Kuruba community swamiji upset after authorities clean state-controlled Vishnu temple after his visit

Dubai: The Consulate General of India in Dubai recently awarded Aim India Forum with an appreciation award in recognition of its significant contributions to the Indian community in the UAE.

In September 2024, the UAE government launched an amnesty initiative aimed at promoting respect for the law, tolerance, compassion, and social cohesion. This initiative allowed individuals who chose to leave the country during the amnesty period to do so without facing overstay fines, exit fees, or entry bans, while retaining the right to re-enter the UAE at any time.

Aim India Forum was invited to collaborate with the Indian Consulate during this amnesty period. Our Founder President, Shirali Shaikh Muzaffer, accepted the invitation and dedicated four months to this important initiative. Alongside other community organizations, including DUBAI KMCC, IPF UAE, FOI UAE, and others, Aim India Forum worked tirelessly to support fellow Indian nationals in need.

His Excellency Satish Kumar Sivan, Consul General of India, acknowledged and congratulated Founder President Shaikh Muzaffer and Board Member Mohammed Niyaz for their unwavering dedication and efforts throughout this project.

The Aim India Forum played a pivotal role in the safe repatriation of distressed and stranded Indian citizens in the UAE. An amnesty help desk was set up at the Indian Consulate to assist those seeking amnesty. This desk offered a range of services at no cost, including Emergency Certificates (one-way travel documents), labor cancellation, case clearance, and the issuance of exit permits/outpasses. Through these efforts, the Consulate General of India in Dubai successfully assisted 15,000 Indian nationals.

In partnership with various Indian diaspora organizations, CGI Dubai facilitated the issuance of 2,117 passports, 3,589 emergency certificates, and supported the acquisition of over 3,700 exit permits. Many individuals also benefitted from our guidance in securing fee and penalty waivers from UAE authorities.

As this operation concludes, we extend our deepest gratitude to the UAE Government for its unwavering support. We also wish to express our sincere thanks to the dedicated volunteers from diaspora organizations who played an instrumental role in the success of this initiative.

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister-designate Rekha Gupta on Thursday assured that the BJP government would fulfill its poll promise of providing Rs 2,500 monthly financial assistance to women. The first installment of the monthly support will be credited to their accounts by March 8, Gupta said.

Ahead of the polls, the BJP's manifesto aimed to outdo the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) announcement of Rs 2,100 monthly support if it came to power. Gupta, who was elected as the leader of the BJP legislature party on Wednesday, emphasized that delivering on their promises is her top priority.

"Fulfilling the dream of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the responsibility of all 48 BJP MLAs in the capital. We will definitely fulfill all our promises, including financial support for women. Women will 100% get monetary support in their accounts by March 8," she said. March 8 is observed as International Women's Day.

The BJP secured a landslide victory in the Delhi Assembly elections, winning 48 out of 70 seats and ending the AAP's decade-long rule. Gupta, a former Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) president and municipal councilor, will be sworn in as the fourth woman CM of Delhi at a grand ceremony at Ramlila Maidan later in the afternoon, in the presence of Prime Minister Modi and other dignitaries.

Israel has conducted a fresh drone attack on the Jenin refugee camp, as the Palestinian foreign ministry urges the international community to take a serious action to stop the regime’s intensified aggression on the occupied West Bank.

In the early hours of Friday, media reports said an Israeli drone targeted homes in the Jenin camp in the northern part of the West Bank.

Since a ceasefire in Gaza was announced last month, Israel has intensified its attacks in Jenin and other parts of the occupied West Bank.

At least 25 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s raids in Jenin this year, which have also displaced nearly 20,000, according to the camp’s media committee.

The Israeli army also continues to destroy homes and infrastructure in the West Bank city of Tulkarm and its two camps.

According to the Tulkarm Camp’s Media Committee, nine people have been killed, and about 10,500 others --around 80 percent of its population --  have been displaced since Israeli forces began the assault on the camp.

Video footage showed Israeli bulldozers destroying homes in Tulkarm’s Nour Shams Refugee Camp on Thursday.

The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS) said at least 380 people have been detained by Israeli forces since the start of their large-scale military raids in the West Bank after the Gaza ceasefire went into effect on January 19.

The deal between Israel and Hamas was reached after 15 months of the regime's genocidal war on the strip, which claimed the lives of at least 48,239 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 111,676 others.

The regime agreed to the ceasefire after falling short of realizing any of its wartime objectives, including freeing the captives, “eliminating” the Gazan resistance, and causing forced displacement of Gaza’s entire population to neighboring Egypt or Jordan.

The Palestinian Foreign ministry on Thursday urged the international community to take “an urgent and effective action” to force Israel to stop its aggression on the West Bank.

Referring to Israeli crimes in the occupied territories, including the forced displacement of tens of thousands of Palestinians from their homes and the destruction of homes and infrastructure, the ministry said the international silence emboldens Israel to commit more crimes and enables it to continue its crime of ethnic cleansing.