Sifan Hassan wears hijab on Olympic podium after record-breaking marathon win
Paris: Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands set an Olympic record in the women’s marathon, the final track and field event of the Paris Games, with a time of 2 hours, 22 minutes, and 55 seconds. Her performance, especially in the last 250 meters, secured her the gold medal.
However, her victory was marked by more than just her athletic prowess. Hassan accepted her gold medal during the final podium ceremony at the Olympics 2024 wearing a hijab. This act held particular significance as it occurred against the backdrop of France’s controversial decision to ban France's female athletes from wearing hijabs during the competition.
The sight of Hassan receiving her medal while wearing her hijab resonated globally, drawing widespread applause from fans.
Social media erupted with support, praising her courage in standing against the ban.
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Many users highlighted the contrast between her victory and France’s policy, calling it a powerful statement against the country’s stance on religious attire.
Criticism of France’s decision has been extensive, with the Islamic Solidarity Sports Federation and Amnesty International both arguing that the ban contradicts the Olympics' values of equality, inclusion, and respect for cultural diversity. Amnesty International had expressed these concerns just a week before the Games began.
Hassan’s triumph in the marathon caps a remarkable journey. A former Ethiopian asylum-seeker, she won three long-distance running medals in just six days, including a bronze in both the 10,000m and 5,000m events. Her achievement makes her the first athlete since Emil Zatopek in 1952 to medal in all three distance events at a single Games.
Hassan's legacy was already significant before these Games. At the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, she won gold in both the 5,000m and 10,000m, as well as a bronze in the 1,500m, making her the first athlete to medal in both middle and long-distance events at the same Olympics. With her latest victory, she also became the only woman to win gold medals in all three long distance running events: 5,000m, 10,000m, and the marathon.
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Doctors who died on duty during COVID-19 entitled to insurance under PMGKY: SC
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New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court held on Thursday that the families of the doctors who died while doing their duties during the COVID-19 pandemic are entitled to an insurance coverage of Rs 50 lakh under the "Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana".
A bench of Justices P S Narasimha and R Mahadevan set aside a Bombay High Court judgment that had held that private doctors were not entitled to the coverage under the government's insurance scheme.
"There is a requisition of the services of doctors and this is evident from the conjoint reading of the provisions of the Act, the Maharashtra Prevention and Containment of COVID-19 Regulations 2020, the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation Order dated March 31, 2020, the PMGKY-Package Scheme, the explanatory communication to the PMGKY policy and the FAQs released," the bench said.
It said the invocation of laws and regulations was intended to leave no stone unturned in requisitioning the doctors and the insurance scheme was equally intended to assure doctors and health professionals in the frontline that the country is with them.
The court said individual claims for insurance made under the PMGKY-Package will be considered and decided in accordance with the law and on the basis of evidence.
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"The onus to prove that a deceased lost his life while performing a COVID-19-related duty is on the claimant and the same needs to be established on the basis of credible evidence," it added.
The top court was hearing a plea moved by Pradeep Arora and others against a March 9, 2021, order of the Bombay High Court that held that private hospital staffers were not entitled to receive benefits under the insurance scheme unless their services were requisitioned by the state or the central government.
A plea was filed in the high court by Kiran Bhaskar Surgade, who lost her husband -- who ran a private clinic in Maharashtra's Thane -- to COVID-19 in 2020.
The insurance company rejected her claim under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package (PMGKP) on the ground that her husband's clinic was not recognised as a COVID-19 hospital.
The PMGKP was announced in March 2020 and its coverage has since been extended.
It was launched to provide a safety net to health workers to ensure that in case of any adversity due to COVID-19, their families are taken care of.
An insurance cover of Rs 50 lakh is provided to the health workers under the PMGKP, which has become a safety net for the dependents of the Covid warriors who lost their lives to the infection.
