The last batch of Umrah pilgrims from Indialeft King Abdulaziz International Airport here on Wednesday afternoon. Atotal of 185 pilgrims returned to Mumbai on board a special Indigo aircraft at2.35 p.m., IndianConsul General Mohammed Noor Rahman Sheikh said. With theirdeparture, the final phase of evacuation of 3,035 Indian pilgrims has beencompleted successfully.
The last arrival of Umrah pilgrims for the current season was on Feb. 27, theday when the Ministry of Foreign Affairs decided to temporarily suspend Umrahpilgrimage from foreign countries as well as visit to the Prophet's Mosque inMadinah. In later phases, Umrah pilgrimage from the Gulf Cooperation Councilstates as well as from within the Kingdom was also suspended.
The last batch of Indian pilgrims was scheduled to return home on March28. However, the Saudi government's decision to suspend all internationalflights effective from March 15 forced all the diplomatic missions and aviationcompanies to coordinate their efforts to send back their pilgrims before theexpiry of the deadline. The General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) alloweda grace period to send back some of the pilgrims who were stranded due to thedisruption of flight services after the end of the deadline for departure.India and some other countries arranged special flights to send back theirpilgrims.
Indian Consul General Sheikh thanked the governments of Saudi Arabia andIndia as well as aviation companies for their full support for the safe returnof the pilgrims. The consulate had set up a round-the-clock helplinefor extending assistance for the return of the pilgrims.
Meanwhile, India's Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) announcedon Wednesday that all forthcoming board exams for classes 10 and 12 have beenpostponed until March 31, both in India and abroad, in view of the coronavirusoutbreak. Some of the exams were scheduled to be held between March 19 and 31.Ongoing evaluation of board exam papers has also been postponed. CBSE said in astatement that it will reassess the situation and communicate fresh dates forexams by March 31.
