Hajj pilgrimage-2019 application distribution starts: Minister Zameer Ahmed
Bengaluru, October 20: Minority Welfare, Hajj and Wakf Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan said that the Indian Haj Committee has started the process of distributing the applications for Hajj Pilgrimage 2019 from today.
Inaugurating the process of distributing the Hajj applications for 2019 at Hajj Bhavan at Thirumenahalli in the city on Saturday, the Minister said that for last year’s Hajj pilgrimage, total 18,427 applications were submitted to the State Haj Committee and among them, 6,624 persons were selected through lottery. This time, Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi would be urged to increase the quota by 2,000-2,500 for the state, he said.
Action against private tour operators
The cases of private tour operators cheating the pilgrims were increasing. They take the money from the Hajj pilgrimage aspirants and disappear. Those who want to prefer private tour operators for Hajj pilgrimage should confirm whether the tour operators have permission or not. The owner of Hareem Tours of Tilak Nagar had collected amount from 138 persons. But later, he was disappeared. For 2019 Hajj pilgrimage, all the 138 persons would be selected without lottery. Among 138 persons, around 15-20 persons were in economically poor condition and he would send them for the pilgrimage in his own expenses, he said.
“The Hajj Committee has been collecting Rs 2.30 lakh from each person. Of which, Rs 76,000 was being spent for flight ticket. If we take the flight tender, then the cost might be around Rs 36,000. If the central government gives us the Karnataka quota, we could arrange the remaining facilities and it would help the people”, the Minister said.
State Haj Committee Chairman Roshan Baig said that he and Minister Zameer would try to increase the quota this time. Last time, the pilgrims from Karnataka had some accommodation problems in Mecca and Madina. Steps would be taken to avoid such problems next year, he said.
In November-December, Central Haj Committee delegation would visit Mecca and Madina to review the accommodation facilities. Since the process of application submission was started three months before, best accommodation could be expected near the Haram and the tomb of Prophet Muhammad, he said.
Maulana Lutfullah, Maulana Zainul Abidin, State Haj Committee Executive Officer Sarfraz Khan, Members M.S. Arshad, Balqish Banu, Syed Sanaullah, BBMP Member Syed Mujahid and others were present.
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.
KKR land Green for record-breaking Rs 25.20 crore; Shaw, Sarfaraz go unsold
Abu Dhabi (PTI): Kolkata Knight Riders splurged a record-breaking Rs 25.20 to land top Australian all-rounder Cameron Green even as Indian stars Prithvi Shaw and Sarfaraz Khan went unsold in the Indian Premier League players' auction here on Tuesday.
Green surpassed compatriot Mitchell Starc (Rs 24.75 crore) to become the most expensive overseas player at an IPL auction. This was after Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings were involved in an intense bidding war for him before the latter emerged winner.
KKR also went after Venkatesh Iyer before pulling out of the race against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, who fetched the services of the India all-rounder for Rs 7 crore.
As far as Green is concerned, his salary for the season would still be Rs 18 crore (USD 1.9 million) as the rest of the amount will go towards the BCCI's player development programme as per the rules of the auction for foreign players.
Green, who previously turned up for Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bengaluru, has so far played 29 matches in the IPL to aggregate 707 runs and take 16 wickets.
Shaw, however, went unsold despite his fine run of form in the domestic circuit lately, and so was the case with Sarfaraz, who smashed a 22-ball 73 in a Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy match for Mumbai on Tuesday.
Big-hitting South African batter David Miller was bought by Delhi Capitals for his base price of Rs 2 crore, but New Zealand swashbuckler Devon Conway, whose base price was also Rs 2 crore, went unsold in the auction.
Seasoned South African opener Quinton de Kock returned to his old base Mumbai Indians for a base price of Rs 1 crore.
A total of 359 players -- 246 Indians and 113 overseas players -- are part of the mini auction pool with the 10 franchises bidding to fill up a maximum of 77 slots, including 31 reserved for foreign players.
