Riyadh: Mortal remains of Cuddalore worker brought home from Saudi Arabia
The mortal remains of Mani Karuppaiah from Edachithur in Cuddalore district, who passed away in Saudi Arabia on November 20, 2025, were flown to Tamil Nadu and reached his hometown on Tuesday.
Mani, who worked as a general worker in a marble factory in Riyadh, suffered a severe brain hemorrhage during duty hours in August 2024 and slipped into a coma. He was first treated at Shemaishi Hospital in Riyadh and later shifted to Ruwaydah Al-Ardh General Hospital, about 230 km from the capital, where he remained under treatment for more than seven months until his death.
After completing all legal and administrative procedures, the body was sent from King Khalid International Airport on December 8 at 10.35 pm via Sri Lanka on Colombian Airlines. It arrived at Tiruchirapalli International Airport at 9.15 am on December 9. His nephew Raja Duraisamy received the remains, which were taken by ambulance to Edachithur. The last rites were performed at 3 pm.
Riyadh-based pro-bono lawyer and social worker Adv. P. A. Hameed Padubidri coordinated the documentation process in liaison with the Indian Embassy. He had been following the case since Mani was admitted to hospital in August 2024. Efforts to shift Mani to India for treatment could not materialise due to legal hurdles.
Members of the Tamil community in Riyadh, including Rahim Suraj and colleagues of the deceased, Kumar Guru and Gughanathan Nagappan, also assisted in the process.
The family has thanked Adv. Hameed, the Tamil community members and the Indian Embassy for their support.
Mani is survived by his mother K. Vennila, wife Sanjalam, daughters Priya and Kaviyarasi, son Ponnarasan and other relatives. He had been employed in Riyadh for more than ten years.
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England sticking with Key, McCullum and Stokes despite Ashes humbling
London (AP): England is not sacking anybody following the 4-1 Ashes loss in Australia.
A review of the tour by the England and Wales Cricket Board, announced within hours of the final match in January, was concluded on Monday. Firing people would “be the easy thing to do,” ECB chief executive Richard Gould said but he insisted, "This is not the time to throw everything out."
Managing director Rob Key, coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes kept their jobs after the best England side to go to Australia in 14 years lost the Ashes in 11 days with two games to spare.
“Moving people on can sometimes be the easy thing to do. That's not the route that we're going to take,” Gould said. “I've seen the driving ambition and determination that we're lucky enough to have within our leadership group to take the lessons from the Ashes and move forward.”
Gould previously was the chief executive of Bristol City soccer club and said the ECB would not follow the same route as soccer's hire-and-fire culture.
“Cricket is a very unique sport in that it takes a team of leadership ... it's not like football where there's a single point of failure or success with a manager," he said. He added the ECB would not “select or deselect management based on a popularity campaign.”
The main criticisms of England's tour were poor preparation, player misbehavior, and selection mistakes.
At a press conference at Lord's, Gould and Key said McCullum and Stokes have not had a “bust up,” they did not want McCullum to “completely change” but “to evolve,” the behavior of some players was “unprofessional,” there will be more consequences for underperforming, and a commitment to “better long-term planning” ahead of major test series.
Some changes were already implemented for the Twenty20 World Cup, where England reached the semifinals. Gould implied that performance saved McCullum.
Key acknowledged that England supporters would be disappointed to see the management team go unpunished.
“I know people want punishment and that people then should be sacked for that,” Key said. “That doesn't mean we don't feel like we've gone through some serious pain: Brendon, myself, Ben. It's been as tough a time as I think I've had.”
