Mughal emperors were Traitors; Taj Mahal a blot on Indian culture: BJP MLA Sangeet Som

Kozhikode, Feb 28: Nearly 200 Umrah pilgrims from Kerala were deboarded from their flights to Saudi Arabia from Calicut international Airport here on Thursday after the gulf nation enforced a temporary ban on foreigners seeking to visit the holy cities of Makkah and Madina, following coronavirus scare.

Saudi Arabia halted travel to the holiest sites in Islam over fears about a viral epidemic just months ahead of the annual hajj pilgrimage, a move that came as the Mideast has over 240 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus.

According to Airports Authority of India officials, as many as 84 of passengers from the Saudi Airlines and 104 from the Spice Jet Airlines were denied permission to board the flights and travel to Saudi Arabia.

However, other passengers bound to Jeddah were permitted to fly, they said.

A private tour operator here said two batches of 40 pilgrims each were denied permission to travel to Makkah to perform Umrah on February 27.

Umrah is an Islamic pilgrimage that can be performed at any time of year.

"The pilgrims were denied entry by the two airlines, Spice Jet scheduled at 05.30 hrs and Saudi Airlines at 1130 hrs," Naiful Akbar, a travel agent said.

The Airport Authority of India sources said, "the passengers were asked to alight by the Spice Jet airline staff following an instruction received by them."

New Delhi, Feb 24: The shared values between India and the US are "discrimination, bigotry, and hostility towards refugees and asylum seekers", Amnesty International USA said in a joint statement with Amnesty International India ahead of US President Donald Trump's visit to India on Monday.

Trump, accompanied by his wife Melania, daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner as well as senior officials of his administration, landed in Ahmedabad on the first leg of his two-day visit to India.

"Anti-Muslim sentiment permeates the policies of both U.S. and Indian leaders. For decades, the U.S.-India relationship was anchored by claims of shared values of human rights and human dignity. Now, those shared values are discrimination, bigotry, and hostility towards refugees and asylum seekers,” Margaret Huang, Amnesty International USA’s executive director, was quoted as saying in the statement.

It was a reference to the anti-CAA protests in India, the internet lockdown in Jammu and Kashmir and the Muslim ban expansion by President Trump affecting Nigeria, Eritrea, Myanmar, Kyrgyzstan, Sudan and Tanzania, the statement said.

It added that Amnesty International USA’s researchers travelled to Lebanon and Jordan to conduct nearly 50 interviews with refugees that as a result of the previous version of the ban have been stranded in countries where they face restrictive policies, increasingly hostile environments, and lack the same rights as permanent residents or citizens.

The statement also came down hard on the Indian government, hitting out at the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) 2019 and saying it legitimises discrimination based on religious grounds.

It criticised statements such as “identify them (the protestors) by their clothes” or “shoot the traitors” by Prime Minister Modi and his party workers. Such remarks "peddled the narrative of fear and division that has fuelled further violence", it said.

“The internet and political lockdown in Kashmir has lasted for months and the enactment of CAA and the crackdown on protests has shown a leadership that is lacking empathy and a willingness to engage. We call on President Trump and Prime Minister Modi to work with the international community and address our concerns in their bilateral conversations,” Avinash Kumar, executive director, Amnesty International India said in the statement.

Mangaluru, Apr 23: An elderly woman who was tested positive for COVID-19 in Dakshina Kannada district today breathed her last.

The deceased is a 77-year-old woman from Bantwal taluk. 

She is said to be a close relative of the Bantwal woman who died of COVID-19 on April 19.

She was shifted to govt Wenlock Hospital which is now converted into COVID-19 hospital on April 22 from a private hospital.

Her throat swabs were sent for testing. Health and family welfare department earlier today confirmed that she was tested positive for coronavirus.

Within hours she breathed her last without responding to any treatment. 

So far 17 corona positive cases have been confirmed in the district including two deaths. Most of them have returned home after recovering.