‘Humanity’, ‘agnostic’, ‘secular’ now options as ‘religion’ in West Bengal colleges

Agencies
June 2, 2019

Howrah, Jun 2: In a move that is being hailed as “historic” and “path breaking” by students and teachers alike, at least 50 colleges in West Bengal, including a few in Kolkata, have added 'humanity', 'agnostic', 'secular' and 'non-religious' options in the religion column of online admission forms for students who are unwilling to disclose their faith.

This allows students applying for undergraduate courses in these colleges to keep their religious beliefs private, an official of the city's century-old Bethune College said.

The decision was taken after several degree course aspirants started questioning the need to declare their religious identity while seeking admissions to colleges.

"We found that many applicants had been identifying themselves as non-believer in the option where they were supposed to mention their religion," said an official involved in the admission process at the college.

"Following this, the college authorities decided to consider and provide 'humanity' as a choice to students while filling the forms, firstly, for the online applications," the official said.

Some other colleges in the city such as the Scottish Church College have also provided 'agnostic', 'secular' and 'non-religious' as options to students, an official of the north Kolkata college said.

Among other colleges that have adopted 'humanity' as an option are Maulana Azad College, Rammohan College, Bangabasi Morning in the city, Maharaja Srischandra College in Andul in Howrah district and Midnapore College in Midnapore town.

According to several degree aspirants as well as academicians "humanism" instead of humanity would have been a better term.

"This is historic. But we should consider providing humanism," an academician at the Presidency University said requesting anonymity.

Welcoming the move, Sagarika Sen, an aspirant of English honours course from Bethune College said, "This is an extremely progressive step. I consider this as an expression of historical importance. Though I am a Hindu by birth, I have never liked the idea of disclosing my religious identity."

Another student, Sammay Sengupta, seeking admission in the sociology course also hailed the initiative describing it as "path-breaking".

"This is a path-breaking initiative. We are followers or believers of a religion but that cannot be our identity. Our identity is humanism. And we must not forget that religion is one's own choice," he said.

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Agencies
February 29,2020

Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 29: With Saudi Arabia indefinitely suspending visas for visit to Islam's holiest site for the Umrah pilgrimage in the wake of coronavirus outbreak, more than 10,000 people in the state who are awaiting their turn this year for the annual Hajj pilgrimage are a worried lot.

"This year more than 10,000 people in Kerala have been cleared by the Hajj committee," said C Muhammed Faizy, chairman, Kerala State Hajj Committee.

"There is no cause of worry. We hope that during the time of the pilgrimage, the travel restriction by Saudi Arabia will be lifted," he said.

Umrah is a pilgrimage to the holy site that can be undertaken at any time of the year, while the annual Hajj pilgrimage has specific months according to the lunar calendar.

"The move by the Saudi Arabian Government to impose travel restriction was due to the outbreak of coronavirus. It is a preventive step to contain it. In such large gatherings, if one person is affected, it will spread to others. So we fully understand the concerns of the Saudi Government," Muhammed Faizy added.

He said that the Hajj Committee only processes the requests of annual Hajj visit pilgrims and not Umrah.

"This year we expect the Hajj pilgrimage season to be from June to August after Ramzan. But it may vary according to the Ramzan date. We are yet to get any official correspondence from the Saudi Government regarding travel restrictions," he added.

The Saudi Arabian Government suspended visas for tourists from countries affected by the coronavirus, with many having to cancel their Umrah pilgrimage at the last minute.

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Agencies
August 8,2020

Kozhikode, Aug 8: The death toll in Kozhikode air crash is likely to rise as the condition of 22 injured passengers is said to be extremely critical. A total of 149 injured passengers have been admitted to hospitals in Malappuram and Kozhikode districts. 22 others have been discharged after first aid, says K Gopalakrishnan, Malappuram Collector

Deceased passengers:
Mohammed Riyas VP, 24 years - Palakkad, 
Saheer Sayed, 38 years -Malappuram, 
Lailabi KV, 51 years -Malappuram, 
Rajeevan Cherikka Parambil, 61 years - Kozhikode, 
Manal Ahamed, 25 years - Kozhikode, 
Sharafudheen, 35 years - Kozhikode, 
Janaky Kunnoth, 55 years - Kozhikode, 
Azam Muhammed Chembayi ,1 year - Kozhikode, 
Santha Marakkat, 59 years - Malappuram, 
Sudheer Vaariyath, 45 years -Malappuram, 
Sheza Fathima, 2 years -Malappuram, 
Remya Muraleedharan, 32 years - Kozhikode
Aysha Dua, 2 years – Palakkad 
Shivathmika, 5 Years- Kozhikode
Zhenobia, 40 years – Kozhikode
Sahira Banu, 29 years - Kozhikode

Deceased crew:
Deepak Sathe (Pilot)
Akhilesh Kumar (Copilot)

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News Network
February 10,2020

New Delhi, Feb 10: Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah's sister on Monday moved the Supreme Court to challenge his detention under the Public Safety Act.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the petitioner, mentioned the matter for urgent listing before a bench headed by Justice N V Ramana.

Sibal told the bench that they have filed a habeas corpus petition challenging the detention of Abdullah under the PSA and the matter should be heard this week.

The bench agreed for urgent listing of the matter.

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