Indian woman wins Rs 7 crore in UAE raffle
Dubai, Aug 20: A 34-year-old Indian woman in the UAE has hit a jackpot by winning a whopping USD 1 million in a raffle here on Tuesday, while another compatriot has won a luxury motorbike in the lottery game, according to a media report.
Beejal O, a Dubai-based Indian national, picked ticket number 4111, which happens to be her apartment number, the Khaleej Times reported.
"I'm truly speechless and I'm beyond grateful. I don't know how to thank Dubai Duty Free for this big surprise," said Beejal, a resident of Dubai for seven years and a regular participant in Dubai Duty Free (DDF) Millennium Millionaire promotion.
The first thought that comes into her mind, after winning USD 1 million, is charity, the report said.
Beejal bought the ticket while travelling to India on July 25. She is now is the 148th Indian national to win in DDF since its inception in 1999, it said.
Four more winners were announced in the Dubai Duty Free Finest Surprise Promotion. Jahanzeb Arif, a Pakistani national won a car.
Another car winner was Annie Espy Dias, a 40-year-old Portuguese national based in the UK.
Shaheen Sheik, a 28-year-old Indian national based in Dubai won a motorbike.
Earlier this month, An Indian farmer, who returned home after failing to find a job in Dubai, won over USD 4 million in raffle, the tickets of which he bought with the money borrowed from his wife.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee moves SC against SIR
New Delhi (PTI): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has filed a petition in the Supreme Court against the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in the state, sources said on Sunday.
The petition names the Election Commission (EC) and the chief electoral officer of West Bengal as respondents. It was filed before the apex court on January 28, the sources said.
Banerjee arrived in Delhi on Sunday. She is scheduled to meet Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar at 4 pm on Monday to discuss the ongoing SIR exercise in West Bengal. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo would be accompanied by a delegation of party leaders.
She is also likely to meet party MPs in the Parliament House on Monday.
Talking to reporters at the Kolkata airport before leaving for the national capital, Banerjee claimed that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the Centre is resorting to the SIR exercise because it is certain of its imminent defeat in the West Bengal Assembly polls, due in a few months, and said the saffron party should contest the election politically and democratically.
The West Bengal chief minister has written several letters to the CEC, raising concerns over the conduct of the exercise.
In her most recent letter to the CEC on January 31, she alleged that the methodology and approach of the exercise went beyond the provisions of the Representation of the People Act and the relevant rules, causing "immense inconvenience and agony" to citizens.
Earlier, TMC leaders, including Rajya Sabha MPs Derek O'Brien and Dola Sen, had moved the apex court, challenging certain aspects of how the SIR is being carried out in West Bengal.
