Rs 2919 crore approved for safety projects in 8 cities

Agencies
August 3, 2018

New Delhi, Aug 3: The government has approved Rs 2,919 crore for various projects to strengthen safety measures in eight cities in the country, the Lok Sabha was told on Friday.

The eight cities are Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Lucknow, Minister of State for Women and Child Development Virendra Kumar said in a written reply to Lok Sabha.

In Delhi, Rs 663.67 crore will be spent on a project that aims at enhancing the safety of women in public places such as roads, parks, markets, schools, metro stations, etc.

The project leverages the latest technology such as video monitoring, facial recognition analytics, person tracking, automatic number plate recognition, dedicated women safety patrol vans equipped with dashboards for viewing live feeds, GPS tracking, onboard video feed sharing, etc. for women’s safety.

The project will cover about 3,700 locations in Delhi.

In Mumbai, Rs 252 crore will be spent on a project involving GIS mapping of criminal hotspots, video surveillance, training of investigating officers, prosecutors and judicial officers, community policing and quick response police teams.

The project will also strengthen the "Police Didi" programme wherein female police officers interact with women living in slums on the issue of sexual harassment and abuse. It is also proposed to spread awareness through media campaigns.

In Bengaluru, a total of Rs 667 crore would be spent for a proposal involving surveillance at public places, quick response police vehicles, placement of NGO volunteers at women’s helpdesk in police stations and critical care response units at leading hospitals, setting up of an integrated support centre for women and children in need, GIS-based crime mapping and analytics, women police outposts near schools, colleges, bus stands and creation of safety islands at vulnerable places.

In Chennai, the project includes the creation of safe-zone clusters at hot crime zones, surveillance technology, GIS-based crime mapping, security in public transport, better sanitation facilities for women, remote monitoring of city lighting, capacity building of police authorities as well as a helpdesk service for women.

A cybercrime and legal assistance compensation lab will also be set up under this project. An amount of Rs 425 crore would be spent, he said.

In Ahmedabad, Rs 253 crore would be spent for a project whose main components include 'One Stop Crisis Centres', surveillance at crime hotspots, radio frequency identification and quick response-based security systems, ‘She Teams’ of women for surveillance and support to women who may face violence.

The project also envisages redevelopment of the Sabarmati riverfront to make it more women-friendly.

For Kolkata, Rs 181.32 crore would be spent on a proposal that includes strengthening of nine women police stations, surveillance in public areas, computer-aided dispatch based emergency response system for dial-100 in cases of women, in-camera testimonies in all criminal courts.

The project will undertake sensitisation programmes especially for boys as well as mass behavioural and cultural change campaign on women's safety.

In Hyderabad, Rs 282.50 crore would be spent on a proposal that involves setting up of a centre for development and empowerment of women as well as a forensic cell and repeat offenders monitoring cell. It also envisages setting up of "SHE Toilets" for women as well as transit dorms for safe temporary accommodation.

In Lucknow, Rs 195 crore would be spent on a proposal that incorporates features such as cyber and forensics infrastructure for better investigation of crimes against women, manpower training in the police force. It envisages the creation of a comprehensive safe city ecosystem by also sensitising all the various stakeholders in the city such as hawkers, shopkeepers, waiters, public servants on issues of women.

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Agencies
July 31,2020

Thiruvananthapuram, Jul 31: People offered Eid-al-Adha namaz while ensuring social distancing norms at mosques in Thiruvananthapuram and Mallapuram on Friday.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had on Thursday announced that the Eid-al-Adha prayers can be offered in mosques of the state on Friday with a limited number of people due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kerala is celebrating the festival of Eid-al-Adha on Friday.

Eid al-Adha or Bakrid, also known as "Sacrifice Feast" is marked by sacrificing an animal, usually a sheep or a goat to prove their devotion and love for Allah. Post the sacrifice, devotees distribute the offering to family, friends, neighbours and especially to the poor and the needy. 

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News Network
May 9,2020

May 9: Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said the West Bengal government is not allowing trains with migrant workers to reach the state that may further create hardship for the labourers.

In a letter to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Shah said not allowing trains to reach West Bengal is "injustice" to the migrant workers from the state.

Referring to the 'Shramik Special' trains being run by the central government to facilitate transport of migrant workers from different parts of the country to various destinations, the home minister said in the letter that the Centre has facilitated more than two lakh migrants workers to reach home.

Shah said migrant workers from West Bengal are also eager to reach home and the central government is also facilitating the train services.

"But we are not getting expected support from the West Bengal. The state government of West Bengal is not allowing the trains reaching to West Bengal. This is injustice with West Bengal migrant labourers. This will create further hardship for them," Shah wrote.

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News Network
March 12,2020

New Delhi, Mar 12: The coronavirus pandemic could deal a crippling blow to the Indian travel and tourism industry, specially with the government suspending all visas, with the economic impact being assessed to run into thousands of crores of rupees. According to industry chamber CII, this is the one of the worst crises ever to hit the Indian tourism industry impacting all its geographical segments - inbound, outbound and domestic, almost all tourism verticals - leisure , adventure, heritage, MICE, cruise, corporate and niche segments.

The whole tourism value chain across hotels, travel agents, tour operations, destinations, restaurants, family entertainment venues and air, land and sea transportation have been hit.

In an impact assessment of the coronavirus pandemic, CII Tourism Committee said inbound foreign tourism of over USD 28 billion in value terms accounts for an average 60-65 per cent between October to March.

"As the news of the virus started picking up from November, the percentage of cancellations started going up in this segment exponentially and is reaching a peak of almost 80 per cent now in March in many Indian locations. The value at risk from this segment will be in multiples of tens of thousands of crores," the CII assessment report said.

With India cancelling all visas, the chamber said the impact "will be worse".

It further said,"The forward bookings for the inbound season of October 2020-March 2021 which should have started picking are all muted. These are showing highly discouraging signs with cancellations of important global travel marts which are marketplaces for contracting for the next season."

It further said there are reports of large scale forward cancellations from NRI segment from developed markets, which account for over 60 per cent during April to September inbound visits.

"Unless the progression of the virus stops, almost the entire value for the remainder of 2020 season is at risk," the report added.

ANAROCK Property Consultants Chairman Anuj Puri said India's hospitality sector will definitely be impacted by the announcement of a global pandemic, and the mounting numbers of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country.

"The cancellation of visas for foreigners as well as the strong advice issued to Indians to refrain from unnecessary travel will have a marked effect. This is the most unsettling healthcare crisis in recent times and hotel bookings will go south," he added.

On Indians being advised to refrain from unnecessary travel, as per the CII report almost 28 million plus Indians are estimated to have travelled outside in 2019 and there were almost 1.8 billion domestic tourist footfalls.

The holiday season of Indians -- those travelling within the country and outside -- is heavy in April-July, October and December.

"The December holiday season of 2019 took an estimated hit of almost 40-50 per cent, the holiday season of April to July 2020 is likely to take a humongous hit which could be as high as 80-100 per cent, unless there is positive news of the progression of virus decreasing," the CII assessment report said.

There are advanced cancellations and highly reduced forward booking pipelines for the holiday season. Only corporates are flying and that too only on highly essential same day travel. Most of the MNCs are advising work from home, stifling travel, it added.

On suspension of visas, MakeMyTrip Group CEO Rajesh Magow told ,"The period between February till the end of March is typically a lean period because of exam season but we are seeing a demand slowdown for the upcoming summer holiday season especially for international travel. The situation remains dynamic making it hard to quantify the actual impact on our business and industry at large."

He further said,"The decision by the government will have an impact on inbound and outbound international travel. So far there are no restrictions or advisories issued for domestic travel."

VFS Global Regional Group COO - South Asia, Middle East and North Africa, Americas Vinay Malhotra said,"While it is too early to comment on the impact of coronavirus on visa application trends, so far, our visa application processes in India continue on schedule as per the mandates of our client governments."

He also said the company is exploring steps to assuage concerns of people about visiting busy public areas due to the nature of the virus by considering discounted rates on courier return services for visa customers who want to avoid returning to the visa centres to pick up their passports.

Besides, he said,"We are also contemplating lower fees for our Visa at your doorstep service, for those customers who are requesting an alternative to visiting the centres to submit visa applications."

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