Dubai: The United Arab Emirates said Tuesday its official workweek will move to Monday to Friday, a major change that brings the Islamic nation that is home to major financial institutions in line with Western schedules.

The decision, which is to take effect next month, makes the Gulf Arab state, home to Abu Dhabi and Dubai, one of the few places in the Middle East to operate on Western hours instead of on a Sunday through Thursday working week.

Government employees would work a half-day on Friday, the traditional Muslim holy day, and then take Saturday and Sunday off, the announcement said.

The government shift likely will see private industry and schools follow suit, as they did in 2006, when the week changed from Saturday to Wednesday an Islamic workweek followed in some Muslim countries, such as Iran and Afghanistan.

The Emirati government hailed the decision as making it the first nation in the world to introduce a national working week shorter than the global five-day week a reference to Friday becoming only a half-day workday.

The extended weekend comes as part of the UAE's government efforts to boost work-life balance and enhance social wellbeing, the statement added. 

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New Delhi: An animated video post shared on BJP’s official Instagram handle, asserting that the Congress party would snatch wealth from non-Muslims to ‘distribute it to its favorite community of invaders,’ has sparked significant backlash. Following the uproar, the photo sharing platform has taken down the post, reports Newslaundry.com. 

Meanwhile, it is uncertain whether the post was removed by the BJP or by Instagram following mass reporting by several users as “misinformation” and “hate speech”. The video depicted Rahul Gandhi holding the Congress manifesto which transforms into the logo of the Muslim league. Furthermore, it sought support for PM Modi from every ‘Bharatiya,’ who is also shown wearing a saffron turban.

According to the report, it also contained a clip of PM Modi alleging that the former PM Manmohan Singh had said, “Muslims have the first claim on our resources,” insinuating that if the Congress were to assume power, it would confiscate the money and assets of non-Muslims, redistributing them to Muslims, whom it favored. Labeling Muslims as ‘infiltrators’, the video depicted historical invaders as looters who plundered India's resources and suggested that the Congress party continues to empower individuals from the same community.

The video then communicated that the Congress party’s manifesto is “nothing but Muslim league’s ideology in disguise. If you are a non-Muslim, Congress will snatch your wealth and distribute it to Muslims.” It also slinged the BJP’s official slogan ‘abki baar, 400 paar,’ and called that it was the need of the hour, since Modi only has the “strength to stop the Congress party’s evil plans.”

Similar claims have also been made by several BJP leaders. Recently, Union Minister Anurag Thakur stated that the Congress intends to “Give your children's property to Muslims.”