It’s King’s decree: Saudi Arabia finally allows women to drive

Agencies
September 27, 2017

Jeddah, Sept 27: In a historic decision, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman on Tuesday issued orders to grant driving licenses to women in the Kingdom.

The royal order will come into force from Shawwal 10, 1439, corresponding to June 24, 2018, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

In a royal decree, the monarch directed Minister of Interior Prince Abdul Aziz Bin Saud Bin Naif to constitute a high-level ministerial committee to carry out studies about the necessary arrangements to implement the royal decree.

The ministerial body will give advice within 30 days and then implement the order by June 2018.

The committee will comprise representatives of the ministries of interior, finance, and labor and social development.

“The royal decree will implement the provisions of the traffic regulations, including the issuance of driving licenses for men and women alike,” SPA reported.

The King also instructed implementation of the royal decree effective from Shawwal 10, 1439 in line with the Shariah and legal regulations.

In the decree, the King referred to the negative consequences of not allowing women to drive, and the positive aspects of allowing them to do so, taking into consideration the application of the necessary Shariah regulations.

“We also refer to the view of the majority of the members of the Council of Senior Scholars with regard to this,” the King said.

Referring to the reservations expressed from some corners with regard to allowing women to drive, the King noted that scholars find that there is nothing that prevents women from driving after the necessary Shariah and legal guarantees are ensured.

The King emphasized that the State is the guardian of Shariah values.

“There won’t be any leniency in taking all the required measures to maintain the security and safety of society,” the monarch said while instructing the minister of interior to implement the rules of the Traffic Law and its executive bylaw, including allowing men and women alike to drive.

The reasons for delaying the enforcement of the decree until the month of Shawwal is due to the desire of the State to provide proper requirement and infrastructure so that women can drive in safety and security.

The United States welcomed the Royal order.

“We would certainly welcome that,” US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert told reporters. “It's a great step in the right direction for that country.”

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coastaldigest.com news network
June 14,2020

Kasaragod, June 14: Two teenagers lost their lives and two others sustained injuries after the car in which they were travelling veered off the road and turned turtle at Kumbla in Kasaragod district today. 

The deceased have been identified as Hussin (17), son of Abusalih-Hasina couple from Kumbala Badria Nagar and Hasan Midlaj (18) hailing from Talangara. 

The condition of Shahal, a resident of Moghal, is said to be critical. He was rushed to a private hospital in Mangaluru. 

The accident occurred near Little Lilli English Medium School. High speed and rash driving are said to be reason for the crash. 

The Maruti Zen car veered off the road and rammed into a tree before turning turtle. There were four people on board the car. One died on the spot and the other at the hospital.

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News Network
March 9,2020

Mangaluru, Mar 9: A person who arrived at the airport in Mangaluru from Dubai and was admitted to the isolation ward of a hospital with symptoms of coronavirus has gone missing, sources said.

The patient, who arrived on Sunday, was shifted to the district Wenlock hospital with a high fever and a few symptoms of coronavirus.

He reportedly argued with the hospital staff late in the night that he had not contracted the virus and left the hospital saying he will take treatment in a private hospital.

The hospital health officer called up the police and a high alert has been sounded in coastal districts to locate the person who has 'escaped' from the hospital.

Dakshina Kannada district health officer Sikandar Pasha had earlier said the patient will be kept under observation for 24 hours and will be discharged after routine tests.

The district health department on Monday lodged a complaint with the Mangaluru police station and investigation is on.

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News Network
March 11,2020

Bengaluru, Mar 11: Heated verbal exchange between Minister K Sudhakar and former Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar in the assembly over disqualification of 17 MLAs last year, continued to disrupt the proceedings on Wednesday, with both opposition and treasury benches pushing for a privilege motion and demanding action.

Chaotic scenes and adjournments marked the House proceedings, with both sides not ready to budge.

As the House met for the day, around 11 am, senior Minister K S Eshwarappa accusing Congress MLA Ramesh Kumar of using "expletive" during a debate last evening, demanded his apology and that he be kept out of the proceedings.

Sudhakar, against whom expletive was allegedly used by Kumar, said, the words used were unpardonable and he should be heard, as he has given notice.

Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah then demanded that he be allowed to speak first as he had given notice on Tuesday itself.

The Congress leader on his part has accused Sudhakar of breaching Kumar's privilege by allegedly making derogatory remarks against him.

Intervening, Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri said he has received breach of privilege notice from both sides and would allow it only after the question hour as per rules.

Though Congress expressed its agreement with the Speaker about letting them raise the matter after question hour, BJP legislators including Ministers said, Ramesh Kumar should be suspended.

Pointing out that Kumar was not inside the House, some ruling party MLAs even called him "escapist" and demanded action against him.

Strongly objecting to it, Siddaramaiah questioned the ruling party's intentions in running the house smoothly.

As this was followed by heated arguments between both sides, the Speaker adjourned the House for 15 minutes.

When the house met after much delay at 12:55 pm, the chaos continued.

As the Speaker allowed Minister Jagadish Shettar to speak, who was requesting permission to raise a point, Siddaramaiah objected to it and said he had given notice first.

He said, "this is not correct, it looks like government doesn't want the House to function, they don't want discussion on the budget, they are purposely blocking the proceedings of the House".

However, some BJP MLAs reacted to this by shouting slogans "shame shame Ramesh Kumar".

As his repeated attempts to conduct the proceedings failed, the Speaker adjourned the House for lunch.

Sudhakar, while speaking during a special discussion on the Constitution on Tuesday evening had made critical remarks against the decision of Kumar, as speaker, to disqualify 17 Congress-JD(S) MLAs under the anti-defection law, including him.

Angered by this Kumar, who opposed discussion on the subject, amid heated argument between BJP and Congress members allegedly uttered the expletive, which aggravated the situation and had resulted in pandemonium in the House last evening.

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