who had sponsored them. At the same time, they are not bound to take up jobs with the distributors or within the Tata Motors ecosystem, and can search elsewhere.

“However, in reality, that is not the case—more than 90% of the students we trained are working with our distributors. What also helps is that in most of these countries, Tata Motors is a well-known

brand,” Maitra adds.

Kinds o f jobs: These students ini-tially join the distr ibutors as mechan-ics. Depend-ing on their performance at work, they progress. “And some progress

quite fast,” says Maitra. “Two of our students of the first batch have become service advisors for their country and travel exten-sively in Nigeria for our distributor. And a student from the second batch has become the workshop-in-charge in Kenya.”

Until now, Tata Motors has been able to attract stu-dents from 20 countries, of the 46 it has operations in. “Some countries aren’t Eng-lish-speaking, and in others we are still expanding our business,” adds Maitra. “A challenge, however, is that the female student partici-pation is very low—of the 125-odd students we have trained, including in the current batch, there have been only six girls. We are encouraging more female students to join; trying to build a better male-female student ratio.”

SkillPro, Maitra says, is in its fifth batch right now, and is unique. “I don’t think there is any other company, at least in the commercial vehicle space, anywhere in the world that undertakes this kind of programme—of bringing unskilled workforce from the host country into the home country and then making them job-ready.”

NEW DELHI: Apply online now for various Multi-Task-ing Staff (MTS) Non-Tech-nical posts under the Staff Selection Commission at ssc.nic.in now. Candidates can visit the official website of SSC now to apply for the posts on offer as the applica-tion process for the same is open. While the application process for the same com-menced on April 22, 2019, candidates who are yet to apply can until May 29 to be selected for the vacant posts. The Commission aims to fill over 10000 posts (tentative), through this recruitment process. According to a notice recently released by the Commission, aspiring candidates of Multi- Task-ing (Non-Technical) Staff Examination, 2019 have

been advised to submit their online applications much before the closing date, i.e., 29-05-2019 and not to wait till the last date as there may be heavy traffic on the servers during last days.

Salary: Pay Band-1 (Rs

5200-20200) + Grade Pay Rs 1800, (Revised Pay Scale after 7th CPC: Pay Level in Pay Matrix – Level-1)Important dates:

Last date to apply online – May 29, 2019 (upto 5 PM)

Last date to pay applica-tion fees online – May 31, 2019 (upto 5 PM)

Date of Computer Based Examination (Tier-I) – Au-gust 2, 2019 to September 6, 2019

Date of Descriptive Paper Examination (Tier-II) – No-vember 17, 2019.How to apply:

It is important to note that the candi-dates will be able to submit their applica-tion through online mode on the official website of SSC only.

They will have to pay an application fee of Rs 100 towards the fulfillment of the application process. It is important that candidates fill all their correct informa-tion on the form otherwise their forms will be rejected by the commission.Scheme of Examination:

Paper-I (Computer Based Examination- Objective Type) –Date of exam: August 2, 2019 to September 6, 2019Exam Duration: 90 Minutes (For all four Parts)Subjects and Maximum Marks -

1. General English – 25 questions for 25 marks

2. General Intelligence & Reasoning – 25 questions for 25 marks

3. Numerical Aptitude – 25 questions for 25 marks

4. General Awareness – 25 questions for 25 marksPaper-II (Descriptive) -Short Essay/Letter in Eng-lish or in any language in-cluded in the 8th schedule of the Constitution – 50 Marks – 30 minutes will be given for this paper.

NEW DELHI: Women are increasingly stepping up to carve out their path in the field of engineering at various levels, which has largely been a male-dom-inated profession. India, alone, has over 1.5 million engineers graduating every year.

Imagine having just completed your course with all the knowledge you think you needed to acquire, getting a good job and then being denied the opportunity to apply any of this knowledge at your workplace. This happens a lot, because of biases in organisational culture, of which gender bias against women is the most promi-nent. There is, however, no major gap in the profession-al qualifications between male and female engineers, but the latter are affected by the differential treatment in

Proper training will be game-changer for women engineersorganisations.

Women are as employ-able as men, according to a national employability study. However, it’s not just the work environment, but access to practical engineer-ing education that proves a major hurdle for women in terms of skill development, learning and growth in an organisation.Bridging the gender gap

Growth of women in an organisation is affected, early on, when there are bi-ases, and it becomes harder to close the gap in gender ratios. This is the reality in many engineering organisa-tions today, where women are not able to contribute to the best of their potential. A 2018 McKinsey study revealed that, for every 100 men who are promoted to a manager level position, only 79 women are promoted; resulting in 62 per cent of

men holding managerial positions, compared with 38 per cent of women. Consequently, there is a significantly lower number of women who can be pro-moted internally, and the number of female external hires with the necessary ex-perience is also much lower.

The opportunity to take decisions and get involved at a deeper level is absolute-ly necessary for engineer-ing professionals to grow. However, when courses don’t include such mod-ules, it becomes difficult to enter the professional world equipped without the requisite decision-making capabilities.

According to a recent study, more women than men state that the lack of confidence is one of the primary reasons for their not being able to land a job in emerging tech. Of these,

over 60 per cent of women found they did not have enough hands-on experi-ence in the field, particu-larly in coding. Students with little knowledge of practical, industry-specific coding, for instance, strug-

gle when dropped into real-world situations. The same applies when one is aiming to get a job in the field — you will be expected to

code in new languages and different ways from what you may be used to.Lack of practical skills

The absence of specific hands-on work, right from the academic level, and through other upskilling

methods is what largely leads to women being less confident in their abilities. The fact that only 28 per cent of women stated ‘low

knowledge’ as a hindrance, against 41 per cent of men in the survey highlights this further.

Another revelation from the same study is that women are as passionate as men about coding, but give comparatively less impor-tance to salary (6 per cent versus 11 per cent, respec-tively). This indicates the existing, almost universal, disparity in terms of sal-ary between the genders. However, it also highlights women’s passion for emerg-ing tech, which needs to be fuelled by the right facilities and immersive, simulative experiences.Enabling environment

One of the appropri-ate approaches for this situation is the ‘Maker Approach’, where people learn everything on their own. This helps them learn industry-specific skills and

keep up with today’s de-mands. They are given specific problem statements based on industry require-ments, which need to be solved in a time-bound manner, mimicking a real-life situation.

Such an approach will help shape the right talent and erase difficulties in ambiguous situations, espe-cially in the initial phases of job hunting. Addition-ally, organisations need to make a conscious shift to eradicate gender biases by implementing corrective core policies and practices in the workplace. This will reduce the gender gap and strengthen the all-round tal-ent levels in the company.

(The writer Narayan Mahadevan is Co-Founder at BridgeLabz, an incuba-tor focused on solving the tech employability chal-lenge.)

NEW DELHI: The commit-tee of Society of Jesus has appointed Dr C Joe Arun, SJ. to serve as the next Director of Loyola Institute of Busi-ness Administration (LIBA) beginning this May, 2019. LIBA, a 40-year old busi-ness management institute located in Chennai, is one of the premier B-schools in the country known for its excellence in ethics and values.

In his 18 years of robust experience in academic and industry, Dr Joe Arun, SJ.

Dr C Joe Arun, SJ is new Director of LIBAhas done extensive research in the areas of consumer behaviour, cross-cultural management, conflict and identity construction and other related areas. He has published books and scien-tific papers in areas such personal growth, globaliza-tion, leadership and strategy. He holds an MBA from IIBM and Madras University and a PhD from Oxford Univer-sity UK.

Prior to joining LIBA, Dr Joe Arun was the Director of St. Joseph’s Institute of Man-

agement (JIM), Trichy where he was instrumental in el-evating the institute as one of the top B-Schools in the country. He also served as the Director of Goa Institute of Management (GIM) and Secretary& Correspondent of Loyola College, Deputy Director of LICET, Director of Xavier Institute of Busi-ness Administration (XIBA), Palayamkottai. He enjoys teaching as well as doing research on consumer be-haviour, marketing, strategy, organisational behaviour,

personal growth, and en-trepreneurship in B Schools in India and in France, UK,

Germany and Taiwan.Commenting on his ap-

pointment, Dr Joe Arun, SJ. said, “This position is

a responsibility and a mis-sion given by my Society to form and prepare the next generation of innovative, globally engaged business leaders who are responsible and live a life based on values and also promoting excellence in research in management studies. It’s a time of rapid change in every field by the use of technology. I’m really look-ing forward to being part of this innovative future and contributing to the change-making process.”

MUMBAI: E-comm buyers to get uniform product data Top retailers and e-tailers in India, including Amazon, Flipkart, Reliance Retail, Big Basket and the Future Group have come together to work on standardising representa-tion of product data across various offline and online retail platforms for consis-tency and uniformity.

The move would enable seamless sharing of product data between manufacturers and these companies, result-ing in substantial lowering of admin costs currently incurred in data exchange in-dividually with each retailer or etailer. This includes for-mats of images that need to be uploaded on e-commerce portals and product data that needs to be shared, such as,

NEW DELHI: Next time you walk into a McDonald’s (McD) branded outlet in a city in North or East India, you could actually be bit-ing into a genuine McDonald’s burger with the global fast-food giant set to settle its long-drawn dispute with its estranged Indian partner Vikram Bakshi. The US burger chain is set to secure full control of the operations of around 165 outlets in North and East India that are currently being run by Bakshi’s Connaught Plaza Restaurants (CPRL), sources said.

“The handover process is in progress. McDonald’s will look to

E-comm buyers to get uniform product data

McD to take over 165 Bakshi’s outlets

net weight, dimensions, prod-uct classification, maximum retail price and description. The group has been formed under the aegis of GS1 India, a standards organisation set up in the country by the min-istry of commerce & industry and other apex trade bodies.

An Amazon India spokes-person confirmed the devel-opment. “We always con-tinue to explore new ways to enhance the customer and seller experience on our mar-ketplace. We are evaluating the possibilities of working with GS1 and will share more detail when we are ready,” the spokesperson said

Under current circum-stances, a consumer would see diverse images and de-scriptions of the same prod-uct, for example, a branded

renovate and refurbish the outlets and rework the supply chain,” said a senior industry executive aware of the development.

It was reported in December that McDonald’s had resumed talks with Bakshi for a possible out-of-court settlement. Both partners confirmed the same to the National Company Law Ap-pellate Tribunal (NCLAT).

“As has been reported, both shareholders are pursuing a settlement and I am sure you can appreciate, details of which cannot be shared at this stage,” Bakshi said.

pair of sunglasses, across different retail platforms. “This is because the product data is picked up by the e-tailers from different sellers or sources. Every e-tailer em-ploys a large group of people who collect, clean and feed this data to the system,” said a senior executive working at large online retail company.

Standardisation, which would mean, sourcing data from a single database, would enable access to product information across channels seamlessly by both brick & mortar stores and online shopping portals, said Ravi Mathur, CEO of GS1. “For consumers, this also helps in providing a consistent shop-ping experience and product comparison across search engines,” he added.

GULF JOBS & CAREERS 5Tuesday, May 14, 2019

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Sudoku Puzzle Rules: To solve a Su-doku puzzle, every digit from 1 to 9 must appear in each of the nine verti-cal columns, in each of the nine horizontal rows and in each of the nine boxes.Solution for Puzzle # 62 will be in next issue.

Fun Corner

Sudoku Puzzle 61 Answer

Your wellness

A new study found that for some saloon workers, lifetime

cancer risk was up to 100 times higher than baseline EPA-issued levels.

Levels of harmful air-borne pollutants in nail salons are similar to that of an oil refinery or an auto garage, putting employees at increased risk of devel-oping cancers, respiratory difficulties and skin irrita-tion, a study warns.

The research, which monitored volatile organic compound (VOC) levels in six nail salons, is among the first to illustrate the se-rious health risks prevalent in the industry.

According to a team from the University of Colorado Boulder in the US, nail salon employees face increased health risks due to high levels of indoor airborne pollutants such as formaldehyde and benzene.

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has determined that long-term exposure to carcino-genic compounds signifi-

cantly raises the chances of developing cancers such as leukemia and Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

“The study provides some of the first hard evi-dence that these environ-ments are dangerous for workers and that better policies need to be enacted

to protect them,” said Lu-pita Montoya, lead author of the research.

Montoya’s interest in re-searching airborne hazards in nail salons dates back nearly a decade. She re-calls visiting a salon years ago and being struck by the pungent smell of open

chemicals used in gel and acrylic nail applications. The air quality could not be very good in such a confined space with poor ventilation, she suspected, drawing on her background as a mechanical engineer.

However, while many of the VOCs from nail prod-

ucts had already been iden-tified, no scientific studies had looked at the long-term health impacts for workers exposed to them day in and day out. Montoya tried to get field tests started, but securing a location proved difficult. Nail salons in the US are small businesses,

employing a predominantly minority workforce and lacking the resources to adequately address worker health and safety. Fear-ing consequences, many declined to participate, Montoya said.

In 2017, four under-graduate students working with Montoya used per-sonal connections to help secure access to six salons for a monitoring test over the course of 18 months. The salons agreed to par-ticipate on the condition of anonymity.

The researchers set up equipment to monitor known VOCs such as ben-zene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes (BTEX, collec-tively) along with formalde-hyde. While formaldehyde levels were similar to those measured in other settings, the study turned up higher-than-expected concentra-tions of harmful benzene, which has been linked to leukaemia, in all six salons.

The team asked employ-ees to fill out questionnaires about employment prac-

tices, safety practices and health symptoms. Techni-cians reported working an average of 52.5 hours per week, with some ranging as high as 80 hours per week. Seventy per cent of workers

reported experiencing at least one adverse symptom, with common responses including headaches, skin irritation and eye irritation.

The study found that for workers in some salons, lifetime cancer risk was up to 100 times higher than baseline EPA-issued levels.

The researchers stressed that salon customers, how-ever, face significantly fewer risks. The observed levels of air pollution ob-served are unlikely to have any negative health effects on all but the most vulner-able, such as those who are pregnant or have serious asthma.

The team is also work-ing on ways to reduce VOC concentrations pas-

sively using low-cost, absorbent materials like heat-treated coal or wood with a strong affinity for organic molecules like BTEX compounds. These activated carbon materials can remove harmful VOCs through passive diffusion. Researchers used activated carbon-based materials to create gallery-worthy artwork. The pieces could hang on the wall in a nail salon, pleasing to the eye

while quietly cleaning the air. However, this method takes a long time.

Air jets that direct pol-luted air toward the absor-bent material with greater flow provide far more ef-ficient removal.

In an ideal real-world setting, small jets would sit at the end of each table, fanning the chemical fumes directly toward the char-coal artwork, efficiently eliminating lingering VOCs.

Nail saloon workers at high risk of cancer

The National Institute of Technology (NIT) Su-rathkal (Karnataka) has

released the admit card for the NIMCET 2019 or the NIT MCA common entrance test 2019. Students can download the same from the official website, nimcet.in. The NIT Surathkal is the organising institute of the national level entrance exam this year.

The exam is scheduled to be conducted on May 26, 2019 (Sunday from 10 am to noon and the result will be published by June 5, 2019 (Wednesday). Those who qualify the exam will be eligible for counselling. Candidates will have to select the course of their choice from June 9 to June 15, 2019.NIMCET admit card 2019: How to download?

Step 1: Visit the official

NIMCET admit card 2019 releasedwebsite, nimcet.in

Step 2: On the homepage refer to the link ‘NIMCET 2019 admit card’

Step 3: You will be redi-rected to a new page

Step 4: Log-in using reg-istration number

Step 5: Admit card will appear

In case any student faces any problem in downloading the NIMCET admit card, they can raise their concern by sending an e-mail to secretary.nimcet2019@nitk.ac.in or secretary.nimcet2019@nitk.edu.in. The emails will only be accepted between May 13 and May 24, 2019. Applicants

need to mention their applica-tion number and proof for the remittance of fee along with the email.

From this year onwards NIMCET 2019 score will also be accepted for admission to MCA courses at the Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, New Delhi. There are about 900 seats for the MCA programme in GGS Indraprastha University for which the counselling will be conducted by the varsity and not the NITs.Participating NITs

National Institute of Tech-nology, Agartala

Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology, Al-lahabad

Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology, Bho-pal

National Institute of Tech-

nology, CalicutNational Institute of Tech-

nology, JamshedpurNational Institute of Tech-

nology, KurukshetraNational Institute of Tech-

nology, RaipurNational Institute of Tech-

nology Karnataka, SurathkalNational Institute of

Technology, Tiruchirappalli (Trichy)

National Institute of Tech-nology, WarangalTest pattern

NIMCET 2019 will be con-ducted in a multiple choice question (MCQ) format con-taining 120 multiple ques-tions covering — 50 questions from mathematics, 40 ques-tions from analytical abil-ity and logical reasoning, 10 questions based in computer awareness and 20 questions based on general English.

Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) formerly known as

Pune University announced to conduct entrance test for admission postgraduate programmes which will be conducted between June 10 and 20, 2019. SPPU invites applications for its postgraduate programmes in various disciplines such as arts, science, technology, computer science, law and management.

Candidates can apply to the university via the online mode on the official website, unipune.ac.in and fill up the application to be sent to the respective de-partment by post. The last date to apply is on May 25, 2019. The eligibility criteria for every course varies.

The SPPU has made the entrance exam compulsory for admissions to all PG courses. Earlier, admissions to only a few courses had mandatory online entrance tests. Candidates seeking admission to the M.Sc, MA, M.Com, LLM, M.L.I.Sc, BA, PG B.Sc (Applied), M Tech need to give the entrance exam conducted by the university. For the MBA courses, Maharashtra

Pune University to conduct entrance test for PG courses

candidates have to provide their MHT CET scores and

outside Maharashtra, can-didates can furnish their CAT/XAT/MAT or ATMA scores.

The online entrance examination will have two sections. In the first sec-tion, students’ logic, apti-tude and comprehension skills will be tested while the second section will carry questions from the main subject of the course applied for. More weightage will be given to the second section, said the statement.

The marking scheme for the fully-objective type exam will be 20 marks and 80 marks for the first and second section, respec-tively. With the admission

now going fully online from academic session

2019-2020, applicants can appear for the entrance test from all across Maharash-tra and other cities as well.Application procedure

Step 1: Visit the official website of the university and click on the admission portal link

Step 2: According to the choice of their desired course, the candidate can click on the course admis-sions tab

Step 3: Candidates need to either login/sign up by registering themselves and creating an account

Step 4: After successful registration, the candidate will receive an e-mail with the User Manual and FAQs

Step 5: Candidate can create a new application

and fill the man-datory details. All the valid academic details have to be entered and a pho-tograph needs to be uploaded

Step 6: After all the details have been submitted, the candidate can click on the print link and proceed for payment using the challan

Step 7: After making the payment, the candi-date needs to send the application and a copy of the challan to the Head of the concerned Department at SPPU

All the necessary docu-ments have to be attached with the application post such as a copy of the state-ment of marks, provisional certificate, sports certifi-cates, cultural competition certificates, caste certificate (if necessary) and a medical certificate.

The Entrance test fees for the Open category and outside Maharashtra stu-dents is Rs 500, whereas for reserved category is Rs 350.

The National Testing Agency is scheduled to release the admit

card for the Jawaharlal Nehru University online entrance test (JNUEE) and Combined Biotechnology Entrance Ex-amination (CEEB) on Tuesday, May 14, 2019. The candidates who will appear in the ex-amination can download the admit card through the official website- ntajnu.nic.in.

“The candidates are hereby informed that the download-ing of Admit Card of JNUEE and CEEB – 2019 will take place from 14th May 2019. This has been done on ac-count of extension of the last date of the online submission of Application Form of JNUEE and CEEB 2019 from April 15, 2019 to April 18, 2019 and payment of fee up to April 19, 2019,” read the official notification.

NTA to issue admit card for JNUEE, CEEBHow to checkStep 1: Visit the official

website- ntajnu.nic.inStep 2: Click on the ‘down-

load admit card link’Step 3: Enter registration

number, roll numberStep 4: Results will appear

on the screenStep 5: Download it, and

take a print out for further reference.

This is the first time, the National Testing Agency will conduct the entrance test for the admission to the Jawaha-rlal Nehru University (JNU). The admission will be held for 3,383 seats including 1,043 for MPhil and PhD courses.

The exam pattern for the entrance exam has changed. The test will be conducted on a computer-based format for the first time. It will be a three-hour long multiple-choice question (MCQ) based

exam. According to the official notification. The exam will be held from May 27 to 31, 2019. It will be conducted in two sessions, the morning ses-sion will begin at 9:30 and the afternoon session will begin from 2:30 pm.

The JNU students Union (JNUSU) has opposed the MCQ-based exam claiming, “the time-tested method of conducting JNU entrance exam assessing the different aspects of a student’s potential for learning and research has been replaced without any academic reasoning.”

The format for the JNUEE 2019 will be Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) through a computer-based test. The JNUEE will be conducted in 127 cities across India. In previous years, the test has been conducted in around 51 cities.

There are many fac-tors that strengthen a start-up venture,

such as finance, vision, goals, leadership and net-working. For men, ‘net-working’ can be easy to accomplish and utilise, but for women entrepreneurs, ‘networking’ can be a tricky task.

Networking doesn’t mean attending every event to widen your network, but deciding what will you be coming back with? What matters is mapping out your network plan—who would you like to meet, how they can help you and what you can do for them. It is a barter process.

Like it or not, but men

still occupy a lot of senior corporate/governance posi-tions. This may mean that women are comparatively less likely to reach out to people who can provide them with an opportu-nity. So, it is important to

Women entrepreneurs can leverage networkbe specific and strategic. When you get to meet ‘that’ person, make sure what you want and follow up fast.

Do your homework: Instead of bumping into your important contact at an event or in an office, it is important to know the person beforehand. The right platform is social me-dia—it can help learn about that person’s interests, and small details can help in tailoring your pitch.

Have genuine curiosity: When you meet someone, concentrate on understand-ing their values, goals, pas-sions and current needs. Determine how you can support their endeavours.

It is the quickest way to connect, and can develop into a long-term relation.

Step out of comfort bubble: If you want to maximise your revenue, you must step out of your comfort zone and attend

mixed gender groups. The networking group will ex-pose you to the low-cost, low-risk opportunity to ex-plore what kind of market-ing messages work with the male market. Such connec-tions help in discovering several angles business that you might have otherwise missed.

Craft your pitch: You must jot down a catchy and convincing script for pitch-ing clients and networks. This way, you can easily nail it in all the groups. It can open avenues of rev-enue and add value to your key marketing message.

Lay down strategy: Al-ways be handy with both short-term and long-term business strategies.

Don’t limit your ground: Cater to diverse customers instead of sticking to one pool if you really want to expand your network. Introducing diversity at your business implies you will be in touch with new people and cultures. It will help you learn about other communities, develop im-portant contacts, access useful information and get positive business referrals.

(The author Malini Saba is founder of Saba Industries & Saba Family Foundations. Views are personal)

6 IN FOCUS Tuesday, May 14, 2019

I am a non-Muslim Indian expat in Dubai. I wish to write a will, which will include my assets back home in India. Can you guide me through the procedure?

A non-resident Indian based outside India can register his or her will in the embassy or consulate of India in the country where he or she is residing with valid residence visa. Since you are a resident of UAE , you can register your will either at the Indian embassy in Abu Dhabi or the consulate general of India in Dubai.

Prior to registration of your will, it is recommended that you consult a legal counsel who is well aware of laws of inheritance in India. Further, you may take assistance of the said legal coun-sel to draft a will for you as per your requirements and in accordance with prevailing laws of India. Upon drafting of the will and finalising the draft, you may approach the Indian embassy in Abu Dhabi or the consulate general of India in Dubai along with the below mentioned documents for attestation of your will.

1-Two original final drafts of will. One will be handed over to you upon attestation and one for the file of Indian Consulate, Dubai; 2-Your (executant) passport along with copy of passport and UAE visa page; 3-Photograph of the executant with white background and without wearing glasses; 4-Two indi-vidual witnesses who are Indians and residents in the UAE; 5-The witnesses need to carry their passports along with copy of the passports and UAE visa page; 6-Copy of the UAE Resident ID Card/Residence proof of the executant and the witnesses and

7-Copy of title deeds of properties owned by the executant in India (op-tional).

The executor of the will along with the witnesses should appear before the consular officer at the Indian embassy in Abu Dhabi or the consulate general of India in Dubai to sign the will in their presence. Further, the witnesses need to witness the will in the presence of the consular officer at the Indian embassy in

Abu Dhabi or the consulate general of India in Dubai. Upon signing and witnessing of the will, you need to pay the relevant fees and the consular of-ficer will attest the will and handover one original to you. It is recommended that you approach a legal counsel who is well versed with the laws of India and seek his advice and services for registration of the will.

Retirement age in UAEI am a 70-year-old expatriate. I had resided in the UAE for four decades and have a vast experience in hospital-ity industry. I intend to be employed with the hotel industry until the UAE

Employment Law permits me to do so. My previous employer did not renew my work permit and residence visa due to age factor. Now I am visiting the UAE on three months’ long-term tourist visa and looking for a job offer of senior management position with any hotel, preferably in the emirate of Sharjah. Recently, I had a meeting with one of the hotel owners and few of my acquaintances have an opinion that one can be employed after 70 years of age if Dh5,000 per year is borne by the employer. In that case, I will be willing to bear the said cost. My son is based in the UAE and he is requesting me to be under his dependent residence visa so that I can go ahead to work with any hotel industry in the UAE. What are my options?

Since Jan 2011, the ministry of HR & Emirtisation has been accepting re-quests for work permits of individuals over the age of 60 years up to the age of 65, thereby enhancing the retire-ment age from 60 to 65. As per the prevailing provisions, for all employees working in private sector entities reg-

How can I draw up a will in UAE ?istered under the Federal laws of the UAE, the retirement age is 65 years. However, the age limit of 65 years on the retirement may be further increased considering the individuals’ nature of work, his credentials, expertise which is important for the entity he is working for. Further to this, employment visa may be issued to an employee annually after he/she attains the age of 65 years. The employer should bear the charges of Dh5,000 payable to Ministry of HR . This is in accordance with cabinet resolution No. 27 of 2010 on the fees and penalties for services provided by ministry HR. In the event your son sponsors your visa as his dependent, your employment is subject to the ap-proval of the ministry of HR .

Holiday paymentI am going for my annual paid vaca-tion from Aug 1 to 30. There are three days of Eid Al Adha holidays falling during my vacation. Am I entitled for pay for these three days because they are falling within my annual leave?

Pursuant to your queries, any public holidays which may fall during the annual leave of an employee will be reckoned as part of annual leave. This is in accordance with Article 77 of the Federal Law No. 8 of 1980 Regu-lating Employment Relations in the UAE (the “Employment Law”), which states: “Holidays for which provisions have been made by law or agreement or any other days of absence from work on account of sickness shall be reckoned as part of the annual leave if such holidays fall within the annual leave”. However, if your employer’s HR policies in its manual state that the employees are entitled for extra holidays for the public holidays falling within the annual leave, then you are entitled for such extra days of leave. In the event the HR policy formulated by the employer is not in accordance with Employment Law, then such HR policy shall be null and void, if such HR policy is not more beneficial to the employee. This is in accordance with Article 7 of the Employment Law, which states: “Any stipulations contrary to the provisions of this Law, even if it was made prior to its commencement, shall be null and void unless they are more advantageous to the employee”.

Is there a ban?I was deported from the UAE to India because my employer accused me of breach of trust. I was sentenced to six months in jail and deportation in 2011. After that my employer took out a civil law suit and I then completed 36 months in jail per the court order. I was deported in 2015. I now want to know if I can re-enter the UAE. When I was leaving the immigration detention centre nobody could give me solid information on my status. Most people tell me that if you are deported then you receive a lifetime ban and you may not enter the UAE even on a visit visa. I would like to know three things: can I enter the UAE after deportation? Where or how can I verify my status with certainty? If I apply for a visa and it goes through successfully, does that mean that I don’t have a ban?

Anyone who has been imprisoned for a criminal case and subsequently deported is likely to receive a lifetime ban that prevents them returning to the UAE for any reason. This is in Federal Law no 6 of 1973 and Minis-terial Decree 83 of 2002, which state that a number of classes of people are prohibited from entering the UAE; this includes individuals involved in criminal activities and deported in ac-cordance with UAE government orders. The only way to obtain a definitive answer is by contacting the General Directorate of Residence and Foreigner Affairs. This is part of the ministry of the interior and regulates the entry and exit of travellers to the UAE. Each emirate has its own office with its own website. It should be noted that while someone may obtain a tourist visa, that does not definitively mean that they will get a residency visa. I recommend you check with the ministry to be sure of his future options. If an application for a visa is approved, then a lifetime ban does not apply in this case.

GULF FAQs

Vice President Venkaiah Naidu being received by Chairperson of the National Assembly of Vietnam Nguyen Kim Thi Ngan in Hanoi, Vietnam .

MUSCAT: In a major deci-sion, the government has re-tained several high-ranking job positions for Omani nationals. According to a ministerial decision an-nounced by Minister of Manpower Shaikh Abdul-lah bin Nasser al Bakri, foreigners are banned from being recruited to a number of managerial positions. In addition to this, the deci-sion also bans recruitment of expatriate workers to all administrative and clerical positions in the Sultanate. Nevertheless, Article 2 of the decision states: “those foreign employees who are currently holding the same positions can continue till the expiry of their present contract, but shall not be

More jobs reserved for Omanisrenewed afterwards”.

The positions include assistant general managers, administration mangers, director or manager of HR, manager for employee af-fairs, training managers, follow-up managers, public relations managers and as-sistant director or managers. “The decision shall come into effect from the day of its publication in the Official Gazette,” said a statement from the ministry. Recruitment ban on expatri-ates in select professions was introduced a few years ago to regulate the Omani labour market and encour-age more job opportunities for citizens.

The Majlis Ash’shura had called upon the minis-

ter of manpower to replace all the expatriates occupying top positions in the private sector, including the post of CEOs, with nationals. The government has already set up National Centre for Em-ployment to aid the ongoing efforts to identify Omanis for positions that might have previously been filled by expatriates. In Dec last year, the ministry said it was retaining some top positions in the education sector for nationals. The positions included director/head of admissions and registration department, director/head of student affairs department, director/head of quality assurance department and director/head of career guid-ance section.

The move from the min-istry is the latest addition to the freeze on expatriate visas, which was first is-sued across 87 professions at the end of Jan 2018, and then extended for another six months last July. Data from the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) shows that the num-ber of expatriates working in the Sultanate has decreased in the recent past following the strict implementation of Omanisation of various jobs by the government. According to NCSI figures, the number of expatriate workers at the end of March this year stands at 1,776,325 showing a decline of 3.5pc against 1,782,406 during the same period last year.

NRI dies after hip operation, probe orderedDUBAI: An NRI -- Betty Rita Fernandes from Mumbai -- passed away in Dubai at Al Zahra Hospital due to complications allegedly

arising after a hip replace-ment surgery. Betty was a chef and ran “Betty’s Cake Tales”, a specialty Grocery Store as mentioned on her facebook page. Earlier, an alleged medical negligence case was reported in UAE last week.

Dr Mohayem Abdelgha-ny, CEO, Al Zahra Hospital, in a statement said: “In reference to the demise of Betty Rita Fernandes on May 9 after her surgery in

Al Zahra Hospital Dubai (AZHD), we have made the family transparently aware of all the developments and ongoing reviews.”

“This incident is cur-rently being dealt with multi-level in-depth reviews as per the hospital, Dubai Health Authority (DHA) and Joint Commission In-ternational (JCI) guidelines. It was also notified to the relevant authorities and DHA for their independent assessment and review and we will keep the patient’s family updated,” read the statement. Responding to Betty’s case, the Dubai Health Authority issued a statement saying: “The case is currently under in-vestigation. The DHA looks into every single case of alleged negligence and/or malpractice stringently. The Health Regulation Sector follows due process in line with international stan-

dards to investigate such cases, where a committee of subject matter experts is formed to investigate the case. Deemed action is taken according to the merit of each case,” said Dr Marwan Al Mulla, CEO of Health Regulation Sector.

Local media reported that a 24-year-old Emirati woman has been in a coma for nearly 20 days after a botched up nose surgery that led to a cardiac arrest and brain damage. The DHA had announced that it has stopped the “First Med Day Surgery Centre Dubai” where the surgery took place - from conducting any sur-geries until the investigation is complete. In an updated statement. Dr Mulla said that the authority is stand-ing by the side of the family of the young Emirati adding that the medical negligence she has suffered will not go unpunished.

LONDON: Hardeep Singh (36) who pinned a woman passenger down on her seat during the flight, was sen-tenced to 12 months in jail at Minshull Street Crown Court in Manchester. He was trav-elling to the UK on a tourist visa and has been jailed for 12 months for carrying out a “prolonged” sexual assault on a young woman during a long-haul flight from Mum-bai to Manchester earlier this year.

Hardeep Singh will be deported back to India at the end of his sentence. “From the outset of the flight, Singh’s behaviour was

Indian in UK jail for sexual assaultdespicable. After checking the woman was unaccom-

panied, he began to invade her personal space, pestering her and making unwanted physical contact, despite the passenger making it clear she did not want to engage him in conversation,” said De-tective Constable Catherine Evans of Greater Manchester

Police’s Airport Team.“Waiting until the woman

and surrounding passengers were asleep, Singh subjected the woman to a prolonged sexual assault, forcibly re-straining her when she tried to move away. Numbed with fear, it was only after she summoned the strength to overpower him that she was able to run away and raise the alarm,” she said. The court heard that on Feb 23, the woman in her 20s was aboard the flight from Mumbai and Singh was in the seat to one side of her, the officer said. He was vis-iting Britain on a six-month

tourist visa. Upon boarding the aircraft in Mumbai, Singh tried to engage the woman in conversation. She tried to be polite but began to feel uncomfortable and could not understand him as he did not speak English clearly, she said.

While attempting to engage her in conversa-tion during the course of the flight, Singh asked her whether the woman sat on the other side of her was her mother and -- while she was watching a film - removed her headphones and tried to talk to her again, the court was told.

LONDON: A 24-year-old man from Hyderabad was stabbed to

death alleged-ly by another Asian at a mall in London, a close acquain-tance of the victim’s family has said.

Mohammad Nadeedmuddin from Hyderabad’s Old City area was found dead by a security personnel at the parking of Lon-don’s Tesco Extra supermarket on Wellington Street, Slough, Berkshire, where he was em-ployed.

“His parents and his wife who are also staying in Lon-don called up the supermarket management when he did not return from the duty till late. The supermarket staff along with the security personnel of the mall checked the area and found Nadeem’s body in the parking area,” Faheem Qureshi, a family friend of Nadeem in Hyderabad, told a TV channel.

NRI killed in London

Betty Rita Fernandes

Hardeep singh

Mohammad Nadeedmuddin

CORPORATE NEWS 7Tuesday, May 14, 2019

Commerce Secretary Dr Anup Wadhawan chairing the WTO Senior Officers’ Meeting of Developing Countries in New Delhi.

Private sector Liberty General Insurance is keen on building scale

and plans to open 100 new branches this year and is also looking at new products and distribu-tion tie-ups.

“We are looking at geo-graphical expansion. In the first six years, we had 60 branches. Now that we are at over Rs 1,000 crore of premium and our systems are established, we have decided to grow geographi-cally in Tier-2/3 cities,” said Ropak Asthana, CEO and Whole Time Director, Liberty General Insurance.

It has already opened 55 of the 100 new branches it plans to open in 2019,

Liberty Gen Ins sees major potential in Tier2/3 citiesAsthana said, adding that half of these will be virtual offices and the remaining brick and mortar branches.

Additionally, the insurer is also looking at large dis-tribution tie ups such as OEMs and bancassurance as well as foraying into niche products to build scale.

“We now have OEM tie ups with Hyundai and Tata Motors and we are doing the integration for our tie up with Maruti. We are very keen to get into OEM tie-ups in the two-wheeler seg-ment,” Asthana said, adding that growth is expected in Tier 2/3 cities despite the slowdown in passenger ve-hicle sales. It has recently tied up with online travel

aggregator EaseMyTrip to provide zero cancellation charges on flight tickets.

The insurer is also work-ing on products in segments such as cyber insurance, property and title insurance as well as events, and merg-ers and acquisition.

It is also looking at acci-dent and health insurance, where it sees long-term growth potential.

Asthana said the com-pany has set up a back office for claims manage-ment in Pune and plans to expand it for product and underwriting expertise in health insurance. “We believe there is a lot more opportunity in health in-surance,” he said.

ICICI Bank has launched a co-branded multicur-rency travel card with

Goibibo to offer convenience as well as monetary benefits to the burgeoning section of in-ternational travel enthusi-asts of the country. Anyone travelling abroad, whether an ICICI Bank savings ac-count customer or not, can apply for the ‘Goibibo ICICI Bank Travel Card’ digitally on the Goibibo website and mobile app. Accepted across 200 countries and 46 million merchants globally, the card can be loaded with upto 15 currencies.

The card is bundled with benefits upto Rs 20,000 which includes gift vouch-ers worth Rs 15,000 from Goibibo along with other benefits that can be used to pur-chase flights and

ICICI Bank-Goibibo launches co-branded cardbook hotels on the travel site. Additionally, custom-ers get 40 pai-se discount on currency conversion rate on loading of minimum $ 1000. Further, they get the advantage of complimentary card protection from theft / loss upto Rs five lakh. It also

provides flat 15pc discount at over 100 Indian restau-rants across six foreign cit-ies. To offer an enhanced convenience of managing

the currencies loaded in the travel card seamlessly, the card allows customers to in-stantly con-vert money from one currency to another at Bank’s internet portal, as well as re-load currency into the card anytime, anywhere using the Bank’s mobile and

i n t e r - n e t b a n k i n g platform.

Sudipta Roy, Head – U n s e -cured As-sets, Credit C a r d s & Pe r s o n a l L o a n s , ICICI Bank

said, “We are delighted to partner with Goibibo to offer our first co-branded mul-ti-currency travel card. Customers have always been

at the core of our innova-tions and offerings. So, we continually strive to provide improved convenience as well as more benefits to them. This offering is in line with that philosophy. The ‘Goibibo ICICI Bank Travel Card’ not only offers the convenience of one-card-across-countries with an option of loading upto 15 currencies, but also comes bundled with some of the best-in class services. Ad-ditionally, one can easily apply for it digitally from Goibibo’s site and mobile app by furnishing a few details. In addition to this co-branded travel card, we cater to our travel enthusi-ast custom-ers with other products such as Sapphiro Travel Card and Coral Travel Card.”

Oriental Bank of Com-merce (OBC) has reported a net profit

of Rs 201.50 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2019. Thé public sector

lender had reported a net loss of Rs 1,650 crore in the fourth quarter last fiscal.

For the entire fiscal 2018-19, OBC has reported a net profit of Rs 55 crore, a turn-around of sorts when compared to a net loss of Rs 5,872 crore in the previous

Oriental Bank back in blackfis-cal.

The turnaround could largely be attributed to a 109 per cent increase in total re-covery and upgrada-tion at Rs 6,597 crore (Rs

3,161 crore) during fis-cal 2018-19.

N e t NPAs have decreased to 5.93 per c e n t ( R s 9,440 crore)

as against net NPAs of 10.48 per cent at Rs 14,282 crore last year.

Commenting on the bank’s financial perfor-mance, Mukesh Kumar Jain, Managing Director & CEO, Oriental Bank of Commerce, attributed the turnaround to

three main reasons—con-tainment of slippages; sharp increase in recoveries to the tune of 108 percent on a year on year basis besides over 41 percent growth in retail advances.

Aided by spike in retail advances, the bank’s over-all advances grew 15.75 percent in 2019-20. For the current fiscal, OBC is eyeing overall credit growth of 10-12 percent, Jain said.

Jain also said that OBC was now open to acquire a bank. Without naming the bank, he also said that OBC has identified the possible candidates.

He expressed confidence that OBC will be able to sustain the turnaround and re-port increased profits in the coming years.

Electoral bonds worth Rs 3,622 crore were sold during March

and April in the run-up to and overlapping with four rounds of the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections, State Bank of India (SBI) said in response to an ap-plication filed under the Right to Information Act. The bank said total sales of the bonds amounted to Rs 1,056.78 crore in 2018.

Mumbai tops the list of the cities where the maximum sale of elec-toral bonds was regis-tered, according to the RTI response to Pune-based Vihar Durve.

SBI, which is autho-rised to sell these electoral bonds, reported that in March this year it sold bonds worth Rs 1,365.69 crore, which later shot up by 65.21pc in April to Rs 2,256.37 crore.

These were introduced after changes in Finance

Singapore-headquar-tered Deskera , a cloud-services pro-

vider, part-nered with the Indian Institute of Technol-ogy (IIT) Kanpur to pro-vide small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) of south-east Asia and India access to research oppor-tunities.

According to the part-nership deal , around 100,000 SMEs associated with Deskera will be able to benefit from modern facilities offered by IIT Kanpur for industries such as manufacturing, aviation, logistics, and supply chain.

“IIT Kanpur as a host to one of the largest in-novation ecosystems in an academic setting and cutting edge state-of-the-art research in all disciplines of science, engi-neering and management is poised to provide both technology and product inter-vention support to SMEs across

Electoral bonds worth Rs 3,622-cr sold in Mar-Apr Deskera partners with IIT KanpurAct 2017; related amend-ments were made to I-T Act, RBI Act, and Rep-resentation of the People Act.

Union finance minister Arun Jaitley introduced the electoral bonds as a means of donation to po-litical parties in his budget speech in 2017.

The instrument would ensure more transparency in electoral funding, he

India and Asia region mak-ing them globally com-petitive,” said Professor Abhay Karandikar, Direc-tor, IIT Kanpur.

IIT Kanpur is well-equipped with cutting-edge

capabilities and will pro-vide an ad-ditional layer of research to help enterprises in improved decision-mak-ing, added Karandikar.

According to a World Bank study, there are 365-445 million formal and informal micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the emerging markets. Of which, the former contributes up to 60pc of total employment

said.According to SBI, in

April, the most elector-al bonds were sold in Mumbai at Rs 694 crore, followed by Rs 417.31 crore in Kolkata, Rs 408.62 crore in New Delhi and Rs 338.07 crore in Hyderabad.

The scheme of electoral bonds, notified by the Centre in 2018, has been chal-lenged in Supreme Court by Association for

and 40 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in emerging economies.

Shashank Dixit, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Deskera, also an IIT Kanpur alumni said, “SMEs in the

emerging coun-tries are going through a trans-formative phase. They need access to world-class re-search and analy-sis.”

“Further, the Deskera partner-

ship would leverage the R&D effort of MSMEs and help them to grow faster in this competitive world,” said Professor S Ganesh, Dean, Research & Develop-ment, IIT Kanpur.

The governments of various nations especial-ly India and south-east Asia are en-couraging the growth of SMEs by intro-ducing several initiatives and policies.

Democratic Reforms, non-government research or-ganisation. “The fact that the highest sale of bonds was in the business and commercial capital of the country [Mumbai] shows that the elec-toral bonds have become the main con-duit of money (exchange) between corpo-rates and the political parties,” said Jagdeep Chhokar, founder of ADR.

FMCG major ITC said its board of directors has appointed company

Managing Director Sanjiv Puri as its Chairman with immediate effect following the demise of YC Deveshwar, who was the Chairman and Non-Executive Director of the diversified conglomerate.

“...the Board of Direc-tors of the company at the meeting held on Monday, appointed Sanjiv Puri, Man-

Sanjiv Puri appointed ITC’s Chairmanaging Director, also as the Chairman of the company with effect from May 13, 2019. Consequently, Puri’s

new designation is Chairman & Managing Director of the

company,” ITC said in a regulatory filing.

Deveshwar, who was the company’s longest-serving corporate head, died on Saturday. He was 72.

He was first appointed as an Executive Director in April, 1984 and became Chairman in 1996.

In February 2017, De-veshwar was appointed as Chairman in a non-executive capacity.

Sanjiv Puri

State-owned Container Corporation of India (CONCOR) said that

it will pump in up to Rs 8,000 crore in the next five years to develop dry ports and distribution logistics centres across the country.

“We are coming up with 20 distribution logistics centres and 100 dry ports. We are already operating 83 (dry ports) and we will make it 100. The 20 distri-bution logistics centres will be connected to 100 (dry ports). Total investment in the next five years will be Rs 6,000-Rs 8,000 crore,” CONCOR Chairman and Managing Director V Kaly-ana Rama said during an event here.

Container Corporation of India is a navratna com-

CONCOR to invest up to Rs 8,000cr on dry portspany under the Ministry of Railways.

CONCOR inaugurated its first distribution logistics centre at Ennore, Chennai, in Tamil Nadu in March.

“So, there will be around 120 centres which will be connected as a network to provide these distribution logistics services for entire India We will be able to give some reduction in the logistics cost,” he added

The company, he said, is planning to line up Rs 1,000 crore as a capital expenditure in the current financial year.

“This year (financial year), we are planning (a capital expenditure) of Rs 1,000 crore. Last year, We spent Rs 770 crore,” he added.

He further said the state-owned company is expect-ing a growth of around 10-12 per cent in the financial year 2019-20.

“Last fiscal, on the vol-ume side, it (the growth) was around eight per cent, and on the financial side (topline), (it was) 12 per cent and bottom line, it was 21 per cent,” the CMD said.

CONCOR commenced operations in 1989. It now has a network of 83 in-land container depots and container freight stations. In addition to providing inland transport by rail for containers, it has also expanded to cover man-agement of ports, air cargo complexes and establishing cold-chain, according to its website.

Global card payments major Mastercard, said it will invest

$1 billion in India over the next five years, with plans to make the country a global technology node for its platforms.

The company has al-ready invested $1 billion in the Indian market in the last five years.

“Over the last five years, we invested about $1 billion in India. Given our increasing confidence in the Indian economy, where it is likely to be over the coming decade, we are stepping up on our investment commitment in India. We are committing another $1 billion into India (for the next five

Mastercard to invest $1b in Indiayears),” said Ari Sarker, co-president, Asia-Pacific, Mastercard.

The most crucial thing about this investment is that Mastercard is building

India as a global technol-ogy node for its global platforms, he said.

This investment will

help foster innovation and increase Mastercard’s speed-to-market capabili-ties and value-added ser-vices.

“What we mean by that

is as a payments network we are a global network. All our transactions tra-verse towards a global

network where the tech-nology centres are in the US. And now India is going to become the first country outside of the US which will have a global technology node,” he said.

Building the India tech-nology node will mean that the company’s processing services, authentication services, tokenisation ser-vices, and all other service layers that ride around the card payment industry will have an India presence.

Of the $1 billion invest-ment, $300 million will be used to develop the India technology node. The rest of the investment will go towards existing services and expanding capacity among others, said Sarker.

8 Travel / Entertainment

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As on 13th May, 2019 (In rupees)

Currency Buying Selling

Australian Dollar 47.75 50.35Bahraini Dinar 182.00 192.00British Pound 89.85 92.85Canadian Dollar 51.60 54.10 Emirati Dirham 18.85 19.85Euro 76.90 79.90Kuwaiti Dinar 225.50 235.50Omani Rial 177.20 187.20Qatari Riyal 18.50 19.50Saudi Riyal 18.35 19.35Singapore Dollar 50.35 52.85Swiss Franc 66.25 69.25US Dollar 69.50 71.50

Source:

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A spectacular view of the annual Thrissur Pooram (temple festival) in Kerala on Monday. Scores of caprisoned elephants par-ticipate in Pooram, which attracts lakhs of devotees and tourists.

PMO wants disinvestmentof Air India subsidiariesThe civil aviation min-

istry has told Air India that it should prepare

2018-19 financials for itself and its subsidiaries by end of June as the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has decided to speed up the disinvestment process of three of its wings.

After a botched up at-tempt to sell Air India in May last year, a panel led by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had decided in June to scrap the stake-sale plan for the time being. It was then decided to infuse more funds into the carrier and cut down debt by raising resources by selling land assets and other subsidiaries. Air India has a total debt burden of around Rs 55,000 crore.

On April 1 this year, a meeting was held in the PMO under the chairman-

ship of Nripendra Misra, the principal secretary to the prime minister, to discuss matter regarding strategic disinvestment of Air In-dia and its subsidiaries. “A meeting was held on April 1 under the chairmanship of the Principal Secretary to PM in which it was, inter-alia, decided to speed up the process of disinvest-ment of AIATSL, AIESL and AASL,” civil aviation secre-tary Pradeep Singh Kharola told Air India’s Chairman Ashwani Lohani in a letter dated May 6. Air India Air Transport Services Limited (AIATSL), Air India Engi-neering Services Limited (AIESL) and Airline Allied Services Limited (AASL) are subsidiaries of the national carrier.

Kharola said that in or-

der to proceed with dis-investment process of Air India and its subsidiar-ies, audited financials for 2018-19 will be required. “I would, therefore, request you to kindly get financials of Air India and its subsid-iaries for the financial year 2018-19 finalised by end of June,” Kharola said. Avia-tion secretary also said that since the accounts for 2018-19 would form the “basis of bidding”, it is necessary that they are prepared with “ut-most caution so as to reflect the correct financial status”.

He added that contin-gent liabilities must be thor-oughly verified. Moreover, he added that “account re-ceivables” and “account payables” must be verified and confirmed from the other parties.

Air India to offer hefty discounton pre-departure vacant seats

Kolhapur airport set for major expansion

Business Park coming up at Hyderabad airport

As part of monetisation of land at the Rajiv Gandhi internation-al airport in Hyderabad, GMR

Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (GHIAL) is coming up with a “Business Park” at the aerodrome. The park would comprise six towers with nearly one mil-lion sq ft of office space at an investment of about Rs 350 crore.

CEO of GMR-land development Aman Kapoor told a TV vhannel that the construction of one of the six towers has been completed and a portion of it was currently occupied by a GMR group company. The entire project may take an-other two or two-and-and-half year to get ready,” he said. A part of the investment would be from internal sources and the rest through borrowing. A senior official of GMR said discussion were on with sev-eral companies for leasing out the space in the second tower which is getting ready. GMR Hyderabad Aerotropolis, a wholly-owned subsidiary of GHIAL, was in the process of developing integrated ecosystem comprising commercial, retail, leisure and entertainment, hospitality, education healthcare aerospace and lo-gistics at the airport on 1,500 acres.

Chhatrapati Rajaram Maharaj Airport in Kolhapur in Maha-rashtra has witnessed major

development push in recent times. Union Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu had laid down the foundation stone for a new terminal building as well as ATC tower.

The airport which was opened for operations in April last year, has witnessed a footfall of 21,000 fliers in the past five months. Under Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS)-UDAN, the airport had a total of 621 flight operations, Kolhapur airport official told a TV channel. The airport, which currently provides a connection to Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad, would have handled over 3,000 flight operations but couldn’t do so due to the closure of Kempegowda Interna-tional Airport in Bengaluru in Feb over Aero India 2019.

Terming the numbers as a big boost for the airport authority, Kolhapur airport director Kamal Kumar Katariya said that there were even 116 non-

scheduled flights which had over 320 passengers. Buoyed by the success during the short span of time, Kolhapur airport is likely to start flight operations for pilgrim town Tirupati. With an aim to check delay or disruption due to the adverse weather situation, Kolhapur airport has got a weather department in its premises. This department provides daily weather-related data, forecast to airlines every morning, Katariya said. Suresh Prabhu had laid down the foundation stone for a new terminal building as well as ATC tower. The building will cost Rs 275 crore and will be located in an area of 3900 sqm. The new terminal will be more passenger as well as eco-friendly. There will be 10 check-in-counters, LED lighting, solar photovoltaic system and a sewage treatment plant. The airport was closed for six years. The airport was opened in April 2018. Maharashtra Assembly had recommended the Centre to rename the Kolhapur airport as Chhatrapati Rajaram Maharaj Airport, a proposal that was accepted.

Oman to encourage street food to boost tourismOman is working on changes to rules

and regulations for restaurants and hotel industry to encourage street

food culture and small and medium en-terprises (SMEs) in the sector. This year, a working group will also develop a food hy-giene rating system, bed and breakfast (B&B) and F&B incubators dedicated to SMEs. A bed and breakfast is a small lodging system which offers overnight accommodation and breakfast, operated by private family homes.

A senior official at the ministry of tour-ism said: “The B&B system is a popular trend in the travel industry around the world but there must be proper licensing and rating systems and regulations so that some unscrupulous players do not bring bad name to the industry and the country.” According to the Implementation Support and Follow-up Unit: “The initiative aims to create dedicated cultural precincts that offer domestic and international tourists a wide range of creative attractions centred

on food and beverage as well as culture.”Aimed at helping youngsters to set up

businesses, the plans include creation of dedicated food truck parks to organise their presence around the city. The new rules and regulations for food trucks and restaurants have been done in co-ordination with representatives of the ministry of com-merce and industry, ministry of manpower, Muscat Municipality, Public Authority for Consumer Affairs (PACA), Royal Oman Police (ROP) and Public Authority of Civil Defence and Ambulance (PACDA).

At the same time, the target for this year includes the execution of Muscat Food Court, which will combine Omani heritage and a new experience in dining and shop-ping. This project, already approved by the authorities, will be located in the centre of Muscat. Meanwhile, a number of hotels, hotel apartments, tourist resorts, camps and restaurant projects are coming up in various governorates of the Sultanate. Etihad places bid for a minority stake in Jet

A glimmer of hope emerged for J e t Airways as Etihad

placed a financial bid for acquiring a stake in the troubled airline, the only one to do so. But the ges-ture may not be enough to save the airline as the Abu Dhabi-based carrier, which already owns 24pc stake in the Indian airline, said that it would continue to remain a minority investor.

Etihad said that it cannot be expected to be the sole investor, and that, amongst other requirements, addi-tional investors would need to bring in the bulk of the money required to recapi-talise Jet. This means that the troubles for Jet are far from over as the lenders will

have to find other investors to acquire the balance stake in the company. According to a top source close to the development, the National Investment and Infrastruc-ture Fund is likely to pick up some part of the equity. For now, the lenders will have to examine if the bid placed by Etihad is acceptable. “It’s not all well yet. The bid has been placed but not opened yet. We will have to see what is the haircut that is expected from banks and what is the value they are proposing for the airline,” said a source from the bank-ing sector.

SBI Caps had shortlisted four expressions of interest from Etihad Airways, TPG Capital, Indigo Partners and

NIIF. There are a couple of unsolicited bids that have been placed which the lend-ers may now examine. In addition to the proposal by the employees of Jet, a UK-based entrepreneur has also offered to acquire the airline.

Jet Airways owes Rs 11,261 crore to Indian and

international lenders. SBI chairman Kumar said the bank has spent a lot of time trying o revive the airline. On approaching the NCLT to start insolvency proceed-ings, Kumar said: “In the ser-vice industry, the chances of recovery are virtually nil because there are no assets. So what can you sell?”

SpiceJet offers businessclass on domestic routes

Low-frills airline Spice-Jet is offering busi-ness class on key do-

mestic routes.To begin with, it will offer

business class on its Boeing 737s to be operated from certain routes from Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Vara-nasi, Bagdogra and Srinagar. The move comes days after the airline leased some of the Boeing 737 planes from the grounded Jet Airways and announced signing of a code-share pact with the premier Gulf carrier Emirates. Jet’s entire Boeing fleet, including the narrow-body B737s, had two class configurations--business and economy.

As part of the business-class offering, SpiceJet will also provide its passengers complimentary lounge ac-cess, higher baggage allow-ance, meals and beverages and priority services.

Air passengers seeking to travel last minute for emergencies or

other exigencies will soon find some relief with Air India announcing a plan to offer last minute tickets at hefty discounts. Air India spokesperson Dhananjay Kumar said the discounts would normally exceed 40pc of the selling price.

“The last minute passen-gers who generally travel due to an emergency are often faced with very high ticket prices. Such high prices are a deterrent and the national carrier has therefore, decided for the domestic sector that very last moment inventory, which means the available

seats within three hours of departure would be sold at a hefty discount, normally exceeding 40pc of the sell-ing price,” Kumar said. This decision was taken during a commercial review meeting at Air India headquarters in Mumbai. Tickets, the Air India spokesman said, can be purchased from all outlets including Air India Booking Counters, Air India Mobile App, Air India website and travel agents.

This rare decision, as otherwise in the aviation sector prices increase steep-ly closer to the departure, will be a big boon to the last minute travellers. The dis-counts are already in force.

Umrah guidelines

Saudi Arabia has an-nounced that its wel-coming Qataris who

are seeking to perform the Umrah rituals this Rama-dan. It added that it has dedicated an online plat-form for worshippers from Qatar.

The Ministry of Haj and Umrah explained that Qa-rtaris are required to regis-ter their information on a dedicated website. Qatari travellers have been able to register through the portal since 2017. They will then be required to travel though the King Abdulaziz Inter-national Airport in Jeddah or Prince Mohammed bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Madinah.

The facilities provided by the Kingdom to Umrah

pilgrims are under the or-ders of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman. The ministry affirmed that the Kingdom is honoured by hosting the Umrah and Haj pilgrims from all over the world. Umrah weekly-monitoring indicator recorded arrival of more than 5,971,334 people intending to perform the rituals of Umrah.

On the other hand, the indicator put the number of visas issued, for the time be-ing, at as many as 6,571,997 (6.5 million). The Umrah-related initiative is among the main objectives of the Kingdom Vision 2030, aspir-ing to attract over 30 million Umrah performers.