Nitaqat effect: Gulf states attract expats from Saudi

[email protected] (Arab News)
August 11, 2014

Gulf
Jeddah, Aug 11: Several construction firms in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar are hiring expat workers who failed to legalize their work status in the Kingdom.

Several cities in the UAE have benefited from the existence of these laborers-in-limbo thanks to huge, pending mega-infrastructural projects and a shortage in manpower.

Many of the Kingdom's 8 million expats, especially those under the sponsorship of their fathers, continue to face obstacles in transferring their sponsorship onto the companies in which they work.

According to Saudi laws, residents above the age of 25 must change their status on their residency permits from being students to being employed or find new sponsors altogether.

Many major employers stall sponsorship transfer, placing additional pressure on job seekers and youth who end up in a legal limbo and resort to looking for employment elsewhere in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

“Expat workers will naturally move between Gulf states in pursuit of opportunities when they fail to achieve security where they are,” said Fadel Abul Ainain, a consultant for several private companies.

“They can't, however, directly migrate to a neighboring country. Expats usually go back to their home countries in order to be able to get a new visa to another Gulf country.”

This crisis has come to the advantage of many neighboring states.

“Several firms in Qatar and the UAE are interested in hiring skilled and experienced expat workers who have spent many years in the Kingdom,”

Said economist Ali Hamdan. “Qatar has huge financial wealth, but faces a labor shortage due to its small population.”

Qatar plans to spend as much as $205 billion on infrastructure between 2013 and 2018 as the country invests its vast hydrocarbon wealth in a development boom, said the acting head of project finance at the state's largest lender.

“The Gulf Arab state is spending billions of dollars in the transport, electricity and water generation and housing domains in an effort to improve the overall economy and in a bid to contend for hosting the 2022 World Cup,” he said.

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News Network
December 19,2025

Mangaluru: The Mangaluru CEN police have arrested a 23-year-old man for allegedly posting provocative and misleading content on an Instagram page named “mr_a_titude”, targeting the Bajpe police.

Mangaluru Commissioner of Police Sudheer Kumar Reddy C H identified the arrested as Abhishek M, a resident of Katipalla in Mangaluru.

A case has been registered at the Bajpe Police Station under Sections 353(1)(c), 353(2), 56, and 57 read with Section 189 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) in connection with the post.

According to police, the accused uploaded a photograph of a hotel on the Instagram page and alleged that accused persons in a murder case under the Bajpe police jurisdiction were being given “royal treatment” by the police, including being served beef meals daily from the hotel.

The post further accused the police of supporting criminals, misusing their authority, and betraying public trust. Police said the content was provocative in nature and aimed at inciting public outrage against the police.

Following the post, a case was registered at the Bajpe police station, and further investigation was transferred to the CEN police station.

Police records indicate that the accused has a criminal history, with multiple cases registered against him, including murder, attempt to murder, assault, and robbery at the Surathkal Police Station, and one case at the Kaup Police Station.

The Commissioner said the accused was traced and arrested using technical evidence.

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News Network
December 7,2025

SHRIMP.jpg

Mangaluru, Dec 7: A rare bamboo shrimp has been rediscovered on mainland India more than 70 years after it was last reported, confirming for the first time the presence of Atyopsis spinipes in the country. The find was made by researchers from the Centre for Climate Change Studies at Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai, during surveys in Karnataka and Odisha.

The team — shrimp expert Dr S Prakash, PhD scholar K Kunjulakshmi, and Mangaluru-based researcher Maclean Antony Santos — combined field surveys, ecological assessments and DNA analysis to identify the elusive species. Their findings, published in Zootaxa, resolve decades of taxonomic confusion stemming from a 1951 report that misidentified the species as Atyopsis moluccensis without strong evidence.

The shrimp has now been confirmed at two locations: the Mulki–Pavanje estuary near Mangaluru and the Kuakhai River in Bhubaneswar. Historical specimens from the Andaman Islands, previously labelled as A. moluccensis, were also found to be misidentified and actually belong to A. spinipes.

The rediscovery began after an aquarium hobbyist in Odisha spotted a shrimp in 2022, prompting systematic surveys across Udupi, Karwar and Mangaluru. Four female specimens were collected in Mulki and one in Odisha, all genetically matching.

Researchers warn the species may exist in very small, vulnerable populations as freshwater habitats face increasing pressure from pollution, sand mining and infrastructure development. All verified specimens have been deposited with the Zoological Survey of India for future reference.

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News Network
December 5,2025

Mangaluru: In a significant step to curb online hate and intimidation, Mangaluru City Police have registered a suo motu case against multiple Instagram accounts accused of circulating alleged provocative and threatening content.

While monitoring social media activity on Tuesday, Kankanady Town PSI Anitha Nikkam identified the Instagram handle ‘team_targetttt_900’ for posting a hate message alongside images of lethal weapons. Another account, ‘team_nagara_900’, allegedly shared a threatening post targeting activist Bharath Kumdelu, tagging additional pages such as KARAVALI-OFFICIAL.

Several other accounts — including ‘immu_bhai.fan’, ‘target_boy_900’, ‘kings_of_manglore’, ‘team_target_boys.900’, ‘arshad_mangalore’, ‘target_ka19_ullal’, ‘team_target__’, ‘troll_tigersz_900’, ‘tr_group_900’, and ‘team_target_900’ — are also under scrutiny for spreading similar inflammatory material, police said.

Authorities have urged citizens, especially young social media users, to report suspicious pages and avoid engaging with groups that glorify violence or threaten individuals. Online hate can quickly escalate into real-world harm, and police stress that sharing or promoting such content can attract legal consequences.

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