Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit UAE this week

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will make his third state visit to the UAE this week, New Delhi’s Ministry of External Affairs announced on Sunday.

Mr Modi will be in the UAE for two days from Friday and will travel from there to Bahrain, the ministry said.

During his visit he will meet Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces. The leaders will discuss ways to enhance the long-standing friendship and bilateral ties between the UAE and India, as well as the latest regional and international developments and issues of mutual concern.

Mr Modi will also receive the Order of Zayed, the highest civil decoration of the UAE, which was conferred on him in April in recognition of his work to develop ties between the two countries.

Mr Modi last visited the UAE in February 2018, when he was the chief guest of the World Government Summit held in Dubai. His first visit to the country was in August 2015.

Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, visited India in February 2016 and in January 2017, when he was chief guest of India’s Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi.

During that visit, the UAE and India pledged to expand their trade by 60 per cent over five years.

Last year in the UAE, the two leaders reviewed progress towards achieving the $75 billion (Dh275.43bn) target for UAE investment in India’s infrastructure development.

Annual trade between the countries is estimated at about $60bn, the Indian ministry said.

“The UAE is our third-largest trade partner and the fourth-largest exporter of crude oil for India,” it said.

More than 3.3 million Indians live in the Emirates, more than in any other Arabian Gulf country.

“The visit would further strengthen our friendly bilateral ties with the UAE,” the ministry said.

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Modi's previous UAE visits - in pictures

Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, meets with Narendra Modi at the Presidential Airport in August 2015. Ryan Carter / Crown Prince Court - Abu Dhabi

Narendra Modi, middle, takes a selfie next to Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak, Minister of Tolerance, left, and Dr Anwar Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, as they tour the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in August 2015. AP Photo

Narendra Modi inspects the UAE Armed Forces Honour Guard with Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces during a reception at the Presidential Airport in August 2015. Ryan Carter / Crown Prince Court - Abu Dhabi

Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, greets Narendra Modi at the Presidential Airport in August 2015. Rashed Al Mansoori / Crown Prince Court - Abu Dhabi

Narendra Modi delivers a speech to members of the Indian expatriate community at the Dubai Cricket Stadium, on August 17, 2015. AFP

Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed receives Narendra Modi at the Presidential Airport in February 2018. Omar Al Askaar for the Crown Prince Court

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Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi

Director: Kangana Ranaut, Krish Jagarlamudi

Producer: Zee Studios, Kamal Jain

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Rating: 2.5/5

SCHEDULE

Saturday, April 20: 11am to 7pm - Abu Dhabi World Jiu-Jitsu Festival and Para jiu-jitsu.

Sunday, April 21: 11am to 6pm - Abu Dhabi World Youth (female) Jiu-Jitsu Championship.

Monday, April 22: 11am to 6pm - Abu Dhabi World Youth (male) Jiu-Jitsu Championship.

Tuesday, April 23: 11am-6pm Abu Dhabi World Masters Jiu-Jitsu Championship.

Wednesday, April 24: 11am-6pm Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship.

Thursday, April 25: 11am-5pm Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship.

Friday, April 26: 3pm to 6pm Finals of the Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship.

Saturday, April 27: 4pm and 8pm awards ceremony.

The smuggler

Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.

Khouli conviction

Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.

For sale

A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.

- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico

- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000

- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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Straightforward ways to reduce sugar in your family's diet

Ban fruit juice and sodas
Eat a hearty breakfast that contains fats and wholegrains, such as peanut butter on multigrain toast or full-fat plain yoghurt with whole fruit and nuts, to avoid the need for a 10am snack
Give young children plain yoghurt with whole fruits mashed into it
Reduce the number of cakes, biscuits and sweets. Reserve them for a treat
Don’t eat dessert every day
Make your own smoothies. Always use the whole fruit to maintain the benefit of its fibre content and don’t add any sweeteners
Always go for natural whole foods over processed, packaged foods. Ask yourself would your grandmother have eaten it?
Read food labels if you really do feel the need to buy processed food
Eat everything in moderation