Additional fee collected due to increase of Saudi Riyal rate: Indian Haj Committee
Haj Pilgrimage- 2018
Bengaluru, July 05: The Haj Committee of India asked the Haj pilgrims to pay additional amount along with the fee paid already as Saudi Arabia increased rates for various services and facilities.
Haj Committee of India chief executive officer Dr Maqsood Ahmed Khan clarified in his circular issued on June 26 about the factors caused additional fee for Haj pilgrimage. The bus fare for taking the pilgrims from Airport to the place of their accommodation was increased from 347.50 Saudi Riyals to 391.18 Riyals, Metro rail fare was increased from 250 Riyal to 400 Riyal, bed fee was fixed at 147 and Adahi coupons amount was increased from 450 Riyal to 475 Riyal. Moreover, the Air India has increased the airport taxes. As a result, the pilgrims who leave from Chennai airport have to pay Rs 200, from Goa, Varanasi and Kolkata airports Rs 850, from Mumbai airport Rs 250, Nagpura Rs 200 and those who leave from Srinagar should pay Rs 900 more, he said.
Apart from this, the rate of optional services like (Adahi (Qurbani), Johfa Meeqat and revision) was also hiked. For Qurbani coupons, one has to pay Rs 8508. Those who have already paid Rs 8000, have to pay additional Rs 508. For Johfa Meeqat of Shia Muslims, additional Rs 31,000 should be given, repeated pilgrims have to pay Rs 35,821 and those who have already paid the amount, should pay Rs 619 more, he said.
The additional amount could be made cash payment or credit the amount to the Haj Committee of India State Bank of India account (3217500010 ‘Fee Type 25’) or Union Bank of India (A/c: 318702010406009) through Green Pay In Slip or through online from the website: www.hajcommittee.gov.in, he said.
In Madina, the accommodation fee is slashed from 950 Riyal to 900 Riyals.
- Dr Maqsood Ahmed Khan, CEO, HCOI
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'Go back to your own country': Indian-origin taxi driver attacked in Dublin
London, Aug 5 (PTI): An Indian-origin taxi driver based in Ireland for over 23 years has become the latest to be targeted in an unprovoked attack in the capital Dublin, with local police (Gardai) launching an investigation into the violent assault.
Lakhvir Singh, in his 40s, told local media that he picked up two young men in their 20s on Friday night and dropped them at Poppintree, in the Ballymun suburb of Dublin.
Upon arriving at the destination, the men are said to have opened the vehicle door and struck him twice on the head with a bottle. As the suspects fled, they reportedly shouted: "Go back to your own country".
"In 10 years I've never seen anything like this happen," Singh told ‘Dublin Live’.
"I'm really scared now and I'm off the road at the moment. It will be very hard to go back. My children are really scared," he said.
A Dublin police spokesperson said Singh was taken to the city's Beaumont Hospital with injuries determined as not life-threatening.
"Gardaí are investigating an assault reported to have occurred in Poppintree, Ballymun, Dublin 11 at approximately 11:45 pm on Friday, 1st August 2025. A man, aged in his 40s, was brought to Beaumont Hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injury. Investigations are ongoing," the spokesperson said.
The incident followed an Indian Embassy advisory, also issued on Friday, expressing safety concerns following recent attacks in and around the capital Dublin and urging Indian citizens to take safety precautions.
"There has been an increase in the instances of physical attacks reported against Indian citizens in Ireland recently,” states the advisory.
“The embassy is in touch with the authorities concerned in Ireland in this regard. At the same time, all Indian citizens in Ireland are advised to take reasonable precautions for their personal security and avoid deserted areas, especially at odd hours," the statement reads, adding emergency embassy contact details as 0899423734 and cons.dublin@mea.gov.in.
It came in the wake of a brutal attack on a 40-year-old Indian man at Parkhill Road in the Tallaght suburb of Dublin on July 19, described as “mindless, racist violence” by locals.
The Gardai had opened an investigation into the case and Indian Ambassador to Ireland Akhilesh Mishra was among those who took to social media to express shock over the attack.
“Regarding the recent incident of physical attack on an Indian national that happened in Tallaght, Dublin, the embassy is in touch with the victim and his family. All the requisite assistance is being offered. The embassy is also in touch with the relevant Irish authorities in this regard,” the embassy said in a social media post days after the incident.
A Stand Against Racism protest was also held by the local community in condemnation of what was described as a "vicious racist attack" and to express solidarity with migrants.
Last week, Dr Santosh Yadav took to LinkedIn to post details of a “brutal, unprovoked racist attack”.
The entrepreneur and AI expert stressed that it was not an isolated incident and called for “concrete measures” from the governments of Ireland and India to ensure Indians feel safe to walk the streets of Dublin.
His post revealed that a group of six teenagers attacked him from behind as he walked to his apartment in Dublin.
“This is not an isolated incident. Racist attacks on Indian men and other minorities are surging across Dublin — on buses, in housing estates, and on public streets. Yet, the government is silent. There is no action being taken against these perpetrators. They run free and are emboldened to attack again,” reads Yadav's post.
Fine Gael party Councillor for Tallaght South, Baby Pereppadan, was among those who expressed concern following last month’s attack.
“People need to understand that many Indian people moving to Ireland are here on work permits, to study and work in the healthcare sector or in IT and so on, providing critical skills,” he said.
Another violent anti-Indian attack in Ireland
— Journalist V (@OnTheNewsBeat) August 5, 2025
Taxi driver Lakhvir Singh was attacked with glass bottles while doing his job pic.twitter.com/mtkwhLWISx
