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‘Using wife as ATM amounts to mental harassment’

The couple was married in 1991 and had a baby girl out of wedlock in 2001. The husband, who was running a business, was struggling to repay loans…reports Asian Lite News

In an important judgment, the Karnataka High Court has said that using a wife without any emotional attachment as “a cash cow and ATM” amounts to mental harassment. The court also granted divorce to the wife in the case setting aside the order of the lower court.

The division bench headed by Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice J.M. Khazi gave the order recently, while looking into the petition submitted by a woman questioning the lower court’s order of not granting divorce.

The bench stated that the husband had taken Rs 60 lakh from the wife on the pretext of carrying out business. “He had considered her as a cash cow. There is no emotional attachment to her and he has mechanical bonding. Due to the behaviour of the husband, the wife has suffered mental trauma.”

“The pain inflicted on the wife by husband in this case could be considered as mental harassment. The family court has failed to consider all these factors. Furthermore, the court has not done cross examination of the petitioner wife and recorded her statements,” the bench said.

“Considering the arguments by the wife, divorce is being granted to her,” said the court. The bench also underlined that in cases of family dispute, the cruelty allegations must be verified on the merits of the case.

The couple was married in 1991 and had a baby girl out of wedlock in 2001. The husband, who was running a business, was struggling to repay loans. This had led to quarrels at home. The petitioner’s wife had joined a bank to take care of herself and child.

From 2008, the wife gave money to her husband and he spent it without repaying loans. He is alleged to have been emotionally blackmailing the petitioner to extract money. She later realised that her money was being misused and her husband was not working even after receiving Rs 60 lakh.

The petitioner’s wife supported husband to open a salon in Dubai. However, he allegedly did not show any interest and returned to India after causing losses. The wife then filed a divorce petition with the family court. However, the family court had rejected her petition, saying that there was no cruelty involved in the case.

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-Top News Travel & Tourism UAE News

Dubai gears up to host largest in-person tourism event

This year, for the first time in ATM history, a new hybrid format will mean a virtual ATM running a week later to complement and reach a wider audience than ever before, reports Asian Lite News

Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2021 has reconfirmed that Dubai will host the largest in-person travel & tourism event in the world, since the onset of the pandemic last year.

Now in its 28th year, ATM 2021 will go-ahead at the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) from May 16 to 19, as final preparations are being put in place.

“The theme of this year’s show is ‘A new dawn for travel and tourism’ and the spotlight will be focused on the very latest ‘Covid’ news from around the world – vaccine rollouts, the current state of the industry and more importantly, what the future holds,” said Claude Blanc, Portfolio Director, WTM & IBTM Portfolios.

ATM 2021 features 67 conference sessions with over 145 local, regional and international speakers overall. Onsite, there is a Global Stage which will include a hotel industry summit, dedicated buyer forums for Saudi Arabia and China, an International Tourism & Investment Conference (ITIC), as well as an aviation panel and a special session on Gulf-Israeli ties.

Other features this year will include Travel Forward at ATM, which has world-class technology experts, providing industry-leading insights about the latest technologies and trends that will undoubtedly shape the future of travel and tourism.

Also read:UAE among top 10 in finance, tax competitiveness indexes

A total of 62 countries are being represented on the exhibition floor this year such as the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Germany, Cyprus, Egypt, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea, the Maldives, the Philippines, Thailand, Mexico and the US.

“This underscores the importance of ATM, connecting destinations with their source markets,” said Danielle Curtis, Exhibition Director Middle East, Arabian Travel Market.

ATM 2021 will be held at the Dubai World Trade Centre, spread across nine halls. Consistent with the existing density restrictions and social distancing guidelines and regulations, there will be 11,000 people in the halls at any given time.

The event will once again play an integral role in Arabian Travel Week, a 10-day long festival of travel and tourism events taking place in Dubai and online. In addition to the in-person Arabian Travel Market event, the travel events that are part of Arabian Travel Week are: travel technology exhibition Travel Forward, ARIVAL Dubai for the tours and attractions sector, GBTA’s half day virtual business travel conference, ITIC’s Middle East Tourism Investment Summit, speed networking events for digital influencers and regionally focused buyer groups including China, and of course ATM Virtual, the online edition of the ATM exhibition.

This year, for the first time in ATM history, a new hybrid format will mean a virtual ATM running a week later to complement and reach a wider audience than ever before. ATM Virtual, which made its debut last year, proved to be a resounding success attracting 12,000 online attendees from 140 countries.

“It is imperative that we include a virtual element, many industry professionals from around the world, may not be able to attend in-person every year, particularly this year with travel restrictions changing rapidly around the globe,” said Curtis.

“Due to Dubai’s commitment to maintaining the highest standards of health and safety and its effective citywide management of the pandemic, it was awarded a ‘Safe Travels’ stamp from the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC),” added Curtis.

Dubai is one of the safest cities in the world to visit with a wide range of precautionary measures in place to ensure the safety of tourists at every stage and touchpoint of their travel journey, from arrival to departure. Over 10.6 million doses have already been administered in the UAE, which is also a major achievement.

ATM 2021’s strategic partners include Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) as Destination Partner, Emaar Hospitality Group as Official Hotel Partner, Emirates as Official Airline Partner and The Vision as Official Destination Management Partner.

Also read:Vax drive boosts Dubai luxury real estate sales

Categories
Business Finance

HDFC deploys mobile ATMs

Customers can conduct over 15 types of transactions using the ‘Mobile ATM’, which will be operational at each location for a specific period….reports Asian Lite News

HDFC Bank on Saturday said it has deployed mobile ATMs across India to assist customers during the lockdown.

“At restricted, sealed areas, the ‘Mobile ATMs’ will eliminate the need for general public to move out of their locality to withdraw cash,” the bank said in a statement.

“During the lockdown last year, HDFC Bank successfully deployed mobile ATMs in over 50 cities and facilitated lakhs of customers in availing cash to meet their exigencies.”

Accordingly, customers can conduct over 15 types of transactions using the ‘Mobile ATM’, which will be operational at each location for a specific period.

The ‘Mobile ATM’ will cover 3-4 stops in a day.


“We hope our mobile ATM will provide a great support for people who want to avail basic financial services without having to venture far from their neighbourhood,” said S. Sampathkumar, Group Head – Liability Products, Third Party Products and Non-Resident Business at HDFC Bank.

“This service will also be of great help to all the healthcare workers, and other essential service providers who have been working tirelessly to combat the pandemic.”

Meanwhile, shares of HDFC Bank surged to a record high in January on the back of strong earnings reported for the October-December quarter.

Also read:HDFC Bank shares surge on strong Q3 earnings