THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India, 17 December 2006 — The United Arab Emirates is working on strict norms of recruitment to check middlemen exploiting jobseekers. “There is a big mafia active among the agents. So we have to ensure that middlemen do not exploit the migrating labor,” UAE Labor Minister Ali bin Abdullah Al-Ka’abi told a news conference here. The proposed rules give expatriate workers the right to terminate job contracts if they were denied salary for two consecutive months. After terminating the contract, the employee can enter into fresh contract with a new sponsor without paying any fine. The labor court system would be advanced by introducing electronic transfer of files for speedy settlement of disputes. The number of labor inspectors would also be increased to 2,000. The UAE and Kerala governments are also planning to introduce a system of recruitment through government agencies, he said. “These measures are being initiated on the directive of Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum. It would be implemented within no time,” the minister said. The UAE is also implementing the norm to give a one-year compulsory break to unskilled workers after they complete six years. Though UAE nationals would be given priority in employment in various sectors, it would not affect the job prospects of other nationals as new job opportunities are created in sectors such as construction and IT, he said.
Islamic Exhibition
Salvation, a 10-day international exhibition on Islam, will open in Kozhikode today. Thousands of people from across the country and abroad are expected to visit the event organized by Ittihadu-Shubbanil Mujahideen, the youth wing of Kerala Nadvathul Mujahideen. Sheikh Salman ibn Easa Al-Khaleefa, the head of the Religious Affairs Department, Bahrain, will inaugurate the show at a function to be attended by Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan as the chief guest. The exhibition is being organized to clear misunderstandings about Islam, reception committee chairman and KNM chief T.P. Abdullah Koya Madani said. There will be 40 sessions to be attended by experts, social activists and political leaders from across the globe, he added. More details are available at the official website: www.salvation.in.
Turkish, Bangla Films Share Honors
Bangladeshi film “Forever Flows” directed by Abu Sayeed and Turkish film “Angels’ Fall” by Melegin Dususu shared the one-million-rupee Golden Crow Pheasant Award at the 11th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) that concluded here Friday. Iranian director Chahar Shanbeh Souri won the Silver Crow Pheasant Award for the best director, carrying a cash prize of 300,000 rupees for his film Fireworks Wednesday. Prasanna Jayakodi’s “Sankara” (Sri Lanka) won the Silver Crow Pheasant Award for the debut film of a director carrying 200,000 rupees while a Japanese film directed by Gurumaniumu No Yoru received a special mention of the jury headed by Palestinian director Elia Suleiman.
A Green Punishment
The district administration in the port city of Kochi planted 50 saplings on the busy Marine Drive in the vicinity of the place where President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam’s chopper will land when he arrives in the city on Tuesday. It was an order from the president whose website was clogged by a large number of e-mails by environmentalists angry at felling of five trees that hindered the safe landing of his helicopter. His office immediately ordered the district administration to plant 10 times what they have destroyed and to get back immediately. “I have given instructions to the Works Department engineer to plant 50 saplings on Marine Drive premises in a couple of days,” chief district administrator A.P.M Muhammed Hanish said. The president’s office has asked Hanish to ensure that his directive is implemented in letter and spirit.
Maoist Leader Passes Away
Mandakini Narayanan, a pioneer of the Maoist movement in Kerala, died at her home in Kozhikode yesterday at the age of 81, her family said. She leaves behind her daughter Ajitha, a leading women’s rights activist. Gujarat born Mandakini was involved in Kerala’s first Maoist strike in 1968 on a police station in Thalassery. After 48 hours, a group of peasant revolutionaries attacked the police station at Pulpally in Wayanad, killing a police wireless operator and injuring several others. Mandakini was imprisoned in 1970 and again in 1975 during a nationwide emergency. After the decline of the Maoist movement in Kerala, she had been active in human rights and cultural spheres. A large number of people turned up to pay their last respects at her house.
