Eight state-of-the-art stadiums will stage 64 matches between 20 November and 18 December as Qatar is set to welcome the best international teams on the planet for the first FIFA World Cup in the Middle East and Arab world.
This edition of the FIFA World Cup will be transformative for Qatar and the entire region. One of the sponsors of the FIFA World Cup, Budweiser kicks off its global campaign by offering fans an opportunity to win a trip to the tournament.
The football greats like Messi, Neymar Jr. and Sterling are giving fans a once-in-a-lifetime chance to experience the FIFA World Cup in person by dropping hundreds of red prize boxes in major cities that include exclusive merchandise, Messi signed memorabilia, access to BudX events, official football for the world cup, headphones, and the grand prize of an all-expenses paid trip to the tournament.
"The 100-day countdown to the FIFA World Cup has officially begun, and Budweiser and I are celebrating by giving fans the chance to win once-in-a-lifetime trips to the tournament. Ever since playing my first games in Argentina, I've dreamt of the day that I would play in the World Cup, and now I'm so excited to help Budweiser make fans' dreams of attending the World Cup come true," Lionel Messi stated.
Beginning August 12, coordinates leading to prize boxes will be revealed to fans who scanned exclusive Budweiser QR codes. These exclusive QR codes were shared on Budweiser and football icons' social accounts earlier this week, spurring curiosity and excitement from eager fans.
QR codes appeared in 5 marquee locations across the world, including Wembley in London and Andheri Sports Complex in Mumbai, to commemorate Messi, Neymar Jr. and Sterling journeys from eager amateurs to present-day superstars leading their teams out of the World Cup tunnel and into greatness.
In India, the brand is all set to host the game's biggest fans at an undisclosed location on August 13. Fans who signed up by scanning the QR code will receive coordinates to the location for a one-of-a-kind experience with the promise of special red prize boxes for 100 lucky football supporters.
Panda met the family members of Abdul, a resident of Padampur area of Kendrapara and assured them that he will speak to the Foreign Ministry to bring Abdul back to Odisha.
Abdul had gone to the Arab country eight months back to work for a construction company but after a few months the company stopped paying him wages and allegedly tortured him physically, his family members said. They have also claimed that the company officials didn't sanction leave to Abdul when his mother was sick.
"My mother is unwell so we had mailed the company asking them to leave Abdul but the company asked us to deposit 400 rial and also present three witnesses. We urge the government to bring him back," Abdul’s brother Mahmood Khan said.
With no option left, Abdul's family members informed the former Kendrapara MP about the incident.
"The main problem is there is no employment in Odisha so despite having talent, lakhs of our brothers and sisters are migrating to other states and foreign countries. It is my duty to bring back the ones who are stranded and I will do whatever I can," Panda said.
Earlier on October 1, the former Kendrapara MP had written to Indian Ambassador to UAE, Navdeep Singh Suri seeking intervention to repatriate Khurda youth Santosh Swain, who is allegedly being harassed by his employer in Abu Dhabi.
Briefing media persons after a joint meeting in the office of the Director, Airport Authority of India (AAI), here today, Deepak Arora, Commissioner, Customs, Bhubaneswar said for this purpose public notice is already in place.
“AAI has already earmarked a hall adjacent to the domestic air cargo terminal for the purpose of international air cargo terminal,” he added.
The meeting was presided over by LN Gupta, Principal Secretary, State MSME Department, who has been following the matter consequent upon requests from various MSME exporters and trade stakeholders.
On follow up, AAI has accorded concurrence to its Bhubaneswar office to become custodian of the international air cargo terminal.
Representatives of various export associations like Seafood, Agro Food Processing Industries, Handloom and Handicrafts exporters, spice exporters etc present at the meeting, said it will be highly beneficial for the industry and trade to get the facility of dispatching of cargo from Biju Patnaik International Airport instead of the current practice of sending cargo by road via Hyderabad or Kolkata.
Representatives of different airlines like Indigo, Vistara and Air India were asked to come up with a schedule at the earliest possible for dispatching cargo to various international destinations in Middle East, Far East, European countries as per the requirements of exporters within 7 days both for the perishable and non-perishable items.
Among others, R Mahalingam, Airport Director, Bhubaneswar, Girish Sharma, Joint General Manager (Cargo), AAI (Eastern Region), Kolkata, Director, Export Promotion and Marketing, BK Das and representatives of different airlines and exporters were present at the meeting.
Notably, international air cargo operation had started in Biju Patnaik International Airport from 1995. But it was stopped in 2003.
Briefing media persons after a joint meeting in the office of the Director, Airport Authority of India (AAI), here today, Deepak Arora, Commissioner, Customs, Bhubaneswar said for this purpose, public notice is already in place.
“AAI has already earmarked a hall adjacent to the domestic air cargo terminal for the purpose of international air cargo terminal,” he added.
The meeting was presided over by LN Gupta, Principal Secretary, State MSME Department, who has been following the matter consequent upon requests from various MSME exporters and trade stakeholders.
On follow up, AAI has accorded concurrence to its Bhubaneswar office to become custodian of the international air cargo terminal.
Representatives of various export associations like Seafood, Agro Food Processing Industries, Handloom and Handicrafts exporters, spice exporters etc present at the meeting, said it will be highly beneficial for the industry and trade to get the facility of dispatching of cargo from Biju Patnaik International Airport instead of the current practice of sending cargo by road via Hyderabad or Kolkata.
Representatives of different airlines like Indigo, Vistara and Air India were asked to come up with a schedule at the earliest possible for dispatching cargo to various international destinations in Middle East, Far East, European countries as per the requirements of exporters within 7 days both for the perishable and non-perishable items.
Among others, R Mahalingam, Airport Director, Bhubaneswar, Girish Sharma, Joint General Manager (Cargo), AAI (Eastern Region), Kolkata, Director, Export Promotion and Marketing, BK Das and representatives of different airlines and exporters were present at the meeting.
"Our ICRC teams are now doing all they can to supply hospitals with medicines, surgical materials and fuel," Xinhua news agency quoted Robert Mardini, Regional Director of the ICRC's tweet as saying.
On Monday, dominant Houthi fighters killed former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, his relatives and his senior aides after three days of deadly street clashes between Houthi movement and Saleh's armed loyalists in Sanaa.
Officials at Saudi-backed Saleh's party vowed to revenge their leader's death and to continue fighting against Iranian-aligned Houthis.
The clashes first erupted a week ago after Saleh's loyalists prevented Houthis from entering a Saleh-run mosque to secure a nearby religious celebration organised by the group in Sabeen Square in central Sanaa.
The clashes then intensified and turned into street fighting after Saleh on Saturday announced disengagement of his alliance with the Houthis and declared war against them, citing allegedly "Houthi assaults on his family members."
Hours after Houthis announced the death of Saleh, the Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi made a televised speech, saying his group had "foiled a plot by ex-president Saleh to involve all Yemeni people in armed chaos."
Houthi leader also accused Saleh of backing a Saudi-led military coalition.
Meanwhile, the Saudi-led coalition warplanes have since launched over 30 airstrikes on positions of Houthis inside and outside Sanaa, with no reports of casualties.
Available in Google Play Store, Twitter "Lite" (under 3MB size) loads quickly on 2G and 3G networks and offers offline support in case users temporarily lose connection.
Just like Facebook 'Lite,' it offers a data saver mode to download only the images or videos users want to see.
"In April, we launched Twitter 'Lite', a new mobile web experience that minimises data usage, loads quicker on slower connections, and is more resilient on unreliable mobile networks," wrote Jesar Shah, Product Manager at Twitter, in a blog post on Friday.
"Since then we've seen an increase in engagement -- for example, tweets sent from Twitter Lite have increased more than 50 per cent," she added.
In September, Twitter made it available in the Google Play Store in the Philippines.
"Through on-the-ground user research and Play Store reviews, we received a lot of valuable feedback. Based on these positive results, we have decided to bring it to more people around the world," Shah said.
Twitter 'Lite' is now available in Algeria, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Egypt, Israel, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Malaysia, Nigeria, Nepal, Panama, Peru, Serbia, El Salvador, South Africa, Thailand, Tunisia, Tanzania and Venezuela.
Twitter 'Lite' is yet to come to India.
The company has 330 million monthly active users, 80 per cent of whom are outside the US.
The tender application commenced on July 1 and will conclude on July 25, said a company statement.
Sustainable ash utilisation is one of the key concern areas at NTPC and the company is ensuring sustainable solutions for its complete utilisation, it said.
A by-product of power generation with coal, the fly ash generated at NTPC stations is ideal for use in the manufacture of cement, concrete products, and cellular concrete products, along with its usage for manufacturing of bricks, blocks and tiles.
NTPC has collaborated with cement manufacturers around the country to supply fly ash. The power producer is leveraging Indian Railways' network to transport fly ash in an economical and environment-friendly manner.
To promote the use of fly ash bricks in building construction, NTPC has set up fly ash brick manufacturing plants at its coal-based thermal power plants. These bricks are being utilised in plants as well as township construction activities exclusively. On average, 60 million fly ash bricks are being manufactured annually by NTPC's own fly ash brick plants.
According to senior administration officials, Trump will make the major announcement along with his policy from the White House tonight.
"The President would say that the US government recognises that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. He views this as recognition of historic reality," a senior administration official told reporters.
"Jerusalem has been capital of Jewish people since ancient times and modern reality that it has been the seat of government, important ministries, its legislature, the Supreme court," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
In taking this action, Trump will fulfill a major campaign promise that has been made by a number of previous presidential candidates, another senior official said.
In his remarks, Trump will also direct the State Department to initiate the process of moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Noting that finding appropriate land and construction of a new embassy would take at least a couple of years, officials said Trump would continue to give waiver as required by the Congress - for not moving its diplomatic mission to Jerusalem.
Trump's action enjoys broad bipartisan support in the Congress, the official said.
The move, which is being opposed by the countries in the Middle East, is unlikely to have an impact on the two- state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict, the official said.
"Trump remains committed to achieving a lasting peace agreement between the Palestinians and Israel, and is optimistic that peace can be achieved," the official said, adding that not recognising Jerusalem as capital of Israel has done nothing to achieve peace for more than two decades.
Trump recognises that the specific boundaries of Israeli sovereignty are subject to final status negotiations, the official said.
Trump has decided to go ahead with his plan, ignoring dire warnings from Saudi Arabia's King Salman and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, one of his closest allies in the Middle East.
Terming it a "dangerous step", Salman cautioned the move will "provoke the feelings of Muslims around the world".
Sisi warned that the move will complicate the situation and "jeopardise the chances of peace in the Middle East".
The international community considers east Jerusalem illegally occupied by Israel and most countries have their embassies in Tel Aviv.
Responding to questions, senior administration officials said the President believed that the move would have no impact on the peace process and the deal is within reach and can be achieved.
Earlier, Trump spoke over phone with a number of leaders in the Middle East to share his decision on Jerusalem, the White House said.
Trump spoke separately with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas, King Abdullah II of Jordan, Sisi and King Salman.
"This announcement does not change US policy over these specific borders," the senior administration official said, while another official asserted that the President is not taking a decision that affects any of the boundaries and sovereignty.
Trump's anticipated announcement received mixed message from lawmakers.
Senator Ted Cruz described this as a "historical" announcement.
"I strongly encourage and would unequivocally support President Trump formally recognising Jerusalem as Israel's capital and beginning the important process of moving our embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem," he said.
Meanwhile, Senator Bernie Sanders said he was extremely concerned over Trump's plan.
"There's a reason why all past US administrations have avoided making this move, and why leaders from all over the world, including a group of former Israeli ambassadors, have warned Trump against doing it. It would dramatically undermine the prospects for an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement, and severely, perhaps irreparably, damage the US' ability to broker that peace," Sanders said.
"What the US should be doing now is bringing adversaries in the Middle East together to seek common solutions, not exacerbating tensions in this highly volatile region," he said.
Meanwhile, the State Department warned US embassies around the world to prepare for possible protests and violence and banned travel by government employees and their families to Jerusalem's Old City and the West Bank.
"I think it's fake news, okay? Now, would I do that? Absolutely. But we have not planned for that," Xinhua quoted Trump as saying to reporters at the White House on Tuesday.
"Hopefully we're not going to have to plan for that. And if we did that, we'd send a hell of a lot more troops than that," he added.
The New York Times reported on Monday that acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan had presented an updated military plan to the Trump administration's senior security officials which envisions sending up to 120,000 troops to the Middle East should Iran attack American forces or accelerate work on nuclear weapons.
The updated plan, which does not call for a land invasion of Iran, was ordered by hardliners led by National Security Adviser John Bolton, reported the paper, citing anonymous sources.
Over the recent weeks, Washington has ratcheted up pressure against Tehran with a series of sanctions, designations and military threats, following Washington's year-long campaign against Iran after US exit from the landmark Iran nuclear deal in May last year.
In response, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announced on Wednesday Tehran's withdrawal from complying with the restrictions of the Iran nuclear deal on the country's enriched uranium reserves and heavy water supplies.
Jay Panda took to Twitter to inform about their repatriation and thanked the district representative of Naba Nirman Krushak Sanghathan of Ganjam for bringing the plight of the stranded labourers to notice. Moreover, Panda also thanked Odia Samaj based in Dubai for extending their support in repatriation of the labourers.
Earlier, on July 27, six of the 18 migrant labourers stranded in Dubai had returned to Odisha after Jay Panda had sought intervention of the Indian Consul General in Dubai for their repatriation.
After the return of the labourers identified as Kalia Jena, Pabitra Mallick, Tuna Mallick, Dibakar Nahaka, Raju Gauda and Santanu Palai; their family members had thanked Jay Panda.
As per reports, on November 4, 2018, the labourers hailing from Tihania, Ujjwalapur, Padinapalli, Baniaru, Ostapada, Kairasi, Manikapur in Ganjam district had left for Dubai through an agent Kartik Jena, who took Rs 60,000 from each of them and had assured them jobs with Rs 35,000 per month salary.
But even after nine months, the labourers were not paid by their employer. Dejected, the labourers decided to protest and refused to work following which the company suspended all of them. The workers then uploaded a video on social media requesting help for their repatriation.
Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had also sought External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s help for the early repatriation of the said Odia workers.
The additional troops from the 82nd Airborne Division will be deployed to Iraq, Kuwait and other parts of the region, Xinhua news agency quoted an NBC News report as saying on Friday.
The soldiers will join roughly 650 others already deployed to the region and remain for some 60 days, NBC News said in the report citing US officials as saying.
"As previously announced, the Immediate Response Force (IRF) brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division was alerted to prepare for deployment, and are now being deployed," the Pentagon said in a statement.
"The brigade will deploy to Kuwait as an appropriate and precautionary action in response to increased threat levels against US personnel and facilities, and will assist in reconstituting the reserve."
The latest move by the Pentagon came just hours after Soleimani, the commander of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Quds Force, and Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis were killed an airstrike near the Baghdad International Airport.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani have vowed to retaliate strongly against the US over the Major General's death.
Friday's attack came after Iraqi protesters on Tuesday stormed the US embassy compound in Baghdad to protest the American air raids conducted on December 29 against five bases of Iran-backed militias in Iraq and Syria, claiming the lives of 25 people.
(IANS)
A delegation of the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People was on a two-day visit to New Delhi beginning from Monday.
The team includes UN Ambassadors and Representatives of Senegal (Committee Chair); Indonesia and Malaysia (Committee Members); and the State of Palestine (Committee Observer).
According to an official statement, the delegation "intends to engage India, a country with good relations to both the State of Palestine and Israel, in looking for ways how it could play a more proactive role in the settling of the question of Palestine".
The UN group will focus on enhancing the political and diplomatic support of India for a peaceful solution of the question of Palestine; and engaging Indian counterparts on synergies in capacity building for staff and institutions of the State of Palestine.
The visit would also focus on enhancing the coordination of the UN committee bureau and India on capacity building projects for the State of Palestine, including within the context of South-South and Triangular Cooperation.
The UN team will hold meetings with Minister for External Affairs S Jaishankar, and senior officials in the Ministry, political leaders, and think tanks.
(IANS)