Qatar removed NOC and sets minimum wage limit

 

To protect the interests of employers and employees in Qatar, the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs (ADLSA) has introduced a non-discriminatory minimum wage and removed No-Objection Certificate requirement to change jobs for employees.

According to, Law No. 17 of 2020 on Setting the Minimum Wage for Workers and Domestic Workers sets the minimum wage for all private sector workers, including domestic workers, at QR 1,000 per month as a basic wage, as well as QR 500 per month allocated by the employer for accommodation expenses and QR 300 per month for food, unless the employer already provides adequate food or accommodation for the employee or domestic worker.

ADLSA will be working with employers to update all employment contracts where workers earn less than the amount established by the new Law, which will come into force after 6 months of its publication in the official gazette.

The minimum wage was decided following extensive consultations with a specialized national committee composed of relevant authorities in Qatar to consider the matter. The law is the first of its kind in the Middle East and will provide additional stability to Qatar’s labour market.

In light of the above, a Minimum Wage Committee will be formed and tasked with frequently studying and reviewing the minimum wage of workers and domestic workers.

The government also introduced Decree Law No. 18 of 2020 amending some provisions of Labour Law No. 14 of 2004 and Decree Law No. 19 of 2020 amending some provisions of 2004 Law No. 21 of 2015 regulating the entry and exit of expatriates and their residence, which protects the rights of both employers and employees and facilitates the employer change process. This will drive greater competition in Qatar’s labour market by allowing employees to change employers and allowing employers to attract the best talent on the local market.

As part of our efforts to boost the effectiveness of the Wage Protection System, the new amendments to the Labour Law prescribe stricter penalties for employers who fail to pay their workers’ wages and introduce penalties for employers who fail to provide adequate accommodation for their workers, in line with the standards established by the Ministry.

The new amendments also include increasing the number of labour dispute resolution committees in an effort to tackle the number of labour disputes, facilitate workers’ access to the rights, and expedite legal proceedings.
HE Yousuf Mohamed Al Othman Fakhroo, Minister of Administrative Development, Labour & Social Affairs, said:

“The State of Qatar is committed to creating a modern and dynamic labor market. In line with Qatar Vision 2030, these new laws mark a major milestone in this journey and will benefit workers, employers, and the nation alike.”

Attracting the desired combination of migrant workers, protecting their rights, and ensuring their safety is part of the human development goals of Qatar’s 2030 National Vision. With today’s announcement, Qatar delivers on its promise to expand the labour market in a manner that drives competition, boosts investment in the local economy, and drives economic growth in Qatar.

To ensure compliance with the changes, ADLSA is working with competent authorities to upgrade the Wage Protection System, strengthen the capacity of inspectors, and apply stricter penalties to companies that violate the law.

 

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PTA bans dating apps including Tinder

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has recently blocked access to five dating and live streaming applications namely Tinder, Tagged, Skout, Grinder and SayHi, the authority announced on Twitter.

In view of bad effects of immoral and indecent content streaming through above applications, PTA issued notices to the management of above mentioned platforms for the purpose of removing dating services and moderate live streaming content in accordance with local laws of Pakistan, PTA said in a press release.

But the platforms have not yet responded to the notices within the stipulated time therefore the Authority issued orders for blocking of the said applications.

PTA can, however, reconsider blocking of the said applications provided management of the companies assures adherence to the local laws with respect to moderating the indecent/immoral content through meaningful engagement.

Earlier, PTA issued a warning to Chinese-owned social media app TikTok to clamp down on what it called "immoral, obscene and vulgar" content on the video-sharing platform.

However, in September last year the Islamabad High Court (IHC) declared that the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) is not empowered to block any website in violation of the due process and without hearing the viewpoint of the other party.

 

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Fastest Living Human Calculator

Have you ever wondered that one can do mathematical calculations faster than a calculator? Yes, there were people who have done this like Ramanujan, Shakuntala Devi and many others. But recently there is another man, aged 20, Neelakantha Bhanu Prakash who can perform mathematical calculations 10x faster than a normal human being.

What's 869,463,853 times 73? It's 63,470,861,269 and it takes just 26 seconds for Bhanu, known in India as the "world's fastest human calculator," to work it out in his mind. Bhanu says he's able to make such complex calculations at breakneck speed through "structured practice."

"Let's say I am doing a multiplication of 8,763 multiplied by eight," he says. "I'll probably multiply: 8,000 by eight which is 64,000, 700 by eight which is 5,600, 60 by eight which is 480, three by eight is 24. And I add all of these. But this requires the human brain to remember all this.

"The methods which I use are very similar to general methods but certain things, basically it is brain optimization. I optimize my methods and make them better than before.

"At the end of the day whatever I call my methods, sometimes it just happens. There's a certain process, obviously, but since you have trained your brain, it just happens."

He became the first Asian to win gold at the Mental Calculation World Championship at the Mind Sports Olympiad (MSO) in London on August 15.

Bhanu beat 29 opponents from 13 countries to take the gold in the competition and his speed was so extraordinary that judges made him jump through extra hoops and solve more calculations to confirm his accuracy.

At the age of 5, in 2005, Bhanu faced a tragic accident which resulted in head injury with 85 stitches in his skull. He spent a one whole in year on bed and that time he tried to keep his brain busy in solving puzzle and playing chess. Bhanu finished third in the sub-junior category at a state level speed arithmetic competition in Andhra Pradesh state. His performance brought his father to tears, Bhanu says. "It wasn't the medal, it was what led me there that moved my father," he says. Since then Bhanu secured many positions and records even leveling India’s legendary mathematician Shakuntala Devi.

In 2018, Bhanu founded Exploring Infinities, an educational organization that aims to make math cool, challenging, interesting and immersive, by tracking cognitive ability development through arithmetic games.

 

 

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