Muzaffarnagar, Feb 26: A 16-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a 22-year-old man, whose sister made a video of the incident, police said today.
The incident took place yesterday in the Civil Lines area of Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh.
The girl has alleged that she was taken to a house by the man's sister and raped. The accused also threatened her of dire consequences if she reported the matter, police said.
The police have registered a case on the complaint of the girl.
Dubai, May 5: Tickets on repatriation flights from UAE to India, which start on May 7, could be costlier than regular airfare, and adding to the financial woes of those flying back. Nearly 200,000 Indians in the UAE have registered on the website seeking to return home.
“A one-way repatriation ticket to Delhi will cost approximately Dh1,400-Dh1,650 - this would earlier have cost between Dh600-Dh700 [during these months],” said Jamal Abdulnazar, CEO of Cozmo Travel. “A one-way repatriation flight ticket to Kerala would cost approximately Dh1,900-Dh2,300.”
This can be quite a burden, as a majority of those taking these flights have either lost their jobs or are sending back their families because of uncertainty on the work front. To now have to pay airfare that is nearly on par with those during peak summer months is quite a blow.
Sources said that officials in Indian diplomatic missions have already initiated calls to some expats, telling them about likely ticket fares and enquiring about their willingness to travel.
Although many believed repatriation would be government-sponsored, Indian authorities have clarified that customers would have to pay for the tickets themselves. Those who thought they were entitled to free repatriation might back out of travel plans for now.
Fact of life
But aviation and travel industry sources say higher rates cannot be escaped since social distancing norms have to be strictly enforced at all times. That would limit the number of passengers on each of these flights.
“One airline can carry only limited passengers - therefore, multiple airlines are likely to get the approval to operate repatriation flights,” said Abdulnazar. “Also, airports will have to maintain safe distance for passengers to queue up at immigration and security counters.
“Therefore, it is recommended that multiple carriers fly into multiple Indian airports for repatriation to be expedited.”
The Indian authorities, so far, have not taken the easy decision to get its private domestic airlines into the rescue act. Gulf News tried speaking to the leading players, but they declined to provide any official statements. So far, only Air India, the national airline, has been commissioned to operate the flights.
Air India finds itself in the driver's seat when it comes to operating India's repatriation flights. To date, there is no confirmation India's private airlines will be allowed to join in.
UAE carriers ready to help out
UAE’s Emirates airline, Etihad, flydubai and Air Arabia are likely to also operate repatriation flights to India after Air India implements the first phase of services.
“We are fully supporting governments and authorities across the flydubai network with their repatriation efforts, helping them to make arrangements for their citizens to return home,” said a flydubai spokesperson.
“We will announce repatriation flights as and when they are confirmed, recognising this is an evolving situation whilst the flight restrictions remain in place.”
An AirArabia spokesperson said the airline is ready to operate repatriation flights when the government tells them to.
Travel agencies likely to benefit
Apart from operating non-scheduled commercial flights, the Indian government is also deploying naval ships to bring expat Indians back. Sources claim the ships are to ferry passengers who cannot afford the repatriation airfares.
Even then, considering the sheer numbers who will want to get on the flights, travel agencies are likely to see a surge in bookings since airline websites alone may not cope with the demand set off in such a short span.
Learn from Gulf governments
In instances when they carried out their own repatriation flights, some GCC governments paid the ticket fares to fly in their citizens. Those citizens who did not have the ready funds could approach their diplomatic mission and aid would be given on a case-to-case basis.
Should Indians wait for normal services to resume?
Industry sources say that those Indians wanting to fly back and cannot afford the repatriation flights should wait for full services to resume once the COVID-19 pandemic settles.
But can those who lost their jobs or seen steep salary cuts stay on without adding to their costs? And is there any guarantee that when flight services resume, ticket rates would be lower than on the repatriation trips.
As such, normal travel is expected to pick up only after the repatriation exercise to several countries is completed. UAE-based travel agencies are not seeing any bookings for summer, which is traditionally the peak holiday season.
“Majority want to stay put unless full confidence is restored,” said Abdulnazar. “I expect full normalcy to be restored not until March 2021.
“People have also taken a hit to their income. Without disposable income, you will curtail your travel.”
What constitutes normalcy?
Airfares are expected to remain high, given the need to keep the middle seats empty to practise safe distance onboard.
“We expect holiday travel to resume by October or November - but, the travel sentiment will not go back to pre-COVID-19 levels anytime soon,” said Manvendra Roy, Vice-President – Commercial at holidayme, an online travel agency. “The need to keep the middle seat vacant will add 30-40 per cent pricing pressure per seat from an airline perspective.
“This will make holidays more expensive.”
As for business travel, it will take some time to recover. Corporate staff are now used to getting work done via conference calls. “Companies will also curtail their travel expenditure since their income has taken a hit,” said Abdulnazar.
Islamabad, Jun 24: A plane crash which killed 97 people in Pakistan last month was because of human error by the pilot and air traffic control, according to an initial report into the disaster released Wednesday.
The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane came down among houses on May 22 after both engines failed as it approached Karachi airport, killing all but two people on board.
"The pilot as well as the controller didn't follow the standard rules," the country's aviation minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan said, announcing the findings in parliament.
He said the pilots had been discussing the coronavirus pandemic as they attempted to land the Airbus A320.
"The pilot and co-pilot were not focused and throughout the conversation was about coronavirus," Khan said.
The Pakistani investigation team, which included officials from the French government and the aviation industry, analysed data and voice recorders.
The minister said the plane was "100 percent fit for flying, there was no technical fault".
The county's deadliest aviation accident in eight years came days after domestic commercial flights resumed following a two-month coronavirus lockdown.
Many passengers were on their way to spend the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr with loved ones.
New Delhi, July 1: In a terrific incident with chilling echoes of the 2015 Dadri mob lynching, a Muslim man, who was carrying meat, was savagely attacked by a mob belonging to a saffron outfit in the presence of in BJP ruled Haryana on the eve of Eid al-Adha.
The incident occurred at around 9 a.m. on Friday, July 31 at Badshahpur village in Haryana’s Gurgaon, when Lukman was transporting meat in a pic-kup truck.
The attack was captured on mobile phones by onlookers and the video clips of the incident are now spreading on social media.
A group of saffronite cow vigilantes chased the truck for about 8 km managed waylay it. Lukman, who was driving the truck was pulled out and brutally assaulted on the suspicion that he was transporting cow meat.
Just like Dadri, the police were faster at sending the meat to a lab for testing than catching any one of the suspects. One of the assailants - Pradeep Yadav- has been arrested.
After being beating to an inch of his life, Lukman was bundled into the pick-up truck and taken back to Gurgaon's Badshahpur village where the goons started thrashing him again.
This is when the police stepped in and stopped them - only to find the assailants fearless enough to even take on them.
Lukman was taken to a hospital and the police filed a case against "unidentified individuals" even though the video of the incident recorded by witnesses shows the faces of the assailants.
The owner of the vehicles said that the meat was buffalo and he has been in the business for 50 years.
The police have so far refused to give a statement on record on the incident and explain their inaction as seen on video.
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Ache din for rapists in India.
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