Indian wins 7 mn dirhams in Abu Dhabi raffle
Abu Dhabi, May 3: An Indian has hit the jackpot by winning 7 million dirhams in a Big Ticket raffle in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) capital.
Anil Varghese Theveril, 50, won the amount in the Big Ticket millionaire draw held at Abu Dhabi International Airport on Thursday.
"I believe that in order to hit the jackpot, you don't just pick random numbers. And for me, my son's birthday is my lucky number," Theveril told Gulf News.
He is based in Kuwait and works as an executive assistant. "I noticed that most of the winners were Indians, so I thought maybe I should try and hope that one day I will get lucky. I bought the tickets online," he said.
Theveril said he hadn't decided what he would do with the money, but said he will "definitely set aside some money for charity and for my son's education".
Seven other winners were announced, each of whom took home 100,000 dirhams from Big Ticket. One of the winners was a Bangladeshi and another was a Moroccan. The rest were Indians, identified as George Kallarackal Mathew, Satish Thoghota, Baiju Pookottu Kuttappan, Irshad patel and Saidalavi Modeen Kutty Thottunkal.
According to data from two of the biggest raffle draws in the UAE (Abu Dhabi's Big Ticket raffle to Dubai Duty Free's Millionaire Draw), Indian nationals prove to be the most lucky.
In early April, a Dubai-based Indian driver hit a jackpot by winning 12 million Dirhams in Abu Dhabi. Another Indian had won a lottery worth 10 million dirhams also in Abu Dhabi in February 2018.
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Kejriwal responds to EC, says water received from Haryana 'extremely poisonous' for human health
New Delhi (PTI): AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday responded to the Election Commission notice over his claim the Haryana government was "mixing poison" in Yamuna, and said raw water received from the BJP-ruled state in the recent past has been "highly contaminated and extremely poisonous" for human health.
In the 14-page reply to the Election Commission, the former Delhi chief minister said if such "toxic water" is allowed to be consumed by human population it would lead to grave health hazard and fatality.
Kejriwal said he only wanted to highlight the "urgent public health crisis" due to the quality of drinking water in the city, and he violated no law or Model Code of Conduct, hence the issue should be closed.
He said the "alleged statements" attributed to him were made as it was his public duty to red flag the "severe toxicity and contamination" of raw water received from the BJP-ruled state.
Following a complaint filed by the BJP over the matter, the Election Commission issued the notice to Kejriwal on Tuesday, giving him time till Wednesday 8 pm to furnish his reply.
Kejriwal also said the ammonia level in raw water received from Haryana was so "extreme" that water treatment plants in Delhi are unable to process and bring it down to safe and permissible limits for human consumption.
Following their party chief's response, the AAP issued a statement, saying, "It is an undisputed fact that there is 7 ppm ammonia in Yamuna water, A Delhi Jal Board CEO letter admits toxicity is 700 percent higher than the permissible limit."
In his response to the EC, Kejriwal also alleged that Haryana's "failure" in controlling pollution in Yamuna has resulted in an "unprecedented public health crisis" in Delhi. He alleged "indiscriminate" discharge of industrial waste in the river by the state.
The AAP supremo said Haryana is an upper-riparian state and Delhi, ruled by his party, has no role to play in the high level of toxic water being made available to the city.
"Due to such high level of toxic content in the raw water supplied by Haryana, the water treatment plants in Delhi are operating below capacity and there is a shortage of treated water in Delhi," he claimed.
Saying that access to clean water is a basic human right, the AAP chief asserted that raising this critical issue cannot be considered an offence.
"The said statement by no stretch of the imagination can be termed inciting enmity between different groups or prejudicial to national integration," he said.
On the contrary, the substance and purpose of these statements are rooted solely in the public interest, aimed at highlighting a legitimate civic concern that requires urgent institutional intervention, he asserted.
He requested the EC to intervene in the matter and issue appropriate directions to Haryana so safe water is made available to the people of Delhi.
