Mangaluru: Haj aspirants asked to submit application forms, passports by Feb 20

Mangaluru: The Air India Express is all set to increase the frequency of its flights from Mangaluru to Abu Dhabi to a daily flight from July 22. 

At present, Air India Express operates four flights in a week to Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.

This will also result in an uptick in daily flights to Bengaluru to eight, with AIE and IndiGo restarting flights and AIE routing aircraft for enhanced Abu Dhabi operations.

At present, IndiGo and AIE operate a total of five flights daily on the Bengaluru-Mangaluru sector. From July 8, the daily flights on this sector will go up to six, with AIE restarting its second daily flight. 

This number will further increase to seven from July 22, on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. AIE will operate this additional flight onwards to Abu Dhabi from Mangaluru.

The Bengaluru-Mangaluru leg will operate purely as a domestic flight, and Abu Dhabi passengers will board at Mangaluru.

From August 1, flights on the Bengaluru-Mangaluru sector will go up to eight on three days in a week – Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, respectively. AIE will operate the third flight on these days to go with its two daily flights.

IndiGo will operate five daily flights, including the fifth flight which it announced in the summer schedule starting March 31. For operations on this sector that sees high passenger footfalls, AIE uses the Boeing-737 Max and IndiGo uses the Airbus series aircraft.

On the Mumbai-Mangaluru sector, AIE will operate the afternoon flight from July 16 in place of Air India, which will continue to operate the morning flight.

Currently, airlines from Mangaluru International Airport, operate five daily flights to Mumbai and Bengaluru, two daily flights to Chennai and Hyderabad, respectively, one daily flight to Delhi, three weekly flights to Pune and one weekly flight to Tiruchirappalli.

International flights operation includes two daily flights to Dubai by AIE, and four weekly flights by IndiGo, four weekly to Dammam, three weekly to Muscat, two weekly to Doha and Bahrain, and one weekly flight each to Kuwait and Jeddah – all by AIE.

Mangaluru: Former minister and KPCC vice-president B Ramanath Rai stated that the NEET-UG should be conducted again and a high-level probe guided by the Supreme Court should be initiated.

“Being a Congress leader from Dakshina Kannada, which is an educational hub with a large number of medical colleges, I have to raise concern towards students and parents.

While a few students were becoming toppers in the exam earlier, this time 67 students scored 720. The grace marks were awarded, though it was not in the NEET guidelines. The govt has been playing with the future of lakhs of students. There should be a transparent and unbiased probe. The Congress will launch a nationwide protest,” he told reporters on Monday.

Stating that the NEET-UG result, which was scheduled to be released on June 14, was released 10 days earlier on June 4, Rai said, “The govt may have announced the results of NEET-UG and the Lok Sabha polls on the same day with the calculations of diverting the people’s attention. While many have made suicide attempts, the issue also has reached the court. Congress demands a high-level probe guided by the Supreme Court.”

Stating that the CET was introduced in Karnataka during the tenure of then-chief minister M Veerappa Moily in 1984, Rai said that a large number of students from the state were able to get admission to medical seats. 

“The previous system of holding medical entrance at the state level should be reintroduced. There is a need for a united fight along with other states for the re-introduction of the CET at the state level. Meanwhile, a fresh NEET-UG exam should be conducted for this year,” he said.

Congress candidate Padmaraj R Poojary, who contested the recent Lok Sabha poll, said a mass protest will be held if the central govt does not respond. He added that none of the students’ unions, except the NSUI, has raised their voice against the NEET-UG controversy.

Mangaluru: Dakshina Kannada District Congress Committee (DCC) President Harish Kumar said that there is no question of him resigning for the party’s debacle in Dakshina Kannada (DK) Lok Sabha constituency.

 “If the party high command wishes to change the DCC President and appoint a new president, then I will continue to work as a party worker. I am an honest party worker and never engaged in groupism,” he told media persons.

To a query on an online campaign asking the DCC President to tender resignation, he said resignation is not carried in pockets. I am not a student of “WhatsApp University,” but I am a Congress student. I have grown in the Congress from student leader till the DCC President. The party has given me the responsibility by looking at my service to the party,” he said.

“None had tendered resignations to the post of DCC President when the candidates were lost in the past,” he clarified.

Stating that the Congress failed to win the Lok Sabha election in DK constituency inspite of united efforts by the leaders, he said “we had worked hard for the victory of the candidate. There were no differences of opinion among the leaders in the party. All of us are responsible for the defeat. We are all with Padmaraj and will strengthen the party further to face the upcoming elections,” he said.

“Padmaraj R Poojary had owned the responsibility for his defeat. All of us are responsible for the defeat and the candidate is not alone responsible,” he said.

He said “the party had a setback even in the state by bagging only nine seats. We had expected to win atleast 14 seats. However, our vote share has increased by two per cent when compared to the Assembly elections. Even in DK, Congress has won more votes.”

Harish Kumar said that he will also own the responsibility for the defeat of the candidates in South west graduates and teachers constituency. “We had expected a victory in the teachers constituency. However, the party had failed to bridge the gap among the graduates and teachers in the district.”

To a query on District in Charge Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao failing to visit the district as one of the reasons for the party’s debacle, DCC President said that Dinesh Gundu Rao was throughout engaged in the party’s campaign in the district.