Central Hajj Committee Chairman informs why M'luru Airport was removed as embarkation point for Hajj
Here's what he said
Mangaluru: The Muslim Central Committee Dakshina Kannada, Udupi districts on Thursday submitted a memorandum to A. P. Abdullakutty, the Chairman of the Hajj Committee of India after the Mangaluru International Airport was removed from the embarkation point for the Hajj pilgrims for the year 2023.
The memorandum urged Abdullakutty to consider granting the embarkation point status again adding that removing it from the list has caused inconveniences to people from Dakshina Kannada and other neighboring districts who had chosen Mangaluru Airport as their embarkation point for their pilgrimage.
Speaking after accepting the memorandum, A. P. Abdullakutty noted that the Mangaluru International Airport was initially considered by the Central Hajj Committee as an embarkation point for Hajj this year but due to the lesser number of pilgrims choosing it as their embarkation point, it was removed from the list.
“There were less than 300 applications that selected the Mangaluru International Airport, so when the international tender was sent to air carriers Mangaluru was removed from the list. It is not controlled by the Centre or the Hajj Committee,” Abdullakutty told Vartha Bharati.
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When asked about the inconveniences being faced by the pilgrims who had selected Mangaluru Airport as their embarkation point, Abdullakutty said the Hajj Committee will discuss the issue and come out with a solution for the pilgrims. He also assured that the pilgrims will be facilitated their embarkation either from Kannur or from Bengaluru.
When asked if Mangaluru Airport will be further considered as an embarkation point in the future, Abdullakutty added that the Hajj Committee would consider it if more pilgrims opt for it as their favored embarkation point next year.
Earlier, Mangaluru International Airport was removed as an embarkation point, prompting social media debates and concerns adding that the people of Coastal Karnataka were being caused inconvenience due to the move.
In 2019, pilgrims from Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Chikkamagaluru, Kodagu, Shivamogga, and other districts embarked on the Hajj pilgrimage from Mangaluru International Airport. In 2020, and 2021 owing to the Pandemic the pilgrimage was not facilitated while in 2022 the majority of the passengers from these districts embarked on the pilgrimage from Bengaluru Airport. After Mangaluru airport not being included in the embarkation point this year, the pilgrims have expressed confusion and dissent over urging the Hajj Committee to intervene and include Mangaluru as one of the embarkation points for Hajj 2023.
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Dazzling Rohit Sharma hits 155 as Mumbai decimate Sikkim by 8 wickets
Jaipur (PTI): Rohit Sharma made a mockery of an inexperienced Sikkim bowing attack with a 94-ball-155 on his return to List A cricket, as Mumbai cruised to an eight-wicket victory in their opening Group C match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy here on Wednesday.
A near capacity crowd of 20,000-odd fans celebrated the Christmas eve witnessing the 'HitMan' carnage, which included 18 fours and nine sixes with Mumbai chasing down a target of 237 in just 30.3 overs.
Truth be told, there was not much to write home about Sikkim's bowling unit with Palzor Tamang, Kranthi Kumar, Gurinder Singh and Ankur Malik looking overawed or clueless from the moment Rohit took guard.
It started with a trademark pull-shot over mid-wicket off Kranthi for a boundary, followed by a swivel pull shot off his hips.
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The pacers lacked sting and twice, seamer Palzor's 125 kmph deliveries were swept fine behind the square for sixes.
Rohit played a few late cuts against the spinners using the pace of their deliveries. He was dropped twice but Rohit remained undeterred and always found a way to bisect the gaps at time and over of his choice.
Rohit also hit some delectable straight shots leaving the Sikkim bowlers in complete awe.
"It is the best day of our lives as we shared the pitch with such a great cricketer. He respected the good balls and punished the poor deliveries. At times he would speak to himself and say, "Yeh achha delivery thaa. Yeh shot mujhe waaha nahi yehaan marna chhiye thaa (This was a good shot. I should not have played this shot in that area)," Sikkim skipper Le Yong Lepcha told PTI.
Rohit had two partnership, one that yielded 141 runs for the opening stand with Angkrish Raghuvansi (38 of 56 balls) and another 75 with debutant Musheer Khan (27).
Abhishek contributes 48 in Punjab's win
Skipper Abhishek Sharma contributed 48 off 45 balls but it was Naman Dhir who stole the show with a fine 97 off 78 balls as Punjab beat Maharashtra by 51 runs in another group league game.
Punjab scored 347 for six largely due to contribution from Dhir along with Singh cousins -- Anmolpreet (85 off 78 balls) and Prabhsimran (60 off 77 balls).
In reply, Maharashtra managed 296 for 8 with skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad (1) enduring a rare failure.
Brief Scores
Sikkim 236/7 in 50 overs (Ashish Thapa 79, Shardul Thakur 2/19).
Mumbai 237/2 in 30.3 overs (Rohit Sharma 155).
Mumbai won by 8 wickets.
Punjab 347/6 in 50 overs (Naman Dhir 97, Anmolpreet Singh 85, Prabhsimran Singh 60).
Maharashtra 296/8 in 50 overs (Prithvi Shaw 47, Ramakrishna Ghosh 73, SS Bajwa 2/36).
Punjab won by 51 runs.
Chattisgarh 233 in 48.5 (Amandeep Khare 76, Deepraj Gaonkar 4/35).
Goa 234/4 in 44.1 overs (Snehal Kauthankar 107 no, Lalit Yadav 43).
Goa won by 6 wickets.
Himachal Pradesh 259 in 47.3 overs (Innesh Mahajan 60, DS Bora 4/44).
Uttarakhand 164 in 40.3 overs (Aanjaneya Suryavanshi 55, J Sucheeth 51, Akash Vashist 3/30).
Himachal Pradesh won by 95 runs.
