SC strikes down Haj subsidy, to be eliminated within 10 yrs

May 8, 2012

hajj


New Delhi, May 8: The Supreme Court today struck down the government's policy of giving subsidies to Haj pilgrims and directed that it be progressively "eliminated" within a period of 10 years.

"We hold that this policy is best done away with," a bench of justices Altamas Kabir and Ranjana Prakash Desai held. The bench also directed the government to reduce to two the number of its representatives in the Prime Minister's goodwill delegation.

It said it will look into the functioning of Haj Committee of India and it process for selecting people for Haj pilgrimage. The apex court was hearing an appeal filed by the Centre challenging a Bombay High Court judgement which had directed the Ministry of External Affairs to allow certain private operators to handle 800 of the 11,000 pilgrims earmarked under the VIP quota subsidised by the government.

The bench while hearing the plea of the Centre had expanded the purview of the plea and decided to look into the legality of the government's policy on granting subsidies to Haj pilgrims.

During the hearing in the case, the Centre had defended the policy of giving subsidies to the Haj pilgrims and had said it had framed guidelines so that people get subsidies only once in their lifetime.

In an affidavit, the Centre had told the court that it has decided to restrict Haj pilgrimage at government subsidy to Muslims only as a "once in a lifetime" affair as against the existing policy of "once in five years".

It had said the new guidelines have been framed to ensure that priority is given to those applicants who have never performed Haj.

The government, however, had refrained from disclosing the amount of subsidy being incurred by it for 2012, saying, "The exact figure in respect of the travel subsidy to the pilgrims going through Haj Committee of India for 2012 will be known after the Hajis completed their Haj journey and return to India."

The apex court had earlier expressed its dismay at the practice of sending official delegations to accompany the pilgrims and had asked the Centre to furnish entire details regarding Haj subsidy, as also about the criteria adopted.

"These goodwill delegations need to be scrapped altogether. They are no longer relevant. Even a team of 9 to 10 persons is not required," the bench had observed.

The bench had also pulled up the Centre's practice of "politicising" Haj by permitting official delegations to accompany the pilgrims, for which the government offers huge subsidy, saying, "It's a bad religious practice."


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News Network
April 3,2020

Kasaragod, Apr 3: Kerala reported nine new cases of coronavirus on Friday, with seven from the worst affected Kasaragod district, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said.

With this, the total number of coronavirus positive cases in the coastal district alone mounted to 136.

Besides, Kasaragod, one case each was detected from Thrissur and Idukki, he told reporters after a COVID-19 review meeting this evening.

Currently, 251 people are under treatment for the virus in the state and 14 were cured today, Vijayan said.

A total of 1.69 lakh people are under surveillence in the state and 706 are in various hospitals.

Two fatalities have been reported from the state so far.

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News Network
May 13,2020

Bengaluru, May 13: Gym and hotels, which had remained closed due to lockdown to combat spread of Coronavirus, would be allowed to function from May 17, Karnataka Minister for Tourism C T Ravi said on Wednesday.

Speaking to the media, after a meeting with Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa here he said that the Chief Minister has agreed to give permission to gym, hotels and golf clubs to function and as they have assured to maintain social distance and follow other guidelines of the lockdown.

Mr Ravi, who is also Minister for Youth Empowerment and Sports, further said that reopening of hotel industry would help in attracting tourists. Opening of gym and fitness centre was important for sports persons and regular exercisers.

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Media Release
July 31,2020

Mangaluru, July 31: Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) has unveiled a campaign both on digital media and outdoor billboards on bringing awareness on the right usage of masks, social distancing and hand washing in the fight against COVID19. The campaign has received very good response and attention on social media and with the citizens of Mangaluru.

While the numbers of Covid-19 infected people were increasing and a vaccine would take some more time it was observed that norms of social distancing and other precautionary practices were thrown to the wind. Many people in Dakshina Kannada were found using masks inappropriately. Wearing a mask in a scientific way by covering both the nose and mouth is imperative to control droplets that spread the virus. We need to rise above our inconvenience to fight the virus.

Considering this the KCCI found an immediate need to bring awareness and constant reminder to people on the right usage of masks, social distancing, washing hands and other dos and don’ts to stay ahead of the virus and beat the pandemic.

A digital campaign and an outdoor advertisement campaign were planned by the chamber to remind and encourage people to follow best practices when interacting with others. 

The theme of the Campaign was decided to be “Let’s Fight Back Together” Origin Designext a Creative Agency in Mangalore was roped in to do the creative for the campaign and a team from KCCI worked with the Agency to shape up the campaign with their inputs. In the meantime Indian Red Cross Society Dakshina Kannada and Rotary Mangaluru expressed their interest to support the Campaign. 

Mangaluru based outdoor agencies like Jyothi Advertisers, Kalkura Advertisers and Gee Dee Advertisers agreed to provide outdoor space gratis to this community service campaign. Presented both in English and Kannada, the campaign has been creating waves on social media and on the street, a sign that it is being very well received by the populace of Mangalore city. 

The creative of Half Covered or Half exposed where a model is shown with a mask that exposes the nose and KA-19 v/s COVID-19 (KA-19 being the Vehicle Registration Code for the District) have been particularly making a buzz in the community. All together 14 hoardings are currently on display with various Covid-19 awareness messages. Many business houses have shown interest to participate in this public awareness campaign.

The Chamber hopes this campaign would go a long way in the fight of the city against COVID-19 and play its role in putting the pandemic behind us. “Businesses and our economy has suffered enough, we need to work together to fight this virus, we need to rise above minor inconvenience and win this war,” says Isaac Vas the President to KCCI.

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