ABU DHABI // The opening of a UAE Consulate in Kerala is a boon for many UAE residents from the southern Indian state who had to travel to New Delhi or Mumbai for consular services, Indian expatriates said.
In the past, Keralites had to travel more than 2,500 kilometres to the UAE Embassy in Delhi or to the consulate in Mumbai to complete visa procedures.
Gopalan Vijayaragavan, a Keralite resident of Abu Dhabi, said the previous other option was to use recruitment agencies “who charge a hefty amount”.
“We need our certificates to be attested by the UAE mission, so we had to travel to New Delhi,” said Mr Vijayaragavan, whose home in Kerala is less than a kilometre from the new consulate in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of Kerala.
Last Wednesday, the UAE inaugurated the consulate and appointed Jamal Al Zaabi Consul General.
“Now it’s very convenient for us and saves us time and money,” said Mr Vijayaragavan, who believes that the new consulate will boost bilateral trade and tourism ties and prevent the exploitation of Keralites who wish to work in the UAE.
“There are many fraudulent recruitment agencies who take unnecessary money under the guise of visa and consular services,” he said.
“The UAE employment permit is free but some people have paid 150,000 Indian rupees (Dh8,240) for that.
“Now workers can approach the mission and check the status of their visa and company.”
Last week, Mr Al Zaabi said: “A large number of workers who come to the UAE every year to realise their job ambitions and improve their living standards hail from Kerala.”
Padmanabhan Veetil, honorary president of the Kerala Social Centre in Abu Dhabi, said the new consulate in Kerala would benefit the Indian state and the UAE “as we have good trade and tourism relations”.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said the opening of the second UAE Consulate in India would bolster bilateral relations.
Arun Kumar, a Keralite lorry driver who lives in Sharjah, hailed the opening of the consulate in Kerala.
“This is good news for all of us,” he said. “India is a vast country and we have to travel thousands of kilometres to reach another state. It’s not like the UAE.
“Now we don’t have to cough up money to agents and we can directly visit the consulate and get our work done.
“Just before the opening of the mission, my brother travelled to Delhi to access consular service. We always went to Delhi or Mumbai.”
anwar@thenational.ae
What are NFTs?
Are non-fungible tokens a currency, asset, or a licensing instrument? Arnab Das, global market strategist EMEA at Invesco, says they are mix of all of three.
You can buy, hold and use NFTs just like US dollars and Bitcoins. “They can appreciate in value and even produce cash flows.”
However, while money is fungible, NFTs are not. “One Bitcoin, dollar, euro or dirham is largely indistinguishable from the next. Nothing ties a dollar bill to a particular owner, for example. Nor does it tie you to to any goods, services or assets you bought with that currency. In contrast, NFTs confer specific ownership,” Mr Das says.
This makes NFTs closer to a piece of intellectual property such as a work of art or licence, as you can claim royalties or profit by exchanging it at a higher value later, Mr Das says. “They could provide a sustainable income stream.”
This income will depend on future demand and use, which makes NFTs difficult to value. “However, there is a credible use case for many forms of intellectual property, notably art, songs, videos,” Mr Das says.
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The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
FIXTURES
Nov 04-05: v Western Australia XI, Perth
Nov 08-11: v Cricket Australia XI, Adelaide
Nov 15-18 v Cricket Australia XI, Townsville (d/n)
Nov 23-27: 1ST TEST v AUSTRALIA, Brisbane
Dec 02-06: 2ND TEST v AUSTRALIA, Adelaide (d/n)
Dec 09-10: v Cricket Australia XI, Perth
Dec 14-18: 3RD TEST v AUSTRALIA, Perth
Dec 26-30 4TH TEST v AUSTRALIA, Melbourne
Jan 04-08: 5TH TEST v AUSTRALIA, Sydney
Note: d/n = day/night
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid
When: April 25, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Allianz Arena, Munich
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 1, Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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Producer: Maddock Films, Jio Movies
Director: Amar Kaushik
Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Shraddha Kapoor, Pankaj Tripathi, Aparshakti Khurana, Abhishek Banerjee
Rating: 3.5
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
