What’s needed to counter terrorism
The world is facing the biggest problems that mankind has had to solve in matters such as terrorism, war and migration (‘Dh1b Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives launched’, Gulf News, October 5). If we raise the curtain, we can see the main reasons behind these issues are due to wrongly interpreted human ideology, lack of knowledge, awareness and tolerance, and poverty.
There is need for human development through the growth of education, health, leadership training and employment around the world. These all are covered under His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, global initiative. It will surely help people to build the future globally.
It’s a good initiative to launch global development and create a humanitarian foundation.
From Ms Niamat H. Karmally
Dubai
Progressing the world
Shaikh Mohammad’s global initiative to help 116 countries is very good. I think it would be great if some day countries could include free extra curricular activities like swimming and football to give children around the world the opportunity to play or even come forward as professional athletes.
From Ms Geetha
UAE
Website comment
A very good step
This is a very good step towards new opportunities, the eradication of poverty and spreading knowledge. Great work!
From Mr Shamim
UAE
Website comment
Young, brave faces
Seeing the faces of the four young Emirati martyrs in this Gulf News article was like seeing the faces of their families (‘They are our heroes and paramount source of pride’, Gulf News, October 8). Rest in peace, brothers. May God bless your souls.
From Ms Maitha Al Khalifa Abineheet
Dubai
Facebook comment
Bless our soldiers
I am so proud of these men. They are not only serving the UAE, but all the residents that live here, too. They grant each and every one of us security here. Martyrs never die. They will always remain in our hearts. May God bless them.
From Mr I. Hussain
UAE
Facebook comment
Grant families strength
It was sad news to hear about the Emiratis who died in Aden, Yemen last week. May their departed souls rest in peace and may God give strength to the families for bearing this irreparable loss.
From Mr Zaigham Ali
Dubai
Facebook comment
An enlightened woman
I think that Malala Yousufzai is a courageous and amazing woman with integrity rarely seen from those in her situation (‘Today in history: Malala Yousufzai is shot in the head in an assassination attempt’, Gulf News, October 9). Having the realisation that being true to oneself is more important than ones own immediate life is a characteristic of an enlightened spirit.
From Mr Giles Heaton
Dubai
Facebook comment
More women to help
Thank you to the people who recognise her achievements and worry about her future. Her life has been saved, but please remember that there are many more Malalas left that need saving.
From Mr Ravi Roheywal
Abu Dhabi
Facebook comment
Mountain of out a molehill
As a human being, I am sad about the murder of the man in India over a minor matter of food choice (‘Letters to the editor: What has happened to India’s democracy?’, Gulf News, October 7). However, the media frenzy over this incident is unfortunate. Some individuals question India’s secularism without sparing a thought as to how secular they themselves are. The media should balance news coverage and the apportioning of blame instead of making a mountain out of a molehill.
The real mountain that looms large over the world that is stopping us all from real progress is extremism. Muslim nations with a vision, including the UAE, are proudly battling extremism and they have lost brave lives doing so. When the media picks up and parades one Muslim death like this one in India for days, it indirectly strengthens negativity in minorities and in turn grows that mountain.
India was, is and will always be one of the safest places for religious minorities in the world. Politics, sports, Bollywood, education, jobs or business is equal - or more than equal - for minorities in India. India remains a first choice for citizenship for many Muslims in the region and beyond!
From Mr B. Jaykrishnan
Dubai
Managing fundamentalism
The opinion piece on India’s growing Hindu fundamentalism with the current government is bang on target (‘India’s liberals face challenge to stay alive’, Gulf News, October 7). Whether the meat in the fridge was beef or not, nobody has any right to attack the family and kill them.
The culprits should be punished severely so that such acts are not repeated by anyone in our country. Though the incident itself is avoidable, ironically all political leaders are trying to add fuel to the fire. Except the state leaders, no other political leader should be allowed to meet the aggrieved. Here the state government, too, has erred in increasing the compensation amount day after day. Added to the political colour, it is the media as well that is sensationalising the incident. They should also show some restraint in highlighting such sensitive issues.
From Mr N. Mahadevan
Mylapore, India
Balanced teaching needed
I believe that many of the challenges that teachers face is due to too much emphasis on the children’s writing ability and nothing else (‘A tribute to teachers’, Gulf News, October 6). I think that it is putting a bigger workload on the teachers due to the children struggling with proper reading or oral skills.
From Ms Naina Sam
Sharjah
Facebook comment
Lack of inter-government communication
Why do we, Indians, need to submit a special request in our passport renewal process in the first place for changing addresses in India from Andhra Pradesh to Telangana (‘UAE residents from Indian state of Telangana cry foul over address glitch’, Gulf News, October 5)? By this, it means that if someone makes a request to change his or her state, having the rest of the information remaining the same, they will accept it without giving any thought of the ground reality? Doesn’t the consulate get government orders from India or are they ignorant of the developments happening in India? Such is the irony of our Indian government institutions. Moreover, the height is that one of our government institutions does not accept certificates issued from other government institutions, even though that certificate got attested from various other government institutions! I hope they organise themselves better for the sake of their own citizens.
From Mr Ali
UAE
Website comment
Mall visits are logical
I think it makes sense that many residents visit the mall at least once a week (‘About 6 in 10 UAE residents visit a mall at least once a week’, Gulf News, October 5). When you have less or limited activities where you can have some extracurricular or physical activities, considering the extreme heat in the summer, then definitely most people will prefer to stay cool inside the malls or some restaurants.
From Mr Osama Khan
UAE
Facebook comment
Why are we harsh to differences?
It is heart breaking that the society looks down upon people who are born with genetic disorders or deformities (‘Mexican ‘wolf man’ battles isolation of rare condition’, Gulf News, October 4). It is sad that instead of accepting, we, as a society, deject them because they are different and unlike others. The biased treatment these people receive is what further adds to their misery, frustration and helplessness. It is the negative attitude of people towards them, their constant stares, bullying or just mocking that leads these special individuals into depression and sometimes even suicide.
But, it is heartening to know that this man has accepted his appearance and no longer has to hide his face from others. At the end of the day, it is not his fault that he was born this way. If only people were kind to such individuals who suffer from rare conditions, their life would have been a lot better.
From Ms Fatima Suhail
Sharjah
Facebook comment
Be respectful
Like this, we see many cases related to birth where a child is born looking different because of their naturally created face. All people should take care and respect these kinds of individuals.
From Mr Pir Abdul Samad
UAE
Facebook comment
Observations to prevent theft
After reading this article about helping a victim of identity theft, it brought to my attention that how we residents can be sure that this incident won’t be continued (‘Bank helps clear identity theft victim’, Gulf News, October 4). The Central Bank of the UAE must take serious and effective action regarding this issue. I think they can implement this identity clearance for every bank before they approve any credit and debit cards or any bank loan. The personal appearance of the applicant must be strictly observed.
From Mr Abdul Hasim
UAE
Website comment
Smile, you’re in Sharjah!
Sharjah was declared as the first World Health Organisation (WHO) Healthy City in the region this month (‘Sharjah confirmed first WHO Healthy City in region’, Gulf News, October 1). Sharjah has met the requirements of a healthy city in the context of this honour that includes critical elements like healthcare, safety, culture and environment. The most impressive aspect of this honour is that at the time of becoming a member of the WHO Healthy Cities Programme in 2012, Sharjah had already met 40 of the 80 criteria set by the WHO Healthy Cities. I am happy and proud to be living in Sharjah! From Ms Sana Suboohi
Sharjah
World tour necessary
Plenty has been spoken about Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s world tours adding to various initiatives, business-wise or other means of channels, to improve the overall perceptions about a country that has ample resources to change the entire world (‘Letter to the editor: ‘Narendra Modi: PM or PR?’, Gulf News, October 6).
There has been hardly any serious issues for the opposition political parties to allege, and the ones that there are, are often politically motivated. It is quite obvious that evolution can only be done through innovative thinking for which a healthy leadership is required and it needs to be supported by the people of all walks of life. They must go in line with the present-day trend and people must keep their differences apart and collectively move forward together.
In a global perspective, as far as India is concerned, Prime Minister Modi has done a lot to hear India loud and clear within a short span of time. I believe he has done much more than what the Indian National Congress Party has done for Indians.
I foresee a good and healthy future for India.
From Mr Ramachandran Nair
Oman
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