Makkah News and Updates

Tuesday, 21 April 2015

The “world’s first” multi-functional next generation prayer calculator has been launched by an online Islamic travel platform.

Halal Trip, an online travel website specializing in halal and family-friendly travel, has allowed its mobile app to give Muslim travelers a simple way to find prayer times and locations whether on air, land or sea.

The new feature instantly calculates the prayer times for the current location, the distances for nearby mosques and the time it will take to reach them.

For travelers it will also work out whether a user can reach their hotel in time for prayers, according to a statement from the company.

The new feature is an addition to the existing in-flight prayer calculator.

“The Muslim traveler is now much more technology savvy than ever before. They are increasingly coming from a younger demographic and are now some of the early adopters of online innovations,” Fazal Bahardeen, CEO of HalalTrip and parent company CrescentRating said in a statement.

The Halal tourism sector is estimated to be valued at $145 billion, according to figures in the MasterCard-CrescentRating Global Muslim Travel Index 2015.

“The HalalTrip app now brings together a number of key essential travel resources for Muslims which includes Halal food discovery.

The Halal food spotting feature allows users to ‘spot’ Halal food dishes and upload images, comment and share via social media to millions across the world,” the statement added.

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/busi...-launched.html

 

Mataf expansion updates

pics by Mohammed Idrees - 1 rajab 1436 - 20 April 2015

21 April 2015

Travel firms selling bogus pilgrimages to Mecca are being targeted in a crackdown by police and trading standards.

The fraudsters hope to cash in on Muslims going on the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia which every believer is expected to make once in their lifetime.

Greater Manchester Police and Tameside trading standards officers were joined by Birmingham Trading Standards and the City of London Police in raiding premises on Monday in Tameside.

Three people were arrested on suspicion of selling fraudulent pilgrimages.

See on video: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-manchester-32390386

April 16, 2015

Azizia Panda United Co. recently opened a new branch for Pandati markets in the central area near the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah, the first stage of its expansion plan to cover major districts in Riyadh, Jeddah, Madinah and Dammam.

The number of Pandati branches has so far reached 209 Kingdomwide of which 96 are in Riyadh, 24 in the Eastern Province and 88 in Jeddah as the next months are expected to witness big expansion for its markets in all major cities.

CEO of Azizia Panda United Muwaffaq Mansour Jamal said that Pandati considered to have its first branch’s location near the Prophet’s Mosque to meet the needs of the visitors of the Prophet’s Mosque to buy their daily and urgent needs, including dairy products, fresh vegetables and bakeries.

The new Pandati markets fall within small shopping stores, which were launched by the Azizia Panda United Co. in the middle of 2013 to be added to the its reputable series of Panda Supermarkets and Panda Hypermarkets.

Jamal stated that through Pandati markets, the company plans to expand services to its customers and meet their daily requirements. The turnout to new branches has stimulated the company to intensify efforts for completion of the first stage and the launch of the second stage, he added.

Azizia Panda United Co., a subsidiary of Savola Group, says it is one of major retail companies in the Middle East. It has 220 branches Kingdom wide. — SG

http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index...20150417240704

 

Obama’s grandma arrives for Umrah

April 20, 2015

Good news for women Haj aspirants.

They can now accompany their male ‘Mahram’ (close kin) who are already selected for the pilgrimage this year.

The Haj Committee of India has allotted 200 such seats for the entire country.

In case the number of applicants exceed, selection would be made on the basis of ‘qurrah’ (draw of lots). The last date for applying for the Maharam quota is May 20.

Pilgrims, who gathered for the first orientation training camp here on Sunday, were quite excited by this piece of news.

Women who couldn’t apply for Haj in time can now undertake pilgrimage if their close relatives are proceeding on Haj.

Pilgrims can also look forward to free accommodation at the Nizam’s ‘Rubat’ in Makkah. According to Deputy Chief Minister, Mohd Mahmood Ali, the Rubat row is almost solved and free accommodation of 600 Haj pilgrims is certain. For the last couple of years pilgrims couldn’t avail accommodation at the guest house built by Nizam because of the dispute between the Nizam Awqaf Committee and Husain Shariff, caretaker of the Rubat. Selection for the Rubat accommodation will be made from the pilgrims who opted for the ‘Azizia’ category.

Efforts are also on to secure an additional quota of 2,000 seats for Telangana. Chief Minister, K. Chandrashekar Rao, has already written to the Ministry of External Affairs in this regard.

Pilgrims need not bother about ‘qurbani’ (animal sacrifice) as the Haj Committee of India is making arrangements for it in association with the Islamic Development Bank of Saudi Arabia.

A sum of 490 Saudi Riyals towards ‘qurbani’ and 110 Riyals towards food at Madina Munawwara will be deducted from the foreign exchange being provided to each pilgrim.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/...cle7120893.ece 2015-04-21

Around 30,000 Bangladeshis who applied to perform Hajj cannot go to Saudi Arabia this year for the religious ritual due to quota restrictions, the religious affairs ministry has said.

Ministry officials said at a press conference on Tuesday that 101,750 people would be sent to Saudi Arabia this year for Hajj as per Bangladesh’s quota.

Of them, 10,000 will go on government packages and the rest on private arrangements.

Religious Affairs Minister Matior Rahaman requested the additional 30,000 people wishing to perform Hajj to ‘keep patience’.

He requested the agencies to give priority to these people failing to perform the ritual this year during next year’s Hajj.

Of them, nearly 10,000 have already deposited their money and the remaining 20,000 applied for Hajj registration through private agencies.

Ministry Deputy Secretary Md Faizur Rahman Faruqui said total 111,012 people had deposited money for Hajj, though only 91,908 were registered.

Among the depositors, 9,254 are being barred by quota restrictions.

The ministry’s Secretary Chowdhury Md Babul Hassan said it was the first time for the number of depositors to exceed Bangladesh’s Hajj quota.

Asked about the reason, he said, “Every registration was supposed to have been displayed immediately on the website. But that did not happen as the software had not been developed.”

Flights to take Hajj pilgrims to Saudi Arabia will start from Aug 16 and carry them until Sept 18.

Return flights bringing pilgrims back home will start from Sept 27 and continue until Oct 28.

http://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2015/...ta-restriction

Thursday, 23 April 2015

MAKKAH — A tunnel is to be dug under the western Jamarat Bridge for the Third Ring Road, according to a source at the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs.

There has been speculation lately about how the new road would cut through the Holy Sites, Makkah Arabic daily reported.

The tunnel will be parallel to Al-Haj Street, the source said, adding that there have been other options suggested by the consultant engineer regarding the project.

He said: “The ministry considers the tunnel the best option for this road in view of the high number of pilgrims who stay in the Holy Sites during the Haj Season. It has sent a report to the Makkah Development Commission to this effect.”

Saud Al-Thikri, director of ministry’s Holy Sites projects implementation department, said the bridges of the Third Ring Road would be connected with the tunnel and Al-Haj Street as well.

“There will be a curve near Al-Noor Specialist Hospital in the north side. Bridges and intersections with Muzdalifah will be built in addition to an overpass at Al-Aziziyah Street and another one at Al-Haj Street.”

Dr. Abbas Qatan, former undersecretary for Makkah Mayor who was in charge of projects, said the new road starts at Kudai intersection and extends to Al-Noor Specialist Hospital then cuts through Al-Aziziyah.

Various government bodies are working closely with one another to implement the project.

There were some concerns that the road would cut across the railway at the Holy Sites and the agencies concerned decided to dig a tunnel under Al-Jamarat Bridge to avoid any problems this might cause. The final plans will be ready over the next two months, he said.

http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index...20150423241461

Thursday, 23 April 2015

A worker loads large quantities of Zamzam water onto a truck bearing no logo near the bottling plant in Makkah amid concerns about a growing black market for the holy water. There are also fears that the water stored incorrectly could be contaminated.

http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index...20150423241346

Thursday, 23 April 2015

JEDDAH — Money exchange offices in Makkah have stopped changing a number of foreign currencies including the Sudanese pound, the Russian ruble and the Libyan dinar, local business daily Al-Eqtisadiah reported on Tuesday quoting market sources.

A number of currency exchange officials said the prices in Makkah are controlled by the exchange offices in Jeddah that send them daily lists containing the prices of all foreign currencies.

According to them, transactions have also been halted for the CFA, the official currency of five West African countries; the Yemeni riyal; and the Syrian pound.

Salem Bashamil, owner of an exchange office in Makkah, said the offices have stopped dealing in these currencies according to the lists they receive daily from their counterparts in Jeddah.

He said the exchange prices of the Sudanese pound, Libyan dinar, Russian ruble, Syrian pound and the CFA of Nigeria, Cameroon, Senegal, Chad and Mali are ambiguous and sharply fluctuating.

Bashamil said they expected prices of the Chinese yuan to go up, especially when a delegation of Saudi businessmen was traveling to China to attend a trade fair.

“The price did not go up in the past because the businessmen preferred to take with them US dollars instead,” he said.

According to Bashamil, 100 yuan are sold at SR62 and bought for between SR57-SR58.

“People, however, buy their yuan from Jeddah because it is not available in Makkah,” he added.

Bashamil said demand for the Iraqi dinar is growing as pilgrims and traders from the country prefer to buy it before they travel back home.

Abdullah Al-Sayrafi, another owner of an exchange office, said the price lists they receive from Jeddah have unwanted currencies marked with crosses beside them. “When we see an x against any currency, we immediately stop buying it,” he added.

Al-Sayrafi said the buying and selling of the Iranian rial and the Afghan afghani has also been on hold for a long time.

He described the current currency trade as “recessing” and said daily transactions were between SR400,000 and SR600,000.

“These are small amounts of money compared to the high seasons of Haj and Umrah,” he said.

Sayrafi said the declining price of the euro has adversely affected the prices of currencies of all southeast Asian countries, Swiss franc, South African rand, Egyptian pound, Canadian dollar and Australian dollar.

He said the demand is still good for the Turkish lira, which Saudi vacationers prefer to buy before proceeding to Turkey for their holidays.

“The demand for Turkish lira has increased by about 80 percent and is expected to soar further during the school summer holidays,” he said.

Sayrafi said the demand for the Malaysian ringgit has increased by 40-60 percent, occupying second place after the Turkish lira.

http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index...20150423241345

Mataf Phase I & II

Porticos

Arches

Mataf Phase III

April 22, 2015

LAHORE - The Saudi government has asked the Umrah pilgrims not to stay more than 15 days due to expansion of Harram, and approval of new Umrah visas has been put on hold till further orders, said a travel agent while talking to The Nation Tuesday. He said that hundreds of Pakistani pilgrims, who had got their visas and tickets issued for more than 15 days in advance, would suffer due to the new policy.

It is worth mention here that as per Saudi polices, Umrah pilgrims were allowed to stay in the holy cities of Makkah and Madina for 15 to 30 days. The Saudi government takes the step of reducing the stay period every year during the month of Rajab due to expected increase in the number of pilgrims in Ramadan.

Since every Muslim wishes to spend his maximum time in Makkah and Madina during the holy month of Ramadan, but due to expansion and construction work of Harram, the Saudi government chalked out a strategy to provide hassle-free services to Umrah pilgrims. Though, the pilgrims would face problems, but the travel agents contrary to this were happy since in this way, they would be in position to send maximum pilgrims to Saudi Arabia and earn more money.

A travel agent namely Ijaz said that the Saudi government has imposed ban on the issuance of new Umrah visas for the last three days. “I sent passports of pilgrims for Umrah visa on Saturday but there is no response so far and I fear that it will take two to three more days for approval of the same”, said a travel agent seeking anonymity. He said that some travel agents were violating the rules and regulations, and sent pilgrims for 21 days despite restriction imposed by the Saudi government.

Some circles of the tour operators and Haj organisers think that the restrictions were the outcome of Saudi-Yemen war but many of them took it as a matter of routine. A travel agent namely Arshad said that the Saudi govt had imposed ban on the issuance of visas from May 15 to 30 last year.

He feared that rates of Umrah and cost of visa fee would go up alarmingly from Rajab onward. Umrah package which is available in normal days from Rs30,000 to Rs40,000 would climb up to Rs80,000 to Rs90,000 and similarly, the Umrah rate which is Rs46,000 after Haj would go as high as Rs85,000 by the holy month of Ramadan.

http://nation.com.pk/national/22-Apr...od-for-15-days