Free tickets likely for Indian workers stranded in KSA

April 6, 2013

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Riyadh, Apr 6: With top level talks planned between India and Saudi Arabia over the fallout of the Kingdom’s Nitaqat program, the Indian government is reportedly planning to provide free air tickets for thousands of “deserving workers” to go back home.

Oommen Chandy, chief minister of the southern Indian state of Kerala from where the majority of Indian workers in the Kingdom come, told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram that the federal government in Delhi has responded to Kerala’s request to bear full ticker fares of expatriates in Saudi Arabia wishing to return to the state. He said Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi had informed the state that the federal government would take care of the expenses.

A high-level delegation from New Delhi led by Ravi is set to visit Saudi Arabia later this month to hold talks with Saudi officials and help workers in distress.

“The dates of minister Ravi’s visit have not been finalized,” said Sibi George, deputy chief of the Indian mission, when asked about reports in a section of the Indian press.

He added that the Indian Embassy has “not received any formal communication from New Delhi about the issue of free air tickets for deserving workers to return to India.” “Any formal communication takes some time to reach the embassy,” he added.

He pointed out that “more than 6,000 Indian workers have approached the embassy for emergency travel documents so far.” This is in addition to thousands of workers who have contacted the Jeddah-based Indian Consulate for outpasses. The embassy, he said, was receiving several requests for it to provide these out passes in various cities of Saudi Arabia.

“In order to help Indian nationals in other cities who wish to apply for emergency travel certificates, it has been decided that their applications will be received by the embassy by post or courier,” said George. Emergency certificates will be issued only after the Saudi authorities agree to grant permission for the final exit of the applicants, he added. He pointed out that the emergency certificate form can be downloaded for free from the embassy’s website.

He said an application form for an emergency certificate has to be accompanied by a copy of the applicant’s passport, residency permit and any other document to establish the person’s identity as an Indian national. It may be forwarded to EC Section, Embassy of India, B-1 Diplomatic Quarter, PO Box 94387, Riyadh 11693, Saudi Arabia. Indian nationals need not visit the embassy premises to submit the applications for emergency certificates, he stressed.

Referring to the concerns raised by the Indian government over the fate of workers, a report released by the Ministry of Overseas Affairs said that Ravi will hold a meeting of ministers from nine states to discuss the issue. Terming the issue as “serious,” Ravi said he has directed the Indian Ambassador Hamid Ali Rao to do everything possible to help workers.

A delegation from the Indian state of Karnataka comprising K. Jayaprakash Hegde, MP, and U. T. Khader, MLA, are currently visiting Saudi Arabia. They held a meeting with the Indian ambassador here to discuss the issue of expatriates who are facing hardships. The Indian state of Kerala has the maximum number of workers in Saudi Arabia.

There are 6.5 million Indians in the Gulf, out of which close to 2.2 million are in Saudi Arabia. According to the World Bank, in 2012 Indians worldwide sent back remittances of $ 70 billion, with around 60 percent of it coming from those working in the Gulf. During 2011-12, the two-way trade between the two nations stood at about $ 37 billion. However, the trade surplus is in favor of Saudi Arabia because of crude oil exports to India.

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News Network
November 27,2024

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Gaza health authorities say Israel’s military has "erased” over 1,400 Palestinian families in the besieged territory over the past year.

The Health Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that the Israeli regime "completely erased about 1,410 families, numbering 5,444 people, from the civil registry during the same period.”

It said that there were 3,463 families with only one survivor, while 2,287 families had more than one survivor.

In northern Gaza, Israel’s warplanes have continued dropping bombs over Palestinian families, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

It said one airstrike hit a family home in Jabalia, causing numerous casualties on Tuesday.

According to Gaza's civil defense agency, at least seven people were killed and several others wounded in the attack.

Another person was killed in a strike on a house in nearby Beit Lahia, a town in northern Gaza, which has been declared “a disaster area" by the municipality due to "the Israeli war of extermination and siege, and it has no food, water, hospitals, doctors, services, or communications."

The health ministry said, “Israeli forces killed 14 people and injured 108 others in three massacres of families in the last 24 hours.”

“Many people are still trapped under the rubble and on the roads as rescuers are unable to reach them.”

International organizations and leaders believe that Israel’s genocidal war, now in its second year, is a deliberate attempt to destroy the population of Gaza.

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News Network
November 15,2024

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Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has killed or captured 69 terrorists linked to the Israeli spy agency Mossad during a major counterterrorism drill in the country's southeast, its spokesman says.  

General Ahmad Shafaei, the spokesman for the “Martyrs of Security” drill, said Friday that a total of 23 terrorists have been killed and another 46 arrested in various clean-up operations ever since the IRGC Ground Force launched it in the Sistan and Baluchestan province on November 1.

Seven terrorists have also turned themselves in during the period.

“The undeniable fact about terrorists is that they rely on arrogant powers, particularly the intelligence service of the wicked and vicious Zionist regime," Shafaei said.

“Unfortunately, weapons and munitions at terrorists’ disposal are among the most sophisticated ones in the world. This accounts for their heavy dependence.” 

The official stated that several members of the disbanded terror teams were non-Iranian nationals, who had been hired by foreign intelligence agencies to carry out acts of sabotage and terror inside Iran.

In a most recent operation, six terrorists were arrested and four others were eliminated, three of whom were non-Iranians, he added. 

On October 26, ten members of Iran's law enforcement forces were killed in a terrorist attack in the Gohar Kuh district of Taftan in the Sistan and Baluchestan province.

The so-called Jaish al-Adl terrorist group claimed responsibility for the assault, which was one of the deadliest in the province in recent months.

The group has carried out numerous terrorist attacks in Iran, primarily in Sistan and Baluchestan.

Its tactics include the abduction of border guards as well as targeting civilians and police stations within the province to incite chaos and disorder.

In January, Iran launched a military operation during which the headquarters of the Pakistan-based terrorist group was targeted in missile strikes, destroying its infrastructure.

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November 17,2024

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An Israeli airstrike on the office of Syria’s Baath party in Lebanon’s capital Beirut has killed the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah's Media Relations Officer, Mohammad Afif, reports say.

Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA) reported that the Israeli raid struck the Ba'ath party’s building in central Beirut district of Ras Al-Naba'a on Sunday, adding that the strike was an attempt to assassinate the leader of the resistance media front.

According to Baath Secretary-General Ali Hijazi, Afif was having a meeting in the Baath Party headquarters when Israel carried out the attack.

"Afif did not fight with weapons and did not lead a military unit in Hezbollah. Rather, he led a media unit," he said.

Reuters, Sky News, Al Jazeera and a number of Henrew-language media reported that Afif was killed in the Israeli strike.

However, Hezbollah has not yet confirmed Afif’s death or whether he was present at the site or not.

Earlier, the Lebanese Health Ministry said at least one person was killed and three others injured after an Israeli strike targeted a central district in Beirut.

Lebanon's al-Mayadeen television network reported that five people were killed in the attack.

The latest development came after Afif said Hezbollah was behind the Caesarea operation and targeting Netanyahu’s home during a speech at the Ghobeiry area in the southern suburbs of Beirut on October 22.

This was the second assassination attempt on Afif in the last two months, after he survived an attack on the Hezbollah media relations office several weeks ago.

Israel launched a ground assault and massive air campaign against Lebanon in late September after a year of exchanging fire across the Lebanese border in parallel with the Gaza war.

At least 3,287 people have been killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon over the past year, with the vast majority in the past seven weeks. Another 14,222 have been wounded, mostly women and children.

In response to the ongoing aggression, the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah has been staging hundreds of retaliatory strikes against the occupied Palestinian territories and the Israeli forces trying to advance on southern Lebanese areas.

The movement has vowed to sustain its strikes until the regime ends the escalation.

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