Govt rules out bail-out measure for SpiceJet

December 7, 2014

SpiceJet1New Delhi, Dec 7: Government today ruled out any bail-out measure to cash-strapped budget carrier SpiceJet. Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathy Raju also justfied the actions taken by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation against the airline including withdrawal of its unused slots for flight operations.

"I don't think the government can afford to take on such loans onto itself," Raju told CNN-IBN responding to a question whether the government will extend any guarantee as far as the beleaguered airline's debts are concerned.

The Minister, however, expressed the hope that SpiceJet will come out of the current financial crisis.

"We hope not. We hope they (SpiceJet) will be able to fly out of the financial turbulence which they are going through," he said when asked whether the airline was going the grounded Kingfisher Airlines way.

Raju also said the Directorate General of Civil Aviation has done its job by withdrawing the airlines' unused slots and passing other directions to SpiceJet.

Concerned over the deteriorating financial health of SpiceJet and large-scale flight cancellations, aviation regulator DGCA had yesterday withdrawn 186 of its slots and asked it to clear salary dues of all its employees by December 15.

The airline had, however, in a statement yesterday, said surrendering the unused slots to an airport operators was a routine practice and it had already paid November salaries to almost 85 per cent of the employees two days ago.

After reviewing the situation facing the no-frill carrier, DGCA chief Prabhat Kumar took a series of decisions, including asking the airline to file a "convincing schedule" by December 15, to clear its over Rs 1,500 crore dues to various vendors including airports and oil companies as well as stop taking bookings beyond one month among others.

93 arrival and as many departure slots were withdrawn by DGCA as the low-cost carrier was operating 232 flights in October, as against 339 in September.

Ashok Gajapathi Raju had late last week raised serious concern over the financial health of the domestic airline.

"We are running through a lot of turbulent weather...not only the public sector, private sector is also crashing. (With) Kingfisher crashing and, right now, SpiceJet seems to be giving us heart attacks as far as airlines are concerned," Raju had said.

The regulator would henceforth carry out "heightened" surveillance of all SpiceJet flights on landing to ensure that safety is not compromised due to its financial troubles, DGCA sources had said yesterday.

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Agencies
August 5,2020

Ayodhya, Aug 5: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday recalled the significance of the path of 'maryada' associated with Lord Ram in the backdrop of the situation created by COVID-19 and emphasised the importance of social distancing and wearing face masks.

He said that the current situation demands 'maryada' should be 'do gaz ki doori, mask hai zaroori' and exhorted everyone to follow it.

In his speech after laying the foundation stone of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, the Prime Minister said the temple of Lord Ram will inspire and guide humans for ages to come.

He said that the path of `maryada' followed by Lord Ram is all the more necessary today in the situation created by COVID-19.

"The `maryada' (need) today is do gaj ki doori, mask hai jaroori (keep distance of two yards, wear mask). The Almighty may keep all the citizens healthy and happy, this is my prayer. The blessings of Mother Sita and Shri Ram be always there on the citizens," he said.

The Prime Minister termed the occasion as historic and said that India is starting a glorious chapter when people across the country are excited and emotional to have finally achieved what they had been waiting for centuries.

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News Network
April 28,2020

New Delhi, Apr 28: Nafisa Ali took to Instagram to share the inspiring story of her niece, Diya Naidu, who donated her plasma to help patients suffering from Covid-19 after recovering from the disease. The veteran actress shared a photo of her niece from the hospital bed and asked fans to read Diya's post to get a detailed account of her experience.

Nafisa wrote, "Diya Naidu my niece - a COVID19 hero - is back home after donating her plasma - looks like liquid gold - it’s value is priceless as it will save lives. So please read her COVID19 story and share the information that is first hand. It is the need of the hour. Help save lives. #diyanise. #diyanaidu #covid_19 #india (sic)."

Diya Naidu, who is a dancer and choreographer based in Bengaluru, revealed in her Instagram post that she has donated her plasma for other Covid-19 patients. She said that the method has been super effective wherever it's been tried.

Earlier, Nafisa Ali gave a shout-out to her niece on Instagram and penned a heartfelt note for her. She wrote, "I am so grateful to you brave child - a COVID19 warrior (living in Bangalore) has agreed to donate her plasma to help cure other COVID19 serious patients (sic)."

Explaining the process of plasma therapy to treat Covid-19 patients, she wrote, "The process of donating plasma to treat COVID-19 is not very complex and can be done in just two hours. One of the most discussed methods of treatment of the disease caused by the novel coronavirus is plasma therapy, which involves the transfusion of plasma from a convalescent coronavirus patient to a critical patient. The blood of a recovering patient is rich in antibodies produced by the body to fight the virus, which are expected to help the critical patient recover (sic)."

Plasma therapy has been suggested to treat people suffering from Covid-19. People, who have recovered from the disease, are donating plasma as it contains antibodies to fight the disease. Earlier, Kanika Kapoor, who was the first Bollywood celebrity to be diagnosed with the disease, also offered to donate her plasma. She has recovered from Covid-19 and is currently living with her family in Lucknow.

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News Network
March 12,2020

New Delhi, Mar 12: TMC MP Saugata Roy said Home Minister Amit Shah should resign for "failing" to control the riots in Delhi and demanded a judicial inquiry by a sitting Supreme Court judge.

Participating in a discussion on the violence in Delhi in Lok Sabha, Roy said the Delhi riots happened 72 years after Mahatma Gandhi was killed by a Hindu fanatic.

"Gandhiji has been murdered again in Delhi by, you know who," Roy said while addressing the Chair.

Taking on BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi for defending BJP leaders for their controversial remarks, which he claimed instigated the violence, Roy said he has seldom heard such a communal speech ever.

Dubbing the BJP MP as "Devil's Advocate", Roy said, "She spent five minutes defending the most hated man. May I quote (William) Shakespeare and call her the Devil's Advocate?...She is the best Devil's Advocate possible. She has also been an advocate for the Delhi Police which has shown total inaction and ineptness in this whole riot in Delhi."

Thereafter Roy trained his gun at Shah, who was present in the house while the TMC MP was speaking.

He said that when the riots started on February 24, Home Minister Shah was sitting in the front row at Motera Stadium (in Gujarat) welcoming US President Donald Trump.

"When Mr. Shah should have been in Delhi Police control room, he was welcoming Mr. Trump at Motera. There was no order to the police. Then on 25th, things went out of control. Armed mobs fought with each other on the streets of Delhi," Roy said.

Demanding resignation of Shah, Roy raised questions on NSA Ajit Doval's visit to the riots-affected areas on February 26 and asked what was the Home Minister doing.

"Is it NSA's business to control ordinary law and order situation? Why was the Home Minister absent in action? There is no explanation for the same," he said.

The TMC leader said he feels bad standing face-to-face with Shah.

"He is still young, he has a good future. He should acknowledge responsibility for his failure to control or stop Delhi riots and bring peace in three days. In the name of God, go and do not stay in the Home Minister's position," Roy said, adding he is the man who could not prevent riots in Delhi, at a place 10 kilometres away from the Home Ministry.

Roy demanded a judicial inquiry into the riots by a sitting Supreme Court judge and complete rehabilitation for all the riot victims.

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