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Air crash payout judgment a big boost to our fight'

[email protected] (CD Network)
July 21, 2011

Mangalore, July 21: The Kerala High Court judgment ruling that the families of the victims of the Air India Express crash in Mangalore Mangalore last year are entitled to a minimum individual compensation of Rs 75 lakh has evoked a sense of relief among the the relatives of those who died in one of the worst air disasters in India's aviation history.


Welcoming the decision, Mohammed Beary, president, Mangalore Air Crash Victims' Families Association, said, the counsel of Air India and senior advocate H.D. Nanavati had been staunchly opposing our claim for awarding compensation as per the provisions of the Montreal convention.


“Nanavati had also ridiculed the then aviation minister Praful Patel by saying that he did not have legal knowledge. The Kerala High Court judgment will be a boost for our fight against the discriminatory payout policy pursued by the Air India and their agencies,” Mr Beary said.


However, Mr. Beary was quick to add that“A person's life can't be equated with money.”


“We have also approached the Swedish lawyers seeking compensation on par with international standards. We have given all our document s to the reputed legal firm. One should also bear in mind that the when we filed a writ petition in the High Court through, it was yet not confirmed that the tragedy was a result of pilot error,” he noted.


When asked about the possibility of Air India filing an appeal in the High Court, Mr Beary, said we are prepared to fight against such an appeal also.


“Our lawyers —Urban Olson and Stephen Erikson - both from Stockholm in Sweden, will hold negotiations with a London insurance company with regard to the compensation of 60 crash victim families. The meeting will take place on July 28. This will be followed by two more rounds of negotiations. We are hopeful of securing justice,” Mr. Beary said.


Meanwhile, Mangalore Air Crash Victims' Families Association (formed to help the victims' kin) Legal Advisor Varadaraj K termed the verdict as landmark and said the decision would not only help the family members of May 22, 2010, crash victims, but would also serve as a future reference.

Recalling the “callous attitude” of the advocates of Mulla & Mulla (the legal counsels for Air India), who offered only Rs 35 lakh compensation to the kin of Mohammed Rafi of Kasargod, a victim of the air crash, Varadaraj said the Air India counsels had in fact forced Rafi's father Abdul Salam to approach the High Court that ruled in favour of Rafi, thereby helping all the victims.

Counsels for Air India had fixed Rs 30 lakh for women, Rs 25 lakh for children and Rs 35 lakh for men killed in the crash.

Prof John D'Silva, Principal, St Aloysius PU College, who also refused to accept the meagre compensation offered by Air India for his 29-year-old relative Ullas Joseph D'Silva's death, said: “They (Air India counsels) can't bargain or fix a price for a human being based on his present salary, when there is every chance of him getting a promotion in his career.” Ullas was employed as an accountant in a five-star hotel in West Asia.

Air India reaction

Meanwhile Air India has clarified that the airlines was not connected with the issue of compensation and the issue was being handled by the insurance companies.


When contacted, Chellam Prasad, Air India (Mangalore)?Station Manager, said the national carrier was awaiting a copy of the Kerala court judgment. He said the authorities would decide the future course of action after obtaining the verdict copy.

Victim's father slams AI

“I had no other option but to approach the court when the advocates (appointed by Air India) cared a pin for our pleas and fixed a price for my son's life,” Abdul Salam said.

“Your son was earning Rs 25,000 in Sharjah. So, we will give Rs 25 lakh as compensation,” Salam cited Mulla &?Mulla chief H?D?Nanavathi as telling him when he approached the Air India counsels for more compensation.

“I told them I would give the legal counsels Rs 50 lakh if they gave me back my son,” Salam said.

So far, the Air India has settled only 55 cases (52 dead and 3 survivors) while 68 persons (47 in Mangalore and 21 in Dubai) have approached the foreign law firm.

mangalore-air-crash-victims

Petitioner Abdul Salam (extreme right), his son Abdul Nasir with a photo of Mohammad Rafi, who was killed in Mangalore air crash

ARV

ARV2

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News Network
March 13,2020

Bengaluru, Mar 13: India has registered the first confirmed case of death due to novel coronavirus. A 76-year-old man from Karnataka's Kalaburgi who passed away recently has been tested positive for Covid-19.

The doctors had suspected that the man had coronavirus, however, the test had not confirmed it.

In an official notification, a senior health official in Karnataka government Dr Suresh Shastri said that the lab test has confirmed that the deceased man had Covid-19.

"The 76-year-old man from Kalburgi who passed away and was a suspected COVID 19 patient has been confirmed for COVID 19. The necessary contact tracing, isolation and other measures as per protocol are being carried out. Telangana government has also been informed since he went to a private hospital there," Dr Suresh Shastri said.

The same information was also shared by Karnataka health minister B Sriramulu.

A senior Union health ministry official said in New Delhi that the death of the man had visited Saudi Arabia from January 29 to February 29. The official said the man had reached in Hyderabad on February 29 and went to Kalaburagi in Karnataka.

State Joint Director (Communicable Diseases) BG Prakash Kumar said all protocols were followed for disposal of the body.

"The body is disinfected completely and disposed of as per the Government of India guidelines," he added when asked to elaborate on the protocols.

He said the Telangana government has also been informed as the man had gone to a private hospital in Hyderabad earlier.

While announcing the death of the man on Tuesday, the state authorities had said the exact cause his death was being ascertained.

According to the Union health ministry official, "While he was asymptomatic on his return (from Saudi Arabia), he developed symptoms of fever and cough on 6th March. One private doctor visited him at his home and treated him there."

"On 9th March, the symptoms got aggravated and he was shifted to a private hospital in Kalaburagi. In this private hospital, he was provisionally diagnosed as 'mid-zone viral pneumonia' and 'suspected Covid-19'," the official said.

"The sample was collected on March 9... Without waiting for the test results, the attendees insisted and the patient was discharged against medical advice and the attendees took him to a private hospital in Hyderabad," the official said.

The patient was admitted to a private hospital in Hyderabad and treated. He died on Tuesday when he was being brought back to the Gulbarga Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS) in Kalaburagi.

Apart from the deceased, Karnataka has confirmed five other positive cases of the novel coronavirus. The fifth case, confirmed on Thursday is of a 26-year-old man who recently returned from Greece.

The patient has been admitted and isolated at a hospital and his condition is stable, a department media bulletin said.

The day also saw the education department declaring summer holidays for students from kindergarten to class six and study leave for higher classes in the city as a precautionary measure.

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coastaldiget.com web desk
June 18,2020

Amidst heightened border tensions between Indian and China, senior BJP leader and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's two year old tweet comparing his party with Communist Party of China started going viral. 

The tweet, dated 26 June, 2016 reads: "Communist Party of China & BJP have done numerous works in social field. This way, there is tremendous similarities between the two parties." (sic)

Twitterati dug up this tweet after over 20 Indian Army personnel, including a colonel, were killed in a clash with Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh earlier this week.

Soon after Chouhan's tweet went viral, netizens took to the micro-blogging site and slammed BJP. One user said, "Interesting comment by Hindutva ITSELF to recognise how similar they are with China. No doubt. Both believe in Dragon Throne .... and brutal absolute control." Another user said, "No wonder the BJP & China both agree that PLA never crossed into Indian territory."

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News Network
January 14,2020

Bengaluru, Jan 14: Assuring depositors that their money was "100 per cent safe" with the bank, Sri Guru Raghavendra Sahakara Bank Chairman K Ramakrishna in Bengaluru on Monday said 62 loans had locked up Rs 300 crore of deposit.

"Your money is 100 per cent safe with Sri Guru Raghavendra Sahakara Bank. It's my responsibility," Ramakrishna said at Sri Guru Narasimha Kalyanamandira auditorium, to assure depositors.

He was addressing angry customers of the bank at a public hearing. Due to the 62 dud loans, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had restricted the lender from executing business, Ramakrishna said amid shouting by depositors. The RBI has limited withdrawals by depositors to Rs 35,000.

"The bank is saying I can't withdraw more than Rs 35,000. In case of our fixed deposit maturing, we will have to renew it as we can't encash it, " said Nagaraj M, 49, who has been dealing with the bank for the past six years.

To assuage customers, the call to an assistant commissioner of police by Bengaluru South MP Tejaswi Surya -- not present -- was relayed on loudspeaker live and the MP claimed that he had spoken to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to help the customers.

Ramakrishna said he would meet customers again on January 19 with all the details and numbers. Dramatic scenes and pandemonium ruled the auditorium before his arrival. Thousands of bank customers threatened to go en masse to the police station and file a case against Ramakrishna.

As he addressed the gathering in Kannada, hundreds of depositors shouted back at him seeking clarifications. At the auditorium, thousands of depositors earlier demanded the bank chairman's presence to clarify the matter.

The lender had invited depositors to the auditorium at 6 p.m. to update them on the bank's status, following a RBI directive restricting the bank from doing business with immediate effect.

"We want the bank's directors here," shouted a depositor from the stage. A handful of policemen were trying to control the crowd and bring order to the assembly. Many elderly and retired persons had arrived to know the fate of their savings. Several women were also present at the meeting.

"It was a good bank with only 0.5 per cent NPAs. Now we can't trust any bank. See what happened with the PMC Bank," said another customer.

Shankar Sharma, 38, an employee of a private company, said majority of depositors were senior citizens and retirees. "I don't have an account with the bank, but my mother, uncle, aunt have deposited money in it. I came for them, " said Sharma. He said many of the bank's 35,000 clientele deposited more than Rs 5 lakh, which had total deposits of Rs 1,600 crore. The bank started operations in 1999.

Ramakrishna was escorted away to safety by the police after his speech even as the depositors were screaming and agitating for justice.

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