Qatar Financial News

By Dan Williams and Nidal al-Mughrabi

Kerala has emerged as the frontrunner in India's healthcare talent migration to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, especially the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The demand in the UAE alone witnessed a 3.3-fold increase in 2023, according to data from blue-collar worker platform Huntr. Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh stand out as major contributors to the migration of healthcare professionals, including nurses, doctors, and laboratory technicians, to MENA countries. Particularly, the migration from Kerala to the UAE experienced a significant surge in 2023, as highlighted in the report. The data, sourced from the Huntr platform and employer organizations in the Middle East spanning 2022 and 2023, indicates a shifting trend in the healthcare landscape of the region. The preferred destinations for Indian healthcare professionals seeking job opportunities are reported to be the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar.

Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant as pre-wedding festivities will take place in Jamnagar, Gujarat from March 1 to March 3. The functions are expected to take place in a traditional yet grand way.

Anant Ambani, the youngest son of Reliance chairman Mukesh Ambani, will wed Radhika Merchant, the daughter of industrialist Viren Merchant, on July 12 in Mumbai. The list of international guests expected to attend the pre-wedding celebrations in Jamnagar in early March reads like a veritable who's who of the global business elite. It includes Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, Blackstone chairman Stephen Schwarzman, Disney CEO Bob Iger, Ivanka Trump, Morgan Stanley CEO Ted Pick, Bank of America chairman Brian Thomas Moynihan, Qatar Premier Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, Adnoc CEO Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, EL Rothschild chair Lynn Forester de Rothschild, the king and queen of Bhutan, tech investor Yuri Milner and Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen, among others. The bride and groom recently celebrated their Lagan Lakhvanu. The auspicious ritual, which includes written invitations offered first to the Gods and then to close family, took place on February 16 at Jamnagar, Gujarat, at the Ambani family estate. During the ceremony, bride-to-be Radhika donned a custom-made lehenga by Anamika Khanna.

NTA) has announced that the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for Undergraduate (NEET-UG) will be conducted at exam centres in 14 foreign cities on May 5. This decision comes after requests from aspirants, as the initial information bulletin for the exam did not mention centres outside India. «It has been decided that the exam will also be conducted in 14 foreign cities in 12 countries,» said NTA Senior Director (Exams) Sadhna Parashar. According to NTA Senior Director (Exams) Sadhna Parashar, the exam will be conducted in 12 countries, including cities like Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah (UAE), Kuwait City (Kuwait), Bangkok (Thailand), Colombo (Sri Lanka), Doha (Qatar), Kathmandu (Nepal), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Lagos (Nigeria), Manama (Bahrain), Muscat (Oman), Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), and Singapore.

ceasefire in Gaza amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, Reuters reported. The resolution, put forward by Algeria, sought an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, while the US has pressed for a temporary ceasefire tied to the release of hostages held by Hamas.

Qatari Foreign Ministry said that Hamas has started delivering medication for the approximately 100 hostages held in Gaza, a month after the medications arrived in Gaza. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Dr. Majed Al-Ansari said on Tuesday evening that Hamas confirmed they had begun to deliver the medications to the hostages in exchange for medicines and humanitarian aid for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. France and Qatar mediated a deal in January for the shipment of medicine for dozens of hostages held by Hamas arrived in Gaza. The deal was the first agreement between Israel and the militant group since a weeklong cease-fire in November, but there was no evidence that the medications had arrived.

Ryanair, of low cost and sustained profitability, India’s newest airline Akasa Air’s journey to the top of the charts has been rather astounding. The airline, backed by legendary investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, who died soon after the launch of the airline in August 2022, is set to cross a milestone. It will fly beyond the Indian borders from March 28 with its first international flight scheduled to Qatar. Notably, this achievement comes in merely 19 months of its going operational. Akasa was granted the licence to fly internationally by the Ministry of Civil Aviation last year on September 20. Exiting 2023 with a fleet size of 22 aircraft, including 21 Boeing 737 MAX 8 and one Boeing 737 MAX 8 200, the first of its kind in Asia, Akasa Air is ready for its next phase of growth. It further fuelled its international flying ambitions when in January the new airline welcomed two Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft to its growing fleet. Since it started flying in 2022, Akasa has garnered a market share of 4 per cent as against another low-cost but much older airline SpiceJet's 5.6%. The Indian aviation market is dominated by IndiGo, which has a nearly 60 per cent market share, and the Tata Group whose airlines have a combined share of nearly 26 per cent.

Israel-Hamas war: Benny Gantz, a minister of Israel's war cabinet has warned Hamas that they must return all the hostages by March 10 or Israeli forces will launch a ground invasion in Rafah. The warning came as the 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza are seeking refugee in Rafah, a small city close to the Egypt border. The international agencies have raised concerns that any attack on Rafah will lead to a “massacre." The death toll in Israeli strikes on Gaza has crossed 28,000 and the peace proposals moved by Egypt, Qatar, and the United States are not creating much movement on the ground.

veto. Algeria, the Arab representative on the council, put the draft resolution in a final form that can be voted on. Council diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly, said the vote will take place Tuesday morning. In addition to a ceasefire, the final Algerian draft, obtained by The Associated Press, reiterates council demands that Israel and Hamas “scrupulously comply” with international law especially the protection

Hamas, and envisions a wider resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called Hamas' demands “delusional" and rejected US and international calls for a pathway to Palestinian statehood.

India's foreign policy is going strong, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that the world is seeing how New Delhi's relations with many countries continue to grow stronger in trade, tourism, technology and various other aspects. In a jibe against the critical remarks over the years on experience in foreign policy, PM Modi said that when he took the oath as India's Prime Minister, questions were raised about him not having «experience outside a state.» While addressing the concluding day of the National Convention of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at Delhi's Bharat Mandapam, PM Modi said, «When I took oath in 2014, many of our critics said that what experience does Modi have outside a state. Many things were said about foreign policy.»

United Nations Security Council is likely to vote on Tuesday on an Algerian push for the 15-member body to demand an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, said diplomats, a move the United States signaled it would veto. Algeria put forward an initial draft resolution more than two weeks ago. But U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield quickly said the text could jeopardize «sensitive negotiations» aimed at brokering a pause in the war.

MUNICH (Reuters) — Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said on Saturday the pattern of negotiations for a framework ceasefire deal for the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza was «not very promising» in recent days.

Hindustan in an interview on Saturday. Amit Nagpal was among eight former Indian Navy officers who returned to India from Qatar on February 12. This was nearly three-and-half months after a Qatari court handed them a death sentence that was subsequently commuted to varying jail terms.

Max Verstappen wins again. The teams often whisk men and machines from one glamorous location to the next by air. All of that involves spewing out plenty of carbon.

Afghan women feel scared or unsafe leaving their home alone because of Taliban decrees and enforcement campaigns on clothing and male guardians, according to a report from the UN mission in Afghanistan. The report was issued days before a UN-convened meeting in the Qatari capital Doha, where member states and special envoys to Afghanistan are expected to discuss engagement with the Taliban. The Taliban have barred women from most areas of public life and stopped girls from going to school beyond the sixth grade as part of harsh measures they imposed after taking power in 2021.

Akasa Air will operate four non-stop flights a week, connecting Mumbai with Doha, enhancing air connectivity between Qatar and India," the airline said in a release. Bookings for flights are now open on Akasa Air’s website www.akasaair.com, Android and iOS app and through multiple leading OTAs, with return fares starting at ₹29012. With this, Akasa Air becomes the first Indian airline to fly overseas in a record period of 19 months since its inception.

Also Read: PM Modi to inaugurate first Hindu temple in UAE, travel to Qatar this week — Check full schedule, key details Last year, Goa's Palolem and Agonda cities had secured the first and the second rank in Most Welcoming Indian cities list. The list was followed by Mararikulam, Hampi, Khajuraho, Tekkady, Jaisalmer, Bir, Munnar and Kerala.

Indian Express, Gopakumar said, "A day after we were awarded the capital punishment, Union Minister S Jaishankar called our wives to Delhi. He assured them we would be brought back home." Gopakumar even shared the details of the conversation between the wives of former Indian Navy men and the Union minister. He told the media house that told their wives that he was ready to plead for the release of the eight navy men.

In what is being seen as a major diplomatic win fo... moreIn what is being seen as a major diplomatic win for India, eight Indian Navy veterans, who were sentenced to death in Qatar, were released by a court in Doha.