Saudi Arabia tightens work visa rules for Indian workers
New Delhi: From January 14, Indian workers applying for Saudi Arabia work visas will need to complete a mandatory pre-verification of their professional and academic qualifications.
According to the Ministry of External Affairs, Indians constitute the second-largest expatriate community in Saudi Arabia, with over 2.4 million residents, following Bangladesh.
This move, proposed six months ago, aims to limit the influx of Indian workers due to the scarcity of qualified training centres, ensuring stricter quality control. The reforms align with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, which seeks to make the labour sector more flexible for expatriates while enforcing stricter certification requirements for specific job roles.
A circular issued by the Saudi mission in India, accessed by The New Indian Express, confirmed the implementation of professional verification procedures as a prerequisite for issuing work visas.
Additionally, Saudi Arabia has updated rules concerning residency permits (Iqama) and exit/re-entry visas. The General Directorate of Passports announced on X that expats outside the kingdom can now renew Iqamas and extend the duration of single or multiple exit/re-entry visas. Dependents and domestic workers located abroad are also eligible for these renewals and extensions.
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Goa is not lab for BJP's experiments, says Congress on Centre's suggestion about nuclear plant
Panaji (PTI): Opposition parties have objected to the Centre's suggestion to set up a nuclear power plant in Goa, with Congress saying the coastal state is not "a laboratory for BJP's dangerous experiments".
Union Minister for Power, Housing and Urban Affairs Manohar Lal Khattar said that the Central government has suggested that the states examine the feasibility of setting up nuclear power plants in their respective areas and send proposals.
Speaking to reporters, Khattar said he had discussed the possibility of setting up a nuclear power plant in a review meeting of the Urban Development and Power sector in Goa.
In a post on X, Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) president Amit Patkar said, "Goa is not a laboratory for @BJP4India's dangerous experiments. I strongly condemn Shri @mlkhattar's absurd proposal of setting up a nuclear power plant in our peaceful, eco-sensitive state of Goa."
He alleged that the BJP government had already destroyed Goa's hills, forests, agriculture and rivers, and it now wants to put people's lives at risk with a nuclear hazard.
"We will resist this anti-Goa agenda with full force. Our land, livelihoods & environment are non-negotiable," Patkar wrote.
The Aam Aadmi Party's state unit president, Amit Palekar, questioned the need for a nuclear plant in Goa when Kaiga in Karwar (Karnataka) has a facility.
The Centre and state government are out to destroy Goa, he said.
"@AAPGoa will fight tooth and nail if any such misadventure is attempted. Lakhs of square meters of Goan lands have been given to private universities etc., all with the interest of BJP functionaries, and now whatever is left of Goa is sought to be destroyed with such projects. Who has interest in this?" he wrote.
