Low-cost Haj: Ministry begins accepting online applications

September 2, 2014

Jeddah, Sep 2: The Haj Ministry website has started accepting applications from Saudis and expatriates who wanted to make use of the low-cost Haj scheme.

Haj online applicationsMore than 40,000 pilgrims are expected to benefit from the low-cost Haj scheme this year, said Abdul Hameed Al-Sinani, secretary general of the Coordination Council for Domestic Haj Service Firms.

Speaking to Arab News, Al-Sinani said 53 companies and establishments have been authorized to provide low-cost services to eligible pilgrims for SR2,500 to SR5,000.

“About a third of the total domestic pilgrims are accounted for this low-cost service. The program, which is introduced by the ministry, will be a great relief for a good number of citizens and expatriates,” he said.

Other domestic Haj operating companies have been striving to scale down the cost of Haj, but can only slash prices to a certain extent since factors, such as rising air fare and road transport costs, food supply contracts and rising labor charges, are beyond their control.

“The cost of renting out tents, furnishing tents and making additional modifications on them have also risen considerably,” Al-Sinan added.

Such factors have made it difficult for the council to force companies to bring down their charges despite demands on companies not to hike prices unreasonably.

“The council did not directly force or interfere in the pricing policies exercised in domestic pilgrim companies. It is, nevertheless, the council’s duty to advise them to keep their prices affordable,” said Al-Sinani, adding that he found that companies were cooperative and have slashed prices from last year’s higher tariffs.

Saad Al-Qurashi, owner of several domestic Haj companies, reiterated that the coordination council does not have the authority to set tariffs of private companies. “The council should uphold its fundamental roles and represent us effectively so we remain reassured,” he added.

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News Network
April 20,2020

Sharjah, Apr 20: Air Arabia announced on Monday it will operate new repatriation flights from four cities in India to Sharjah carrying UAE nationals back home.

The special flights will operate from Mumbai and Delhi to Sharjah International Airport on April 20 while special flights will operate from Kochi and Hyderabad to Sharjah International Airport on April 22.

Air Arabia remains committed to bring stranded citizens back home as well as supporting requests to operate repatriation flights and is working closely with UAE authorities in this regard, the airline said.

Air Arabia announced earlier that it’s operating a mix of repatriation flights as well as cargo flights during the month of April to multiple destinations.

Further information about the repatriation and cargo flights is available on the website or can be obtained by contacting the Air Arabia call centre on 06 5580000 or respective travel agent.

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News Network
April 18,2020

Dubai, Apr 18: Saudi Arabia has reported 1,132 new coronavirus cases, taking the total number of confirmed COVID-19 patients to 8,274, the Ministry of Health revealed on Saturday.

The ministry has also announced five more deaths from the virus, taking to 92 the Kingdom’s death toll.

Recoveries
As for recoveries, 280 new recoveries were reported, pushing the total number of patients recovered to 1,329.

The ministry revealed that 79 per cent of today’s cases are expatriates and that 65 per cent of the cases were detected through intensified and active COVID-19 screening in densely-populated areas.

A total of 201 patients of Saturday’s cases have contracted the disease due to being in contact with existing cases, the ministry added.

The new infected cases have been placed under complete isolation and they are receiving necessary medical care, an official from the ministry said.

He affirmed that medical teams are intensifying efforts and screening tests in workers' neighbourhoods and accommodations in order to limit the spread of the disease.

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Agencies
June 29,2020

Protests condemning the Israeli plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank are set to take place in the United States and Europe on the same day prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to begin the process.

The demonstrations will be held on Wednesday in Chicago, San Diego, Brooklyn, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Other Western cities will also witness similar protests, including Toronto, Madrid and Valencia.

Students for Justice in Palestine, Jewish Voice for Peace, and American Muslims for Palestine are among the pro-Palestinian groups organizing the protests.

The Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, one of the organizers, urged "direct actions and popular mobilizations in [Palestinian] refugee camps, cities and villages," and professed "loyalty to the martyrs" on its call for the events.

Another group, Al-Awda or the Palestinian Right to Return Coalition, decried "72 years of genocide, ethnic cleansing and dispossession" of Palestinians.

It also tied their demonstrations to the protests against anti-black racism in the US and beyond.

"We demand the defunding and dismantling of US police alongside the defunding and dismantling of Zionist colonialism and racist Israeli apartheid," Al-Awda said on its website.

Netanyahu has set July 1 as the date for the start of cabinet discussions on the annexation plan.

He has been driven ahead by US President Donald Trump, who unveiled a “peace” plan for the Middle East in January that effectively sidelines the Palestinians altogether.

The plan, which Trump himself has described as the “deal of the century,” envisions Jerusalem al-Quds as “Israel’s undivided capital” and allows the Tel Aviv regime to annex settlements in the occupied West Bank and the Jordan Valley. The plan also denies Palestinian refugees the right of return to their homeland, among other controversial terms.

The Palestinians want the West Bank as part of a future independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem al-Quds as its capital.

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