Emirates leader urges citizens to reduce number of foreign workers

17 Apr 2007 Dubai : Dubai leader Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum urged the country’s citizens to stop relying on government handouts and reduce number of foreign workers, who he said threaten national security.

Sheik Mohammed said he wanted to reduce foreign labor and influences in a country where some 85 percent of the country’s 5 million population is foreign, while moving citizens into the private sector’s top posts.

He called for an immediate end to foreign labor in “marginal economic activities” and described the 300,000 illegal laborers in the country as a national security threat.

At the same time, he chastised Emirati families for hiring too many maids and domestic servants — which form 10 percent of the labor force.

“The number of domestic helpers in some families exceeds the size of the family itself,” he said. “Most families maintain a number of domestic help which is beyond their actual need.”

NRI deposits in banks on a high

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Kerala: NRI deposits in Kerala banks touched a new high of Rs.329 billion on Dec 31, 2006.

NRI deposits in 3,539 branches of various banks grew from Rs.288 billion in December 2005 to Rs.329 billion, constituting 38.42 percent of all deposits in the state’s banks, said figures released at a bankers’ committee meet here today.

Kerala has a record two million Keralites working abroad, of which close to 85 percent are in the Middle East.

Nilakantan has some advice for people who suggest that the IT sector should do more.

The Gulf boom, could have led to Indian companies becoming infrastructure giants, could have led to the creation of atleast one good infrastructure consulting company or an architecture firm or an engineering firm or an accounting firm or if not anything else, a good human resource placement bureau. Did it result in anything? It did not.

The IT industry, likewise, could have become your friendly neighbourhood recruiting agent, sending people out of the country to become coders. Yet it grew from nothing. From unfriendly laws, difficult regulations to become Indians defining norm, otherwise we would still be known only for elephants and (paper) tigers.

Those who talk of or question social contribution of the IT industry might do well to remember this – and this, without the multiplier effect of the industry in India and the economy. Where we are today is a matter of pride, reached overcoming a fair share of obstacles. And we all know the multiplier effect of the gulf boom in India – except for large houses for those who went there, we have precious little to show.

Here comes the next one. This time one RSS activist was found dead in Mavelikkara. Immediately the culprits were guessed and a hartal was called.

Now instead of announcing hartals every day it would be nice, if they announce when there is no hartal.

Deepika reports:

Here is some news for you Mr. Mammootty – No one really cares who won the latest Medimix award.

Sukumar Azhikode moved to a new house to save his books from termites.

Kerala Tips has a challenge for you

1. Go to any sales tax office and show me one honest employee. I will pay you Rs.10000 if you can point out one!

2. Go to any checkpost in Kerala and show me one honest employee. I will pay you Rs.1000000 if you can point out one! (I recently visited Amaravila checkpost in Trivandrum. You can hear all the Malayalam obscene words in 10 minutes.)

3. Show me one honest employee who works as an RTO. I will pay you Rs.50000.

4. Show me one police constable who refuses bribe when you offer him something. I will pay you Rs.5000.

Nitin debunks an article written by Rajinder Sahota in Financial Times

The tale of India’s billionaires, Sahota writes in conclusion, is also the story of her suicides, as if one were responsible for the other. To mix the two is to commit a double offence: first, it demeans the achievements of those who have risen to the top of the economic heap in the face of global competition and often in spite of the government. Second, it distracts attention from the real reasons why the suicides still happen: criticism of theoretical constructs that ignores the actual policies and their implementation, usually by those whose only contribution to the battle against poverty is their propensity to indulge in—and send the government on—wild-goose chases. The title of his article is “A lie that drove 1m poor farmers to kill themselves”.

The driving principle in Kerala is this: If you are unhappy, then everyone else should also be unhappy.

Today’s unhappy people are ornament makers who constitute 0.0001% of the population. I don’t know why they are unhappy, but whatever be the reason they thought it is their right to destroy some public property and make life inconvenient to others. They stoned shops and buses and due to this bus service to various places were stopped.

What happened to this thing called Government which is supposed to let us earn a living?