Islamophobic social media posts lands three more Indians in trouble in UAE
At least Indian expats have added themselves into the long and growing list of Indians facing trouble in UAE for their hate-mongering and Islampphobic social media posts. The incident has taken place days after the Indian Consulate to UAE had warned Indians in UAE to refrain from posting hateful thoughts and content on social media.
Over the weekend, at least three more have been fired or suspended after their offensive posts were brought to the attention of employers by social media users.
The latest addition to the growing list include Italian chef Rawat Rohit, storekeeper Sachin Kinnigoli and a cash custodian whose name has been withheld by his firm, a Gulf News reported confirmed.
The Gulf News however refrained from publishing the posts or going into the details of their offensive content.
A spokesperson for Azadea Group that operates Eataly, a chain of high-end Italian restaurants in Dubai, confirmed that Rawat Rohit who was employed with them as a chef has been suspended and is facing a disciplinary probe.
Sharjah-based Pneumics Automation have also said they suspended their storekeeper Sachin Kinnigoli until further notice.
“We have withheld his salary and told him not to come to work. The matter is under investigation. We have a zero tolerance policy. Anyone found guilty of insulting or showing contempt for someone’s religion will have to bear the consequences,” the firm’s owner was quoted as saying by Gulf News.
Similarly, Dubai-based Transguard Group said they have cracked down on an employee who had posted several anti-Islamic messages on his Facebook page under the name of Vishal Thakur.
“Following an internal investigation, the actual identify of this employee was verified and he was stripped of his security credentials, terminated from our employment and handed over to the relevant authorities as per company policy and UAE Cybercrime Law No. 5 of 2012. As of this statement, he is in the custody of Dubai Police,” a Transguard spokesperson said in a statement to Gulf News.
Source: With inputs from Gulf News
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STT hike in F&O aimed at curbing speculative trade, protect small investors: Sitharaman
New Delhi (PTI): Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday said the increase in STT in F&O is aimed at curbing high-risk speculative trade and discouraging gullible investors who were losing huge amounts of money in the derivatives market.
The Budget has proposed an increase in the Securities Transaction Tax (STT) on futures contracts to 0.05 per cent from 0.02 per cent.
STT on options premium and exercise of options are proposed to be raised to 0.15 per cent from the present rate of 0.1 per cent and 0.125 per cent, respectively.
Addressing a post-budget conference, Sitharaman said the government is not against derivative trade, but wants small investors, who are facing huge losses, to stay away from the speculative F&O market.
"This nominal increase is purely aimed at speculation, only to deter them, to discourage them. We are not against it (F&O trade), but small investors are facing losses, so how can we be quiet, so it (STT hike on F&O) is to deter such investments," Sitharaman said.
According to studies by Sebi, over 90 per cent of retail investors' trades in the F&O segment lead to losses, and the capital markets regulator has also taken steps to reduce volumes in the past.
Market regulator Sebi has also cautioned small and retail investors against trading in the F&O segment, underscoring the need for responsible investing.
Addressing questions on the intention behind the STT hike, Revenue Secretary Arvind Shrivastava said it has been done to discourage speculative tendencies and handle systemic risk in the derivatives market.
"The government's intention is to discourage speculative tendencies, and the increase in rate is essentially in that direction. So, it is meant to essentially handle the systemic risk in derivative markets," he added.
Shrivastava said even after this increase, the rates of STT will remain modest compared to the volume of the transactions that are happening.
The hike in STT is aimed squarely at high-volume derivative trading, rather than the cash equity market, and is expected to meaningfully increase transaction costs for active and short-term trading strategies.
Sitharaman further said the highest-ever capital expenditure of Rs 12.22 lakh crore announced for 2026-27 works out to be 4.4 per cent of GDP.
The capital expenditure for FY27 is 10 per cent higher than the Rs 11.11 lakh crore budgeted capex announced in FY26.
"We have announced that Rs 12.22 lakh crore is coming through public expenditure. This time it is 4.4 per cent of GDP, which is the highest at least in the last 10 years, it could even be the highest if you were to take data from earlier periods," Sitharaman said.
The capital expenditure was 2.5 per cent of GDP in 2021-22 and around 4 per cent of GDP in 2024-25. The government's capital expenditure was Rs 2.35 lakh crore in 2015-16.
She further said that the 4.3 per cent fiscal deficit target for FY27 is "realistic and responsible". The Budget has proposed to lower the fiscal deficit to 4.3 per cent in FY27, from 4.4 per cent in FY26.
Asked about the budget not making any big announcement for poll-bound states, Sitharaman said there are various announcements, including industrial corridors across the eastern and western parts of India. "So there is enough to cover election states and all other states," she said.
