UAE | General
Letters from the past
Gulf News looks back over the years at concerns and issues raised by readers in their letters to the newspaper. It's a retrospective that offers an insight into the community, the development of the country and the people. This week's letters are from 1982.
- Gulf News Archives
- Published: 23:42 August 21, 2008
Gulf News looks back over the years at concerns and issues raised by readers in their letters to the newspaper. It's a retrospective that offers an insight into the community, the development of the country and the people. This week's letters are from 1982.
Misinterpreted
Gulf News's edition of January 18, 1982, carries a report of the visit of an Australian parliamentary delegation led by the minister for health, Michael MacKellar, to the UAE. The report outlined remarks made by the minister on the Australian government's Middle East policy and implied that these were the views of the delegation. We wish to point out that the delegation has been drawn from both Government and opposition members of parliament and the views on all Middle East questions are not necessarily unanimous. Both the Government and opposition strongly support UN resolutions 242 and 338. Both opposed the recent annexation of the Golan Heights by Israel. There is, however, disagreement on the commitment of Australian forces to the Sinai peacekeeping force. The opposition - Australian Labour Party, has opposed that. The latter's spokesman on foreign affairs further supported the recent initiative by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as a useful approach to the peace process. Gulf News' article did not make these points clear and as a result the nature of the delegation and the purpose of its visit could be open to misinterpretation.
From Mr K.C. Beazley, Mr C. Holding, Senator K. Sibraa
Members of the Australian Parliamentary delegation
A bitter pill
May I have the privilege of using Gulf News to draw the attention of non-residents of Indian origin to investments by way of shares, equity or other, or convertible or non-convertible debentures/bonds floated in the Gulf by Indian companies. The experience with the previous issues during the past year must still be green, in that, what we have had from them so far is merely that the matter is pending for clearance, and that they hope to communicate with us further in the near future. During this period of inordinate delay, the interest on our investment is lost, as also the interest on interest that is due to us. It is now understood that the companies are being asked to obtain a declaration from non-residents that they will not export these shares/bonds out of India and that they will not dispose these without first obtaining the permission of the authorities. Eventually, the words "repatriation of interest/dividend and/or sale proceeds" will come to have no value. Furthermore, the Indian income tax authorities do not accept the appropriate forms filled out by non-residents and declarations signed before our bank managers, the result being that the companies deduct 33 per cent of our interest or dividend due at source. Apart from the fact that it will not be easy for a non-resident to obtain a refund from the government of the tax deducted, the return on the capital for the non-resident is just above six per cent. It is well known that a better return is available locally. So it is needless for me to remind people that a bird in hand is worth two in the bush. I appreciate this is a personal and individual view, but I wish non-residents do not stick out their necks for sugar coated pills being pushed down their gullets.
From Mr R.B.S. Mani
Oman
It's not the end
Astrologers and soothsayers have generated much fear regarding the alignment of the nine planets on March 10, 1982. It is said that on this day the world will witness high tides, tornadoes, earthquakes and many other catastrophes. For some, this day has been marked as a bad day. Let it be known that the sun is too enormous and powerful to be dislodged by the combined pull of those nine planets. These planets are not going to line up like players in a tug-of-war game. The planets will be scattered over a wide area and millions of miles away from each other. This fact alone is sufficient to demonstrate the weakness of the nine planets. The sun's diameter is more than 1.3 million kilometres, whereas the total diameter of all the nine planets does not exceed 500,000 kilometres. Let us sleep peacefully on March 10 and go through our daily routines like it was any other day. It is no doubt an eventful day and those who are interested should scan the skies with powerful telescopes to observe this event, which comes but once in 179 years.
From Mr R. J. Desai
UAE
More from UAE General
More from UAE
Latest news
- Syrian expatriates rally in the UAE
- Last chance for subscribers to win big
- it was just a ‘vampire' game, driver tells court
- Educating fussy Emirati jobseekers
- Abu Dhabi Police rescue victims of car crash
- Dubai Police solve murder mystery
- Restaurateur found dead in Abu Dhabi flat
- Gang of thieves 'used air-freshener' to attack
- 9 injured as paraglider crashes into stadium
- Sharjah festival to enlighten heritage lovers
- Reimbursement of ID card fines to start in March
- Compensation to vary for fire victims
- Bridges needed
- Police honour residents who reported crime
- Move to promote Abu Dhabi tourism
Community Reports
-
Bridges needed
Al Ittihad Road has no pedestrian facilities as one nears Sharjah
-
Street lights needed
Authorities urged to act with haste before a major accident occurs in Al Nahda, Dubai
-
Motorists ignore stop sign on buses
Overtaking school vehicles can put students' lives at risk
-
Safety regulations flouted at Dubai work place
In Al Nahda 2, two workers were seen working on the crane boom at a height of 20m without a full body harness or safety net in violation of rules
