Valedictory ceremony held at Saudi Embassy in Delhi for Indian Haj delegation invited by Saudi King
New Delhi: A valedictory ceremony was held on Tuesday at the Saudi Embassy in New Delhi in honour of the thirty-member Indian Haj delegation invited by the King of Saudi Arabia to perform the holy pilgrimage this year as special royal guests.
The event was graced by the presence of the attaché of Islamic Affairs at the Embassy, Badr Nasir Alanazi, who personally interacted with the delegates, offering them warm wishes and prayers for a blessed pilgrimage. The ceremony marked a formal send-off for the honoured pilgrims ahead of their departure to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.
Among the prominent figures in the delegation is Panakkad Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal, President of the Indian Union Muslim League in Kerala. Representing Karnataka is Safwan Junaid, a resident of Pandeshwar in Mangaluru, known for his active involvement in social and religious activities.
Each year, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, through its Ministry of Religious Affairs, selects a group of individuals from across the globe as part of a special royal guest program for Haj. The King of Saudi Arabia, who also serves as the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, sponsors the entire pilgrimage, including travel, stay, and related arrangements. This year, over 1,300 individuals from various countries have been selected under this program, with 30 invitees representing India.
The Indian delegation is scheduled to depart for Jeddah from New Delhi on May 28, from where they will proceed to perform the Haj pilgrimage.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
MP cruise boat tragedy: Search ops expanded to trace four missing passengers
Jabalpur (PTI): Army divers and disaster response teams on Saturday expanded their search at Bargi Dam in Madhya Pradesh to locate a man and three children still missing after the cruise boat tragedy that claimed nine lives two days ago, officials said.
With 28 of the 41 identified passengers onboard the ill-fated cruise boat rescued safely, police are preparing to register an FIR in connection with the accident that occurred at the reservoir in Jabalpur district on Thursday evening, they said.
The search radius has been expanded to 5 km in the backwaters of the Bargi Dam, located downstream of the Narmada River, area sub-divisional officer of police (SDOP) Anjul Ayank Mishra told PTI.
Nine people drowned in the incident, while 28 were rescued, and efforts are ongoing to trace the missing persons, he said.
ALSO READ: Alleging unauthorised sorting of postal ballot covers, TMC files complaint with EC
According to the police, more than 200 rescuers, including around 20 Army divers airlifted from Agra, began the search operation at 5 am on Saturday to trace Kamraj, an employee of the Ordnance Factory in Khamaria, his son Tamil (5), Vijay Soni (6) and Mayuram (5).
Mishra said that an inquest case has been registered and the post-mortem of nine deceased persons has been completed.
"Our priority is to search for the missing persons. We will soon register an FIR," he said.
Investigators have said that CCTV footage near the boarding point showed 43 people heading towards the ill-fated boat, and the names of 41 persons, who boarded the vessel, have been ascertained so far.
Collector Raghvendra Singh confirmed that a search is underway for four missing persons.
The rescue operation, being carried out by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and local divers, was briefly affected around 9 am due to strong winds.
The state government on Friday ordered a probe into the incident and dismissed three crew members after survivors alleged negligence and safety lapses, including failure to provide life jackets.
The government also banned the operation of similar vessels in the state.
The boat, operated by the state tourism department, sank during a sudden storm around 6 pm on Thursday, and the wreckage was retrieved from the dam water on Friday, after the rescuers confirmed that there were no more bodies inside.
Eyewitnesses have said that strong winds made the water choppy, prompting passengers to raise an alarm and ask the crew to steer the vessel towards the riverbank.
A survivor alleged negligence by the crew and described a last-minute scramble for life jackets.
