Rahul to address Indian expats at Dubai stadium, hold talks with NRI tycoons in Abu Dhabi

News Network
December 30, 2018

Dubai, Dec 30: Rahul Gandhi, the chairperson of All India Congress Committee, will address Indian expats and interact with NRI business tycoons in the region during his two day UAE tour on January 11-12 as part of his international outreach.

The visit to the UAE will be his second to the Gulf region this year. In January, Gandhi visited Bahrain shortly after taking over as the Congress chief in December last year. The UAE trip was earlier scheduled to take place in October but was postponed due to the state elections.

The visit assumes significance as Gandhi has emerged as a major challenger to Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of parliamentary elections in May 2019 after his party won three stats in Hindi heartland recently.

Gandhi will arrive in Dubai on January 11 and will address the Indian community at 4pm on the same day at the cricket stadium which has the capacity of 25,000.

“We have got permission from the authorities and we are expecting a sizeable crowd,” Himanshu Vyas, secretary of AICC said. Gandhi will be the second Indian leader to attend a community event since August 2015 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a packed crowd at the stadium during his official visit.

 “The theme of the stadium event is ‘Gandhi 150 years: The idea of India’,” he said. Earlier in the day on January 11, Gandhi will attend a luncheon hosted by Indian Business and Professional Council (IBPC) and is expected to interact with a group of students, Vyas said.

The following day, Gandhi will visit Abu Dhabi where he will visit Shaikh Zayed Mosque, attend a meeting organised by Indian Business and Professional Group and an event organised by India Social and Cultural in the evening. “We are holding a luncheon meeting in Abu Dhabi for 200 people and also there is a public meeting at ISC in the evening,” Dr B.R. Shetty, chairman of the group said.

“Indians in UAE are looking forward to the imminent visit by Mr Rahul Gandi… Of late, he has become a mature and seasoned politician who is addressing the crucial issues facing the country. His impeccable integrity and highly secular outlook endears him to many, who see him as a future Prime Minsiter of India. He is very well placed to strengthen the strategic relationship between India and UAE nurtured by his father, grandmother and great grandfather who were all past Prime Ministers of India,” said Dr Azad Moopen, Chairman & Managing Director of Aster DM Healthcare.

Gandhi’s tour will only be the second high-profile visit of a Congress president leader in 37 years after his grandmother and then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi who came in 1981. After taking over as the party chief in December 2017, Gandhi has toured several countries, including Bahrain, United States, Singapore, and Malaysia and interacted with the Indian diaspora and met academics and officials of those countries.

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News Network
December 4,2025

Udupi: A 40-year-old NRI from Udupi has reportedly lost more than Rs 12.25 lakh in an online investment scam operated through Telegram.

According to a complaint filed at the CEN police station, Leo Jerome Mendonsa, who has been working in Dubai for the past 15 years in computer accessories sales, maintains NRI accounts in Karkala and Nitte.

On November 12, 2025, Mendonsa was added to a Telegram group called Instaflow Earnings by unknown individuals. Users identified as Priya and Dipannita persuaded him to invest in “Revenue Tasks.” Initially, Mendonsa transferred Rs 1,100 multiple times and received the promised returns, encouraging him to continue.

On November 14, another user, Nishmitha Shetty, directed him to register on a website, digitvisionuoce.cc, and invest Rs 4 lakh in various shares. Over the next few days, he made multiple transfers totaling Rs 12,25,000, including Rs 50,000 via Google Pay, believing the scheme was legitimate.

After receiving the money, the alleged handlers stopped responding, and neither the invested amount nor the promised profits were returned.

The CEN police have registered a case under Sections 66(C) and 66(D) of the IT Act and Section 318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), and investigations are ongoing.

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News Network
November 24,2025

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Israel has launched a new act of aggression on a residential neighborhood in Lebanon's capital, Beirut, killing and injuring about two dozen civilians.

The Israeli regime's military said in a statement that its forces carried out a so-called precise strike in a residential apartment in Dahiyeh in the southern suburbs of Beirut on Sunday.

The aggression targeted residential areas, killing at least five people and injuring more than 28 people, Lebanon's Health Ministry said. 

Hezbollah announced the martyrdom of senior Hezbollah commander Haytham Ali Tabatabai and four resistance fighters.

Lebanese President Michel Aoun condemned the airstrike, calling it a clear demonstration of Tel Aviv’s disregard for repeated international calls to halt violations on Lebanese soil.

“Israel refuses to implement international resolutions and all efforts aimed at ending the escalation and restoring stability,” Aoun said, urging the international community to take action to prevent further aggression.

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement also condemned the attack, holding the international community accountable. 

“The international community bears responsibility and continues to provide cover for these attacks as long as it does not restrain the occupiers,” said Ali Abu Shahin, a member of the group’s political bureau.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced that the Israeli army carried out a strike “in the heart of Beirut."

Netanyahu reportedly approved the operation following recommendations from top Israeli security officials.

Two senior US officials commented on the Israeli strike.

The first official said that Israel did not notify Americans in advance about the attack. "We were informed immediately after the strike was carried out."

The second senior official said that the "US knew for several days that Israel was planning to escalate its strikes in Lebanon, but did not know in advance the timing, location, or target of the strike."

Speaking from the site of the Israeli strike, Lebanese MP Ali Ammar condemned the attack as part of a broader campaign of aggression that has targeted "all of Lebanon since the Washington-sponsored ceasefire."

He stated that "any attack on Lebanon is a violation of red lines; this aggression is part and parcel of the entity that targets Lebanon's dignity, sovereignty, and security of citizens."

Ammar went on to say the resistance is responding with "utmost wisdom, patience, and will confront the enemy at the appropriate time."

"Unfortunately, the enemy is emboldened to commit its aggression by voices within Lebanon that have turned themselves into tools that support its aggression," he added.

The Israeli attack on the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital is the latest blatant violation of the ceasefire Israel signed with Hezbollah in November 2024, which was intended to end hostilities that had escalated into full-scale war.

An Israeli strike on the Ain al-Hilweh camp near Sidon in southern Lebanon late Tuesday killed at least 14 people. It wounded several others, including young students, according to the Lebanese health ministry.

The military claimed the attack targeted “a Hamas training compound” used to plan and carry out attacks against the regime -- a claim that has frequently been made without evidence.

Hamas rejected the allegations as “a blatant lie aimed at justifying the massacre,” stating it had “no military installations in the Palestinian camps in Lebanon” and that the targeted site was merely “an open sports field.”

According to Lebanese authorities, Israeli attacks have killed approximately 4,000 people and displaced more than 1.2 million residents across the country since October 2023.

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News Network
December 1,2025

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Udupi, Dec 1: A horrific case of alleged rape has unfolded in Udupi, where a worker from a Hindutva organisation, previously arrested and released on bail for harassing a young woman, is now accused of waylaying and sexually assaulting her.

The arrested individual has been identified as Pradeep Poojary (26), a member of the Hindu Jagarana Vedike's Nairkode unit in Perdur.

Poojary had allegedly been relentlessly harassing the young woman, pressuring her to marry him. When she bravely stood up to him and refused his demands, she filed a formal complaint at the Hiriyadka police station. He was subsequently arrested in that initial harassment case but was later granted bail.

According to police reports, driven by the same malicious grudge, Poojary allegedly intercepted the woman again on November 29. While she was walking through a deserted area, the accused is claimed to have threatened her by grabbing her neck. When she again refused to marry him, he allegedly proceeded to rape her.

The survivor immediately informed her family about the traumatic assault. Following this, her parents lodged a complaint at the Udupi women’s police station.

Police arrested Poojary again and produced him before the court. He has since been remanded to judicial custody.

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