The Indian consul general urged workers in Dubai to keep aside small amounts of money each month and start saving for retirement.
Dr Aman Puri, the Indian official, was addressing workers on Friday at a labour camp of Larsen & Toubro, an Indian engineering and construction, where he explained the importance of small savings.
Dr Puri met the workers at their company accommodation in Dubai Investment Park and thanked them for continuing to work during the pandemic.
“You send most of your salary to your families back home and that’s how they survive, but you must also think about your future,” he said.
“There will come a time when you will have to leave and you must have savings to survive then.”
The Indian diplomat said there are 3.3 million Indians in the UAE and a majority of them are blue-collar workers.
“Indians in the UAE remit huge amounts of money. This is very important to support the Indian economy. Indians living here also strengthen ties between the two countries,” he said.
Residents in the Emirates remitted $21.6 billion (Dh79.6 billion) in the first half of 2020 with India the top receiving country, according to the UAE Central Bank.
Remittances in the first half of last year were 48.2 per cent of the total amount sent in 2019, which was Dh165 billion.
Dr Puri said it was important to be financially literate and save a part of one's monthly earnings.
India encourages its non-resident citizens to invest in the National Pension Scheme, a government-sponsored programme, for old-age income security.
The investments can be routed through normal banking channels with a minimum annual contribution of Rs6,000 (Dh300/$81).
Rajesh Kumar, country head of L&T, said 2020 was a difficult year for workers.
"March and April were trying when work stopped. Some workers had to be hospitalised due to the virus while many had to be relocated. Several people also went back home willingly. It was not easy for us," he said.
“Then, the UAE market reopened but India was in lockdown in the summer. The workers were extremely concerned about their families back home but they kept working despite all challenges.
“Our business shrank so we had to let people go but we are still a very big family.”
The campaign – Breakfast with Consul General – is being organised by the Consulate General of India in Dubai and Pravasi Bharatiya Sahayata Kendra Dubai. It is a welfare initiative of the Indian government to support its citizens.
Indian officials will interact with blue-collar workers over breakfast meetings at a different labour accommodation each month under the new initiative.
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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RESULTS
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Pari
Produced by: Clean Slate Films (Anushka Sharma, Karnesh Sharma) & KriArj Entertainment
Director: Prosit Roy
Starring: Anushka Sharma, Parambrata Chattopadhyay, Ritabhari Chakraborty, Rajat Kapoor, Mansi Multani
Three stars
Super heroes
Iron Man
Reduced risk of dementia
Alcohol consumption could be an issue
Hulk
Cardiac disease, stroke and dementia from high heart rate
Spider-Man
Agility reduces risk of falls
Increased risk of obesity and mental health issues
Black Panther
Vegetarian diet reduces obesity
Unknown risks of potion drinking
Black Widow
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Thor
He's a god
THE BIO
Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979
Education: UAE University, Al Ain
Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6
Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma
Favourite book: Science and geology
Favourite place to travel to: Washington DC
Best advice you’ve ever been given: If you have a dream, you have to believe it, then you will see it.
Emergency phone numbers in the UAE
Estijaba – 8001717 – number to call to request coronavirus testing
Ministry of Health and Prevention – 80011111
Dubai Health Authority – 800342 – The number to book a free video or voice consultation with a doctor or connect to a local health centre
Emirates airline – 600555555
Etihad Airways – 600555666
Ambulance – 998
Knowledge and Human Development Authority – 8005432 ext. 4 for Covid-19 queries
Januzaj's club record
Manchester United 50 appearances, 5 goals
Borussia Dortmund (loan) 6 appearances, 0 goals
Sunderland (loan) 25 appearances, 0 goals
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Indoor Cricket World Cup - Sept 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
heading
Iran has sent five planeloads of food to Qatar, which is suffering shortages amid a regional blockade.
A number of nations, including Iran's major rival Saudi Arabia, last week cut ties with Qatar, accusing it of funding terrorism, charges it denies.
The land border with Saudi Arabia, through which 40% of Qatar's food comes, has been closed.
Meanwhile, mediators Kuwait said that Qatar was ready to listen to the "qualms" of its neighbours.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Tax authority targets shisha levy evasion
The Federal Tax Authority will track shisha imports with electronic markers to protect customers and ensure levies have been paid.
Khalid Ali Al Bustani, director of the tax authority, on Sunday said the move is to "prevent tax evasion and support the authority’s tax collection efforts".
The scheme’s first phase, which came into effect on 1st January, 2019, covers all types of imported and domestically produced and distributed cigarettes. As of May 1, importing any type of cigarettes without the digital marks will be prohibited.
He said the latest phase will see imported and locally produced shisha tobacco tracked by the final quarter of this year.
"The FTA also maintains ongoing communication with concerned companies, to help them adapt their systems to meet our requirements and coordinate between all parties involved," he said.
As with cigarettes, shisha was hit with a 100 per cent tax in October 2017, though manufacturers and cafes absorbed some of the costs to prevent prices doubling.