10 killed in ghastly road mishaps at Ankola, Khanapur

Mangaluru: This year too, the Mangaluru International Airport has missed being designated as an embarkation point for the annual hajj pilgrimage. 

According to the Haj Committee of India, not many are choosing Mangaluru as an embarkation point. Last year, although Mangaluru was notified as one of the embarkation points, the Union government removed it from the list at the last minute.

Several associations and organisations submitted memorandums to the Haj Committee of India, requesting the reinstatement of Mangaluru as one of the embarkation points, but their efforts have not materialised this year either.

The use of Mangaluru Airport as an embarkation point for the haj began in 2010. In 2019, 1,400 haj pilgrims flew from MIA to Saudi Arabia.

“When the number is less, it is difficult to consider it. It was the same issue as last year,” reacted AP Abdullakutty, chairman of the Haj Committee of India.
Mangaluru as an embarkation point served people from undivided Dakshina Kannada, Kodagu, Shivamogga, Uttara Kannada, and Chikkamagaluru districts.
Last year, the Muslim Central Committee of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts submitted a memorandum to Abdullakutty. They expressed their disappointment with Abdullakutty and stated that Mangaluru had a good number of applicants ever since it was identified as an embarkation point. 
Now, they have to travel to Bengaluru. 

UT Khader, speaker of the Karnataka legislative assembly, pointed out that several Union ministries are involved in the process of designating embarkation points for the haj.

“We are not sure why MIA as an embarkation point was removed. Is it because of fewer applications, or are airlines not willing to bid for MIA as an embarkation point? Is it only an issue with MIA as an embarkation point, or are there other airports in the country facing similar issues? We will try to find out and seek answers. Meanwhile, we will also start working at the earliest so that MIA is considered as an embarkation point for hajj next year,” said Khader.

Mangaluru/Udupi: The Dakshina Kannada and Udupi-Chikmagalur Lok Sabha constituencies recorded a tentative voter turnout of 77.4% and 76.1% respectively until 6 pm on Friday. In the 2019 polls, Dakshina Kannada recorded 77.9%, while Udupi recorded a 75.8% voter turnout.

The DK Lok Sabha constituency recorded a poll percentage of 71.8% at 5 pm. Among the constituencies, Sullia recorded a maximum of 78.4%, followed by Belthangady at 75.6%, Puttur at 75.2%, Bantwal at 73.7%, Mangalore at 73.5%, Mangalore City North at 69.8%, and Mangalore City South at 61.8%.

Urban apathy continued, with Mangalore City South recording the lowest polling percentage.

Meanwhile, Banjarumale, a remote village in Belthangady taluk, recorded 100% polling with all 111 voters showing up two hours before polling ended at 6pm.

Another interior polling station at Elaneer in the same taluk recorded 82% polling at 4 pm. The booth has 471 voters. The district has a total of 18,18,127 voters, with 9,30,928 females, 8,87,122 men, and 77 transgender individuals.

A good number of people turned out to vote during the early hours. Voters are bearing the scorching sun while stepping out to exercise their franchise as heat wave is sweeping through the state. 

The polling process remained largely peaceful, with long queues observed at polling stations from 7 am onwards in several polling stations. However, technical glitches caused delays at a polling station in Karopady, and at St. Xavier School Bejai, where polling was reportedly delayed by nearly two hours.

Polling staff at a booth near the Mulki police station mistakenly marked the wrong finger with ink during voting. They reportedly applied ink to the index finger of the right hand. According to sources, at least 50 individuals had their index finger of the right hand inked. Deputy Commissioner Mullai Mulihan clarified, "The matter was promptly addressed by the sector office. This error affected 8-9 voters"

A total of 18.18 lakh voters in the Dakshina Kannada Lok Sabha constituency and 15.85 lakh in Udupi-Chikmagalur hold the power to determine the fate of candidates competing for their respective segments. The polling process is currently underway across 1,876 booths in Dakshina Kannada and 1,842 polling stations in the Udupi-Chikmagalur segment.

In Dakshina Kannada, a closely contested battle is anticipated between Captain Brijesh Chowta representing the BJP and Padmaraj R Poojary from the Congress. Meanwhile, in the Udupi-Chikmagalur constituency, Kota Shrinivas Poojary of the BJP and K Jayaprakash Hegde of the Congress are the prominent contenders.

Madikeri: A 15-year-old was bludgeoned to death and the accused fled with her severed head at Mutlu village in Somwarpet of Kodagu district on Thursday late night, hours after her SSLC examination result was declared.  

The victim has been identified as US Meena, a 10th grade student of Surlabbi High School. She had passed the SSLC examination and her school attained 100% results. 

However, she was brutally murdered by accused Onkarappa aka Papu (32), a resident of the village. The police have launched a search operation to find the suspect, said Kodagu SP K Ramarajan 

It is said that the minor girl's engagement with the suspect was thwarted by officials from Women and Child Development department on May 9, and later officials had even convinced her parents of not to marry the minor girl.

However, the suspect barged into her house in the night and allegedly kidnapped her. Later, he took her to an area near the periphery of the forest and murdered her after which he fled with her severed head.

Victim's mother too has suffered injuries and is admitted to a hospital for treatment. The reason for the murder will be known after the probing officials have inquired the victim's mother, said the SP.