Dr Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Ruler of Sharjah, and Sheikha Jawaher bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, wife of the Ruler of Sharjah and chairperson of the Supreme Council for Family Affairs, on Sunday arrived at Trivandrum International Airport in Kerala, India.
The two-day state visit came following an invitation Sheikh Sultan received last December, during his meeting with Pinarayi Vijayan, chief minister of Kerala.
The visit comes as part of Sheikh Sultan's keenness to strengthen relations between the emirate of Sharjah and the state of Kerala, to achieve intellectual exchange between the two countries in the fields of culture and art, and to take a closer look at Kerala's efforts to develop its comprehensive cultural renaissance.
During his official visit to Kerala, the Sharjah Ruler will meet with the Prime Minister of India and senior officials. He will also attend the ceremony to award him the honuorary doctorate for his great efforts in serving the Arab and Islamic culture, as well as the appreciation of his intellectual and literary production, which has been translated into several languages.
Dr Sheikh Sultan was received by Kerala's Chief Minister, along with Dr Ahmed Al Banna, UAE Ambassador to India, Jamal Al Zaabi, Consul-General of UAE in Kerala, Navdeep Singh Suri, Ambassador of India to the UAE, and a number of ministers and businessmen.
Sheikha Jawaher was received by Kamala Vijayan, wife of Kerala's Chief Minister.
Dr Sheikh Sultan was also accompanied by Sheikh Sultan bin Ahmed Al Qasimi, Chairman of Sharjah Media Council, Sheikh Salem bin Abdulrahman Al Qasimi, Chairman of the Sharjah Ruler's Office, Sheikh Fahim bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Executive Chairman of Sharjah Department of Government Relations, Abdullah bin Mohammed Al Owais, Chairman of the Department of Culture and Information in Sharjah, Mohammed Obaid Al Zaabi, Head of Protocol and Hospitality Department, and Mohammed Hassan Khalaf, Director-General of the Sharjah Media Foundation.
Married Malala
Malala Yousafzai is enjoying married life, her father said.
The 24-year-old married Pakistan cricket executive Asser Malik last year in a small ceremony in the UK.
Ziauddin Yousafzai told The National his daughter was ‘very happy’ with her husband.
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
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