From December 1, travellers arriving at Indian airports from countries identified as ‘at risk’ including South Africa are required to quarantine a home for a week.
This applies to all passengers from ‘at risk’ destinations regardless of whether or not they have been vaccinated against Covid-19.
The need to monitor the continuously changing nature of virus must still remain in focus
Indian health ministry
A Covid-19 test is mandatory on arrival at Indian airports. This is in addition to the PCR test taken 72 hours before departure.
The updated list of places from where travellers must follow additional safety precautions on arrival includes South Africa, Botswana Zimbabwe, Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Mauritius, New Zealand, Israel and countries in Europe including the UK.
India’s health ministry announced the revised guidelines following cases of the new Omicron variant.
Passengers can leave the airport after the test result is confirmed as negative. They must isolate at home for seven days, followed by a test on day eight and a week of self-monitoring.
“The need to monitor the continuously changing nature of the virus and evolution of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern must still remain in focus,” India’s health ministry said.
“The existing guidelines for international arrivals in India have been formulated taking a risk-based approach.”
With the increase in countries reporting the Omicron variant, Indian authorities will also conduct random PCR tests on 5 per cent of travellers from countries which are not in the ‘at risk’ category.
The guidelines will be effective at international airports, seaports and land borders from midnight on Wednesday.
Individual states in India have the authority to issue separate orders to safeguard residents. International travellers to Mumbai, India’s financial hub, will be subject to further restrictions from Wednesday.
Travellers from countries ‘at risk’ will be placed in institutional quarantine for seven days followed by home quarantine for the same period.
Travellers from other countries not on the ‘at risk’ list must home quarantine for 14 days when they arrive in Mumbai or any other city in western Maharashtra state.
Travellers must follow the rules listed below when travelling to India:
Register on Air Suvidha online portal
Before travelling to India, all passengers must submit a negative PCR test taken 72 hours before the journey on the self-declaration form of the online Air Suvidha portal. This must include details of the last 14 days of travel. Register on: https://www.newdelhiairport.in/airsuvidha/apho-registration
Airlines can board only passengers who have filled in the Air Suvidha form and uploaded a negative PCR test report.
Only asymptomatic travellers will be allowed to board after thermal screening at the departure airport. All passengers are advised to download the contact tracing Aarogya Setu app on their mobiles.
Do children have to be tested?
Children under the age of five are exempt from testing before departure and on arrival in India. If they develop symptoms on arrival at the airport or at home, they should be tested.
Thermal screening on arrival
All passengers will be screened when they arrive at Indian airports. Passengers found symptomatic during screening will be isolated and taken to a medical facility.
If they test positive, their contacts will be identified and informed. Contacts cover passengers seated in the same row, three rows in front and three rows behind and cabin crew.
Travellers from ‘at-risk’ countries
They will need a PCR test on arrival and costs should be covered by passengers. Travellers must wait for their test results at the arrival airport before leaving or taking a connecting flight. Once they test negative they are required to home quarantine for a week.
The travellers must be retested on the eighth day of arrival in India and self-monitor for another week.
If they test positive, their samples will be taken for whole genome sequencing and will be taken to an isolation facility.
All contacts of people who test positive will be asked to quarantine at home or undergo institutional quarantine as per the rules of the state government.
Travellers from other countries
Passengers from nations not on the 'at-risk' list can leave the airport and must monitor their health for two weeks after arrival.
Authorities have decided that 5 per cent of passengers will be tested at random at the airport.
These travellers will be taken to the testing area on arrival by the airline staff. The cost of the testing will be borne by the Ministry of Civil Aviation. If they test positive, regular safety protocols will be followed.
Stricter rules for travel to Mumbai
International travellers arriving in Mumbai or any other city in western Maharashtra state will have a different set of more stringent restrictions as per a new state government order effective from Wednesday.
Passengers from countries on the ‘at risk’ list will undergo a week's mandatory institutional quarantine with PCR tests to be carried out on day two, four and seven.
If all the tests are negative, the traveller can home quarantine for a further seven days.
If any of the tests are positive, the passenger will be moved to a hospital.
Passengers from other countries not in the ‘at risk’ category must quarantine at home for 14 days once the mandatory PCR test at the airport is found to be negative.
If the PCR test is positive, the passenger will be taken to a hospital.
International passengers with connecting flights to any other airport in India will be allowed to board only after the PCR test is negative.
The government of Maharashtra state issued the order that is effective immediately to “restrict transmission of the virus variant in the state.”
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
Results
2.30pm Maiden (PA) Dh40,000 1,200m
Winner Lamia, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel.
3pm Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 1,000m
Winner Jap Al Afreet, Elione Chaves, Irfan Ellahi.
3.30pm Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 1,700m
Winner MH Tawag, Bernardo Pinheiro, Elise Jeanne.
4pm Handicap (TB) Dh40,000 2,000m
Winner Skygazer, Sandro Paiva, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
4.30pm The Ruler of Sharjah Cup Prestige (PA) Dh250,000 1,700m
Winner AF Kal Noor, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel.
5pm Sharjah Marathon (PA) Dh70,000 2,700m
Winner RB Grynade, Bernardo Pinheiro, Eric Lemartinel.
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.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
La Mer lowdown
La Mer beach is open from 10am until midnight, daily, and is located in Jumeirah 1, well after Kite Beach. Some restaurants, like Cupagahwa, are open from 8am for breakfast; most others start at noon. At the time of writing, we noticed that signs for Vicolo, an Italian eatery, and Kaftan, a Turkish restaurant, indicated that these two restaurants will be open soon, most likely this month. Parking is available, as well as a Dh100 all-day valet option or a Dh50 valet service if you’re just stopping by for a few hours.
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The specs
Engine: Turbocharged four-cylinder 2.7-litre
Power: 325hp
Torque: 500Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh189,700
On sale: now
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Voy!%20Voy!%20Voy!
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ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
- Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
- Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
- Submit their request
What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
- Never over populated areas
- Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
- Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
- Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
- Should have a live feed of the drone flight
- Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
The Porpoise
By Mark Haddon
(Penguin Random House)
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
PROFILE
Name: Enhance Fitness
Year started: 2018
Based: UAE
Employees: 200
Amount raised: $3m
Investors: Global Ventures and angel investors
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
Country-size land deals
US interest in purchasing territory is not as outlandish as it sounds. Here's a look at some big land transactions between nations:
Louisiana Purchase
If Donald Trump is one who aims to broker "a deal of the century", then this was the "deal of the 19th Century". In 1803, the US nearly doubled in size when it bought 2,140,000 square kilometres from France for $15 million.
Florida Purchase Treaty
The US courted Spain for Florida for years. Spain eventually realised its burden in holding on to the territory and in 1819 effectively ceded it to America in a wider border treaty.
Alaska purchase
America's spending spree continued in 1867 when it acquired 1,518,800 km2 of Alaskan land from Russia for $7.2m. Critics panned the government for buying "useless land".
The Philippines
At the end of the Spanish-American War, a provision in the 1898 Treaty of Paris saw Spain surrender the Philippines for a payment of $20 million.
US Virgin Islands
It's not like a US president has never reached a deal with Denmark before. In 1917 the US purchased the Danish West Indies for $25m and renamed them the US Virgin Islands.
Gwadar
The most recent sovereign land purchase was in 1958 when Pakistan bought the southwestern port of Gwadar from Oman for 5.5bn Pakistan rupees.
Tips for job-seekers
- Do not submit your application through the Easy Apply button on LinkedIn. Employers receive between 600 and 800 replies for each job advert on the platform. If you are the right fit for a job, connect to a relevant person in the company on LinkedIn and send them a direct message.
- Make sure you are an exact fit for the job advertised. If you are an HR manager with five years’ experience in retail and the job requires a similar candidate with five years’ experience in consumer, you should apply. But if you have no experience in HR, do not apply for the job.
David Mackenzie, founder of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones Middle East
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
Sour%20Grapes
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Innotech Profile
Date started: 2013
Founder/CEO: Othman Al Mandhari
Based: Muscat, Oman
Sector: Additive manufacturing, 3D printing technologies
Size: 15 full-time employees
Stage: Seed stage and seeking Series A round of financing
Investors: Oman Technology Fund from 2017 to 2019, exited through an agreement with a new investor to secure new funding that it under negotiation right now.
The Indoor Cricket World Cup
When: September 16-23
Where: Insportz, Dubai
Indoor cricket World Cup:
Insportz, Dubai, September 16-23
UAE fixtures:
Men
Saturday, September 16 – 1.45pm, v New Zealand
Sunday, September 17 – 10.30am, v Australia; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Monday, September 18 – 2pm, v England; 7.15pm, v India
Tuesday, September 19 – 12.15pm, v Singapore; 5.30pm, v Sri Lanka
Thursday, September 21 – 2pm v Malaysia
Friday, September 22 – 3.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 3pm, grand final
Women
Saturday, September 16 – 5.15pm, v Australia
Sunday, September 17 – 2pm, v South Africa; 7.15pm, v New Zealand
Monday, September 18 – 5.30pm, v England
Tuesday, September 19 – 10.30am, v New Zealand; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Thursday, September 21 – 12.15pm, v Australia
Friday, September 22 – 1.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 1pm, grand final
