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UAE President gifts dates to Kerala CM

Posted on May 27, 2017 from Kerala, National ι Report #128717

Thiruvananthapuram, May 26 (IANS) In keeping with the spirit of the "Year of Giving", President of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Friday gifted the people of Kerala a personally selected assortment of high-quality dates.

The dates -- both the national fruit of the UAE and an integral symbol of Emirati heritage and identity -- were presented by Jamal Husein Rahma Al Zaabi, Consul General of the UAE in Thiruvananthapuram, to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at his office here.

The evening ceremony, which marked both start of the holy month of Ramadan and first anniversary of Vijayan taking the Chief Minister's office, saw the Consul General and the CM distribute some of the dates to a group of 30 differently-abled children and orphans.

Thanking the Chief Minister for his steady support, the Consul General noted that the dates were entrusted to him, so as to ensure their distribution to those who would benefit most from the wholesome and nutritious fruit.

The Consul General observed that the function was an occasion to mark the flowering of the long-standing bilateral relationship and the historic people-to-people links between the UAE and Kerala.

In December 2016, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan had declared 2017 as the Year of Giving -- as inspired by the values of hospitality and generosity which lie at the heart of the UAE's identity and the example of the country's founding father, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.

--IANS

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