Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, will travel to India on Tuesday to begin an official visit.
Sheikh Hamdan will meet senior officials in New Delhi for talks aimed at furthering partnerships between the nations, Dubai Media Office reported on Monday.
The UAE and India enjoy a deep-rooted friendship, dating back to the formation of the Emirates, a bond that has grown significantly over the years.
More than four million Indians live in the Emirates, making up the largest contingent of foreign residents in the country, while a host of prominent business leaders from India have set up companies in the UAE.
The countries have sought to strengthen links in various fields, including the economy, education and culture.
The Emirates signed its first Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with India in 2022, pushing bilateral trade between the countries beyond $85 billion. This made India the largest trading partner of the UAE and the Emirates became India's third largest.
The first overseas branch of the famous Indian Institute of Technology engineering college has completed its first year of operation in Abu Dhabi and there are plans to open the first international branch of the Indian Institute of Management in Dubai.
The first hand-carved traditional stone and marble temple in the country, Baps Hindu Mandir in Abu Dhabi, opened to the public in February 2024 and welcomed more than 2.2 million visitors in its first year.
Sheikh Hamdan's visit will be his highest-profile overseas engagement since being appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence in July.
It is the latest official visit made by the UAE's leadership to India to explore ways to strengthen bilateral ties. President Sheikh Mohamed visited India in January of last year to attend a three-day global business summit, during which he also held high-level talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Last September, Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, made an official visit to India in which he held talks with Mr Modi.
Sheikh Hamdan's delegation will include Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed, President of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, Chairman of Dubai Airports, and chairman and chief executive of Emirates airline, Mohammed Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs, Reem Al Hashimy, Minister of State for International Co-operation, Abdulla bin Touq, Minister of Economy, and Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade.
The delegation also includes senior officials and leaders representing different economic sectors.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
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Price: From Dh1,700,000
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Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
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What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
The specs
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Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
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Faf du Plessis (captain), Hashim Amla, Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock (wicketkeeper), Theunis de Bruyn, AB de Villiers, Dean Elgar, Heinrich Klaasen (wicketkeeper), Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Morne Morkel, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Vernon Philander and Kagiso Rabada.
UAE v IRELAND
All matches start at 10am, and will be played in Abu Dhabi
1st ODI, Friday, January 8
2nd ODI, Sunday, January 10
3rd ODI, Tuesday, January 12
4th ODI, Thursday, January 14
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
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UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
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Countdown to Zero exhibition will show how disease can be beaten
Countdown to Zero: Defeating Disease, an international multimedia exhibition created by the American Museum of National History in collaboration with The Carter Center, will open in Abu Dhabi a month before Reaching the Last Mile.
Opening on October 15 and running until November 15, the free exhibition opens at The Galleria mall on Al Maryah Island, and has already been seen at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
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