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Air India crew briefly detained in Saudi; captain seeks MEA’s action

Agencies
August 1, 2017

Mumbai, Aug 1: After the crew members of the Air India flight from Mumbai to Jeddah flight were detained in Saudi Arabia for three hours due to a permit issue on June 26, a senior Air India Captain has requested the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to take cognizance in the matter and find an amicable solution by coordinating with the appropriate department at the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

"We believe your office will take swift necessary step to resolve this issue faced by pilots and crew, who are not just airline employees but citizens of this country. We are ready to correspond and cooperate with your office in any matter that is reasonably possible from our side," the letter by the senior Air India Captain read.

The letter further reads that it is reliably confirmed that the passports of pilots and crew members were detained and in turn, a document to the effect of an entry visa is issued for the purpose of entering the country or leaving the airport.

"This practice is not recognised by Saudi Arabia's own laws and it is in direct violation of human rights. In fact, a member of the National Society of Human Rights has clarified as early as of 2011 that Saudi laws allow a non-Saudi to keep his or her passport and that the passport belongs only to its holder," the statement said.

The incident took place on June 26 when the crew members of the national carrier landed in Jeddah.

The crew members of the Air India flight 931 were returning to their hotel after having dinner when their taxi was intercepted by Saudi police for a routine permit checking.

Despite showing a copy of immigration and valid Air India IDs, they were put in the police vans and were told not to use cell phones.

Subsequently, one of the crew members made a call to their hotel and explained the situation giving their location. Following which two hotel staff came for their release.

But despite showing the immigration paper to the police, the crew members were taken to the police station.

Later, cell phones of the crew members were confiscated and all of them were locked inside a room.

Three hours later, an Arab hotel staffer came and explained the police official about their identity following which they were released.

The crew members and the air hostess were detained as copies of permits are not valid in Jeddah.

The crew members upon reaching the hotel got a call from the station manager, Jeddah, who enquired about the incident.

The station manager said that the amnesty period is over in Saudi and the government is throwing out illegal immigrants.

 

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Agencies
August 6,2020

Mumbai, Aug 6: Former Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan said on Thursday that overly focusing on what sovereign rating agencies think can take one's eyes off what needs to be done for the economy.

"It is also important to convince both domestic and international investors that after the crisis associated with the pandemic is over, we will return to fiscal responsibility over the medium term, and the government should do more to convince them of that," Rajan told the Global Markets Forum.

India was placed under one of the strictest lockdowns in the world in late March for more than two months to stem the spread of the coronavirus, but cases have continued to rise steadily since the government eased restrictions in June, stymieing hopes of an economic recovery.

The government has announced several initiatives to help the poor and small- and medium-size businesses, but actual cash outgo from the government's measures has been estimated at just about 1% of GDP.

Several attribute the fiscal prudence to fear of a downgrade after Moody's cut India's rating and outlook in early June followed closely by a change in outlook from Fitch.

The central bank on its part too has reduced the key lending rate by 115 basis points on top of the 135 bps last year and is widely expected to cut rates by another 25 bps later on Thursday.

"The RBI and government have certainly been cooperating, but it seems like it is elsewhere, the ball is in the government's court to do more," Rajan said.

He said the RBI needs to focus on whether credit is reaching the stressed areas of the economy and also if the viable firms were able to access credit and not the unviable ones.

"And I think that's where it has to focus its attentions, because resources, as you well know, are limited in India today."

Recently analysts, however, have cited the growing possibility the RBI may prefer to pause and cut rates only at its October meeting.

Government officials too have suggested the possibility of any more fiscal stimulus being announced, would only come in the second half of the fiscal year, once a recovery has taken root and coronavirus cases have peaked.

"What India should focus on at this point is protecting its economic capabilities, so that when it has dealt with the virus it can go resume activity in a reasonable way. That should be the focus," Rajan said.

"And if it does that, there is no reason why the rating agencies will not see that as an appropriate policy".

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News Network
July 3,2020

New Delhi, Jul 3: India reported the highest ever single-day spike of 20,903 COVID-19 cases in 24 hours on Friday, said the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

With these new cases, India's coronavirus tally has risen to 6,25,544 cases of which 2,27,439 patients are active cases while 3,79,892 patients have been cured/discharged/migrated.

379 more deaths due to COVID-19 were reported in the country in the last 24 hours, taking the number of deaths due to the infection to 18,213.

As per the Health Ministry, Maharashtra -- the worst-affected state from the virus -- has a total of 1,86,626 cases including 8,178 fatalities while Tamil Nadu has 98,392 coronavirus cases in the state inclusive of 1,321 fatalities.

Delhi has reported 92,175 cases so far inclusive of 2,864 patients succumbing to the virus.

The Indian Council of Medical Research on Friday said that the total number of samples tested till July 2 is 92,97,749 of which 2,41,576 samples were tested on Thursday.

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News Network
August 7,2020

Kozhikode: An Air India Express flight from Dubai with 190 people on board overshot the Kozhikode tabletop runway on landing there today. The Boeing 737 “fell off” the runway into the valley, broke into two causing death and devastation. 

According to reports, around 20 people were dead including two pilots.

An Air India spokesperson said: “Air India Express flight IX 1344 operated by Boeing 737 aircraft from Dubai to Calicut overshot the runway at Kozhikode at 7.41 pm Friday. No fire reported at the time of landing. There are 174 passengers, 10 infants, two pilots and five cabin crew on board. Rescue operations are on and passengers are being taken to hospital for medical care. We will soon share the update in this regard.”

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is probing this accident. “Prima facie, the aircraft landed beyond the touchdown point and fell into a valley. It has broken into two. We suspect some casualties. More information is awaited,” said a senior DGCA official.

Taking to twitter, defence minister Rajnath Singh wrote: “Devastating news from Kozhikode, Kerala. I am deeply anguished by the loss of lives due to an accident carrying several passengers on Air India flight. In this hour of grief, my thoughts are with the bereaved families. I pray for the speedy recovery of the injured.”

Foreign minister S Jaishankar tweeted: “Deeply distressed to hear about the Air India Express tragedy at Kozhikode. Prayers are with the bereaved families and those injured. We are ascertaining further details.”

While, senior BJP leader from Kerala K J Alphons tweeted: “Second tragedy of the day in Kerala: Air India Express skids off the run way at Kozhikode, front portion splits , pilot dies and lots of passengers injured . All passengers evacuated. Very lucky the aircraft didn’t catch fire.”

More details are awaited.

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