Saudi Arabia to hold 'very limited' hajj due to coronavirus
Saudi Arabia said Monday that this year's hajj will not be cancelled, but that due to the coronavirus only "very limited numbers" of people will be allowed to perform the major Muslim pilgrimage.
The kingdom said that only people of various nationalities already residing in the country would be allowed to perform the hajj. The government did not specify how many people would be permitted to take part.
The annual pilgrimage, which is set to begin this year at the end of July, traditionally draws around 2 million Muslims from around the world for five intense days of worship and rituals in Makkah.
Saudi Arabia has never canceled the hajj in the nearly 90 years since the nation's establishment. It halted the minor umrah pilgrimage, which can be performed year-round, in February, as the coronavirus began spreading across the region.
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Budget 2026-27 directionless, visionless; nothing for Bengal in it: Mamata
Kolkata (PTI): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday described the Union Budget for 2026-27 as "directionless, visionless and anti-people”, which had nothing on offer for her state.
Banerjee, speaking to reporters at Kolkata airport before leaving for New Delhi, also claimed that the Budget had nothing for the common man.
"This Budget is directionless, visionless, actionless and anti-people. It is also anti-women, anti-farmer, anti-education and against the SC, ST and OBC... There is nothing on offer for Bengal in the Budget," she alleged.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Budget in the Lok Sabha earlier in the day.
