UAE and Indian flags at a reception for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Abu Dhabi. Photo: Ministry of Presidential Affairs
UAE and Indian flags at a reception for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Abu Dhabi. Photo: Ministry of Presidential Affairs
UAE and Indian flags at a reception for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Abu Dhabi. Photo: Ministry of Presidential Affairs
UAE and Indian flags at a reception for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Abu Dhabi. Photo: Ministry of Presidential Affairs

Culture, literature and internships to draw young Emiratis and Indians closer


Ramola Talwar Badam
  • English
  • Arabic

Placing young Emirati interns in top Indian companies and more translations of literature would be a logical next step to further ties between the two nations, two long-serving diplomats said.

Omar Ghobash, the UAE’s assistant minister for culture and public diplomacy, and Navdeep Suri, a former Indian ambassador to the UAE, spoke of how cultural ties, literature and educational exchanges were the key to the future during Ideas — A Shared History, an event on Sunday at Expo 2020 Dubai.

“India has a rich literature. I can’t read any of it, I can’t access it but I know by reputation,” said Mr Ghobash, who was previously UAE ambassador to France and Russia.

“I would personally be fascinated by literature out of the Malayalam language because I have been surrounded by Keralities all my life.

There are a lot of Emirati kids who need to understand who is it working alongside us and without whom we would not be what we are today
Omar Ghobash

"I want to know what it is they write about, what do they think about. For me that is a mystery. It would really open my eyes.

“There are a lot of Emirati kids who need to understand who is it working alongside us, without whom we would not be what we are today. That is something that is important.”

The two countries signed a historic Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement last week that outlined new avenues for investment aiming to increase bilateral trade from $60 billion to $100bn in the next five years.

A vision statement by Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, and Narendra Modi, the Indian Prime Minister, on Friday also agreed to set up a council to promote cultural exchanges, dialogues and exhibitions.

There has also been a decision to establish an Indian institute of technology in the UAE. The IIT is India’s top engineering institute with 23 branches across the country.

The diplomats spoke of building on the new relationship.

“I’m really excited about this relationship. I actually think it’s like putting the crown on top of the relationship,” Mr Ghobash said.

He described ties with India and Israel as “two new relationships that essentially will, I think, turbo-charge the Emirates forward and will allow us to have a greater say on the direction of the Middle East, hopefully.”

Mr Suri said that during lunch with Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak, Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence, he learnt about an internship programme the UAE minister started when he led the education department.

The former Indian envoy said a similar programme was possible with the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, an apex Indian trade body.

“With FICCI, we can start a programme where we place young Emiratis from NYUAD [and] UAE University in internships with top companies in India and get them to spend three to six months to get experience of what the Indian business environment is like,” Mr Suri said.

“There is an obligation for young Emiratis to understand this giant economy next door by seeing it first hand.

“We also need to connect our writers, intellectuals and opinion makers. There is a lot of room for translations of our literature.”

Mr Suri spoke of a collective responsibility to build strong connections between young people.

“The area where we lag is culture,” he said. “Much of Indian cultural activity is aimed at the Indian community. There is simply not enough of a cultural cross connect.

"The kinship that existed between my generation and older Emiratis is beginning to dissipate in the younger generation. I worry that our young people, both in India and the UAE, are looking at the West rather than at each other.

“We need to get creative and innovative on how to get them to engage with each other.”

The Indian community, with more than 3.4 million people in the UAE, is the country's largest expatriate population.

Omar Ghobash said Emiratis could learn much more of India's history and its culture. Mona Al Marzooqi / The National
Omar Ghobash said Emiratis could learn much more of India's history and its culture. Mona Al Marzooqi / The National
THE BIO

Bio Box

Role Model: Sheikh Zayed, God bless his soul

Favorite book: Zayed Biography of the leader

Favorite quote: To be or not to be, that is the question, from William Shakespeare's Hamlet

Favorite food: seafood

Favorite place to travel: Lebanon

Favorite movie: Braveheart

Company%20profile
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In 2018, the ICRC received 27,756 trace requests in the Middle East alone. The global total was 45,507.

 

There are 139,018 global trace requests that have not been resolved yet, 55,672 of these are in the Middle East region.

 

More than 540,000 individuals approached the ICRC in the Middle East asking to be reunited with missing loved ones in 2018.

 

The total figure for the entire world was 654,000 in 2018.

The specs
  • Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
  • Power: 640hp
  • Torque: 760nm
  • On sale: 2026
  • Price: Not announced yet
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021

Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.

The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.

These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.

“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.

“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.

“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.

“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”

Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.

There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.

“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.

“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.

“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”

Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
  • Priority access to new homes from participating developers
  • Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
  • Flexible payment plans from developers
  • Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
  • DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Jetour T1 specs

Engine: 2-litre turbocharged

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Tearful appearance

Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday. 

Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow. 

She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.

A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.

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F1 The Movie

Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem

Director: Joseph Kosinski

Rating: 4/5

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So what is Spicy Chickenjoy?

Just as McDonald’s has the Big Mac, Jollibee has Spicy Chickenjoy – a piece of fried chicken that’s crispy and spicy on the outside and comes with a side of spaghetti, all covered in tomato sauce and topped with sausage slices and ground beef. It sounds like a recipe that a child would come up with, but perhaps that’s the point – a flavourbomb combination of cheap comfort foods. Chickenjoy is Jollibee’s best-selling product in every country in which it has a presence.
 

RESULT

Uruguay 3 Russia 0
Uruguay:
 Suárez (10'), Cheryshev (23' og), Cavani (90')
Russia: Smolnikov (Red card: 36')

Man of the match: Diego Godin (Uruguay)

Scoreline

Al Wasl 1 (Caio Canedo 90 1')

Al Ain 2 (Ismail Ahmed 3', Marcus Berg 50')

Red cards: Ismail Ahmed (Al Ain) 77'

Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
'Midnights'
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What is a robo-adviser?

Robo-advisers use an online sign-up process to gauge an investor’s risk tolerance by feeding information such as their age, income, saving goals and investment history into an algorithm, which then assigns them an investment portfolio, ranging from more conservative to higher risk ones.

These portfolios are made up of exchange traded funds (ETFs) with exposure to indices such as US and global equities, fixed-income products like bonds, though exposure to real estate, commodity ETFs or gold is also possible.

Investing in ETFs allows robo-advisers to offer fees far lower than traditional investments, such as actively managed mutual funds bought through a bank or broker. Investors can buy ETFs directly via a brokerage, but with robo-advisers they benefit from investment portfolios matched to their risk tolerance as well as being user friendly.

Many robo-advisers charge what are called wrap fees, meaning there are no additional fees such as subscription or withdrawal fees, success fees or fees for rebalancing.

Updated: February 21, 2022, 5:57 AM`