Saudi Arabia's first woman film maker, Haifaa Al-Mansour, says her country was becoming "more tolerant and more accepting" as she picks up an award in Cannes for her acclaimed film "Wadjda".
Dubai, May 17 (IANS) The Indian consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, has appealed to members of the Indian community to volunteer for its campaign to help those Indian expatriate workers who have been affected by the new labour policy in that country. "It is a unique opportunity for those Indian nationals who have been affected by the Nitaqat programme to benefit from the current correctional campaign of the government," the Arab News quoted a consulate statement as saying.
Dubai, May 16 (IANS) Passport authorities in Saudi Arabia will start stamping the exit papers of stranded expatriate workers from May 18 to help them leave that country. Indian Consul General in Jeddah, Faiz Ahmed Kidwai said in a community meeting that Saudi authorities will also start stamping papers issued by the consulate to expatriates who don't have original passports and want to leave the country, local media reported Thursday.
Dubai, May 15 (IANS) The India government has exempted Indian workers in Saudi Arabia, seeking to leave that country, from paying fees for issue of emergency certificates (ECs) for one-time travel to India, according to the Indian embassy in Riyadh. However, the waiver is applicable only for those EC applications made during the grace period announced by the Saudi government, which is currently under way and will end July 3. Indian workers are thronging the embassy in Riyadh and the Indian consulate in Jeddah after a new labour policy was implemented in that country
Dubai, May 14 (IANS) Responding to an appeal by Indian Ambassador Hamid Ali Rao, 400 expatriate Indians have registered as volunteers to help Indian workers in that country affected by a new labour policy. The ambassador again appealed to illegal Indian workers to rectify their residency status or leave the country following the implementation of the Nitaqat or Saudisation policy in that Gulf nation, Arab News reported Tuesday. The new policy makes it mandatory for all Saudi companies to reserve 10 percent of jobs for Saudi nationals
Dubai, May 13 (IANS) The Indian embassy in Riyadh has received around 15,000 passports of Indian workers in Saudi Arabia, facing cases of running away from their local sponsors and other violations, from that country's foreign ministry. Most of the passports were handed over to the Saudi authorities by the Saudi sponsors, local media reported Monday
Thiruvananthapuram, May 13 (IANS) Kerala is working out a perspective plan for its economy so that the state will rely less on the remittances from the diaspora and more on its resources.
Those were his days of forced political wilderness and an uncertain future but Nawaz Sharif was confident of his moves and his return to Pakistan. Sharif appeared relaxed and assured when I met him in a small flat in central London in the winter of 2007, coolly guiding his party members in Pakistan on agitational tactics against the then Musharraf regime.
Thiruvananthapuram, May 13 (IANS) Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy Monday thanked Saudi Arabia for considering the Indian government's requests on implementation of new labour laws there, but expressed concern about the low percentage of Keralites among the 65,000 Indians now registered with the Indian mission.
New Delhi, May 12 (IANS) Nawaz Sharif's expected return to power in Pakistan bodes well for the future of bilateral relations as his track record with India has been encouraging, former diplomats and analysts have said, but noted that the PML-N leader faces stiff domestic challenges. Former foreign secretary Salman Haider said Sharif was an experienced leader who has had "good interaction" with his counterparts in India while he was the prime minister. "(His) track record is encouraging.
