Mangaluru, May 29 : As many as 30 surfers from various surfing schools in the country will brave the difficult and testing monsoon waves of the Arabian Sea at the inaugural 'Monsoon Surf Challenge' being hosted at the Panambur beach here from June 2-7.

Conceptualised and hosted by Mantra Surf Club -- India's first surf school, the event is being organised by the Kanara Surfing and Water Promotion Council and carries a winner's cheque of Rs 75000 while the runner's up gets richer by Rs 50,000.

The event is sanctioned by the Surfing Federation of India and has support from corporate houses and government bodies like the TT Group, Firefox Cycles, Union Bank of India, Mangalore Refinery Petrochemical Ltd, Mangalore Chemical Fertilizers and New Mangalore Port Trust Ltd.

The Mantra Surf Club aims to make the ‘Monsoon Surf Challenge' an annual affair to be hosted just after the Indian Open of Surfing every year.

"We are happy to see this unique event taking place in Mangalore for top surfers in India, our aim is to continuously promote Mangalore as a premier surfing destination in the country. This event will provide a platform for top Indian surfers to challenge themselves during the famed monsoon surf season," Kanara Surfing and Water Promotion Council Secretary Gaurav Hegde said.



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Malegaon (Maharashtra), Nov 23: In a closely contested election, Mohammad Ismail Abdul Khalique of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) has retained the Malegaon Central assembly seat, winning by a razor-thin margin of 162 votes.

This victory in the north Maharashtra constituency marks a significant turnaround for Khalique, who previously enjoyed a commanding lead in the 2019 elections, winning by over one lakh votes.

Khalique, an Islamic scholar, received a total of 1,09,653 votes this time, narrowly defeating his nearest rival, Asif Shaikh Rasheed of the Indian Secular Largest Assembly of Maharashtra party, who got 1,09,491 votes.

There were a total of 13 candidates contesting in this Muslim dominated constituency. Barring Khalique and Rasheed, two other candidates -- Shaan-e-Hind Nihal Ahmed of Samajwadi Party and Ejaz Baig Aziz Baig managed below 10,000 votes. Other remaining candidates were below 1,000 votes.

This election marks Khalique's third term as an MLA. He initially represented the Malegaon Central seat in 2009 as a member of the Jan Surajya Shakti party.

However, Khalique faced a setback in the 2014 elections when he contested under the banner of the Nationalist Congress Party and lost.

His return to the assembly in 2019 under the AIMIM banner solidified his political presence, and despite the significantly reduced margin this year, he has once again emerged victorious.

The results highlight the competitive nature of the Malegaon Central constituency and underscore Khalique's resilience in maintaining his position amidst changing political dynamics.