Author: News Desk

 Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched the RuPay Card, which, according to Indian officials, will charge one-tenth the transaction fees levied by debit and credit card giants in the UAE. RuPay card, an Indian indigenous equivalent of MasterCard or Visa, was symbolically launched by Modi who swiped his card for buying Indian sweets at a shop temporarily set up at Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi. The UAE is the first country in the Middle East to launch the RuPay card. Three prominent banks — Emirates NBD, First Abu Dhabi Bank and Bank of Baroda — will soon…

Saudi women, who have media licenses, can now run their activities in public places, not necessarily in designated women-only spaces, following the changes in the regulations carried out by the concerned authorities recently, Okaz has learned. The Ministry of Media and the General Authority for Audiovisual Media has coordinated with the Ministry of Interior to find a mechanism to ensure the public interest while governing the work of women, based on the recommendations of the higher authorities. The Ministry of Media has laid down conditions for granting media licenses which are as follows: • The minimum age requirement for the…

A Pakistani commando who was behind the capture of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman when his IAF jet crashed in Pakistani territory in February this year, and had reportedly tortured the IAF pilot, has been killed in firing by Indian forces along the Line of Control. According to reports, Ahmed Khan, a subedar with the Pakistan Army’s Special Service Group, was killed by the Indian Army in Nakyal sector of the LoC on August 17 when he was trying to facilitate more infiltrators into India. In photos released by Pakistan after Abhinandan’s captured on February 27, the bearded Khan can be…

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will pay a two-day state visit to France from August 22 during which he will hold talks with French President Emmanuel Macron to strengthen strategic ties in key sectors such as defense, nuclear energy, maritime cooperation, and counter-terrorism. From France, the prime minister will proceed for bilateral visits to the UAE and Bahrain and will return to the French city of Biarritz on August 25 to attend the G7 Summit where India has been invited as a partner country. Modi will arrive in France on Thursday evening and straightaway head for talks with Macron, who will…

Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday said that talks would be held with Pakistan only on Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK). “If talks are held with Pakistan, it will now be on PoK,” he said in a public address after flagging off of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s ‘Jan Ashirwad Yatra’ here, some 20 km from Chandigarh. The Yatra, being held in the run-up to Haryana’s upcoming Assembly elections, will pass through the state’s 90 Assembly seats and conclude with a rally in Rohtak on September 8. BJP’s state election-in-charge and Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and his…

The holiday for Hijri New Year will fall on Sunday, September 1, the Federal Authority for Human Resources in the UAE announced. Many UAE residents will, therefore, get a long weekend. Earlier this year, UAE had announced that the holiday calendar would be unified for the public and private sectors. UAE residents will also have another holiday to look forward to in December with Commemoration Day and National Day giving a 5-day long weekend. What is Hijri New Year? The occasion marks 1,441 years since the migration of Prophet Mohammed and his companions from Makkah to Madinah, Islam’s holiest cities in Saudi Arabia.…

A general accused of war crimes by the UN was Monday appointed Sri Lanka army chief by the nation’s president despite international concerns about his human rights record. Major General Shavendra Silva, 55, was elevated to the army’s second-highest position of chief of staff in January before his latest promotion by President Maithripala Sirisena to the commander of the Sri Lankan army. “The president has appointed Major General Shavendra Silva as the 23rd commander of the army after promoting him to the rank of Lieutenant General,” the army said in a statement. The 55-year-old, who commanded an army division in…

Chairman of Pakistan Senate Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani will lead a parliamentary delegation on an official visit to United Arab Emirates (UAE) from August 25 to August 28 this year. The UAE government has extended the invitation for the official visit during which Chairman Senate and his delegation are scheduled to hold meetings with the UAE parliamentarians and the government officials. According to Pakistan’s official news agency, APP, the visit aims at enhancing the existing bilateral relations between the two brotherly countries and making the UAE authorities aware of the latest situation in Indian held Kashmir due to change in the status of…

A little boy was rescued after getting trapped inside his parent’s car in Al Nahda on Sunday night, according to a statement from Sharjah Police. Police swung into action after receiving an emergency call and were able to save the Asian boy, whose age was not disclosed. A statement said that the boy was in danger of suffocation due to high temperatures inside the car. He was left inside the vehicle by his parents by accident after they left without noticing he was still inside. “The boy couldn’t open the doors or lower the window to get air,” said a…

The Prime Minister would be paying a State Visit to the Kingdom of Bahrain from 24-25 August 2019. This will be the first-ever Prime Ministerial visit from India to Bahrain. During the visit, Modi would be meeting and holding talks with His Royal Highness Prince Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, Prime Minister of Bahrain to discuss the entire spectrum of bilateral relations and also regional and international issues of mutual interest. “His Majesty the King of Bahrain Shaikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa will be hosting a banquet dinner in honor of Prime Minister. PM Modi would also launch…