Govt not to challenge Kerala HC order on Mangalore crash: Ravi

July 23, 2011

mlor

Mumbai, July 23: Government has decided not to challenge the Kerala High Court order asking Air India to give proper compensation to the next of kin of the victims of Mangalore air crash which claimed 158 lives.

"We welcome the Kerala High Court order to grant compensation of Rs 75 lakh each to the families of the Air India Express' Mangalore crash victims. We have also directed Air India to ensure that the insurance companies settle the payments expeditiously," Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi told PTI.

Ravi responded to a question on the issue via e-mail as he was unable to take phone calls because of illness, his office said.

A senior Air India Express official, who wished not to be named, also justified the Civil Aviation Ministry decision saying "it is not fair on part of the government to challenge against the court order given on compassionate grounds." He also pointed out that there was no financial implication for Air India but the insurance firms.

"We have already disbursed a total of Rs 57 crore as compensation to the next of kin of 74 victims and there has been no dispute over it," the official said.

On July 20, the Kerala High Court had ordered Air India to pay Rs 75 lakh to each to the next of kin of the 158 victims of the Mangalore air crash on May 22 last year. The Air India management was then learnt to have been contemplating challenging it in the Supreme Court.

If the insurer does accept the government view, then it would have to shell out around Rs 118.5 crore as compensation. Out of this Rs 57 crore has already been paid as interim compensation, airline sources said.

The High Court order came on a case filed by Abdul Salam and Ramla, parents of the 24-year-old B Mohammed Rafi, who was killed in the crash that has been termed as one of the worst air disasters in India's civil aviation history.

Within three weeks of the crash, the airline had paid an interim compensation to the victims. There were 166 persons on board the flight IX-892, piloted by a Serbian national.

Under the Montreal Convention, air crash compensation is decided on a case-to-case basis, though there is a minimum slab which has to be given in any case. The factors taken into account include the working age of the deceased or injured, the income they are earning or the number of dependants.

The Kerala court held that the carrier was liable to pay no fault liability of one lakh SDR (special drawing rights equal to Rs 75 lakh) to the petitioner. SDR is a special currency issued by the IMF. This is apart from whatever other compensation the petitioners are entitled to, the court added in the order.

The petitioners prayed for a direction to settle the entire statutory claims made under the provision of the Air Act 1972 from the respondents on the death of Rafi. They had sought Rs 1.5 crore as compensation.

Among the victims, 53 were Keralites, most of them from the northern districts of Kasargode and Kannur.


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News Network
February 15,2020

Bengaluru, Feb 15: The Karnataka Legislative Assembly has decided to set aside two days - March 2 and 3 - for a special discussion over the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act continues across the country.

Assembly Speaker Vishweshwara Hegde Kageri told media persons here today that the Assembly would act as a platform for legislators to speak about the relevance of the Constitution and its contributions for the last seven decades. He had already held a round of discussions with senior legislators and all have expressed their willingness to participate in the debate. More details of the discussion would be worked out in the next few days after a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee of the House on February 18.

Asked whether it would be possible to have discussions rising above partisan politics in the present scenario, Mr. Kageri said “I have appealed to members to discuss the Constitution beyond the political prism.” Each member would be asked to speak on a specific topic of the Constitution.

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coastaldigest.com news network
June 7,2020

Bengaluru, June 7: Promising Kannada actor Chiranjeevi Sarja died of heart attack in Bengaluru on Sunday. He was 39. 

The actor complained of severe chest pain and respiratory problems on Saturday. He was immediately rushed to Sagar hospital in Jayanagar, according to sources.

It is said that he suffered heart attack. Doctors attempted to revive him, but the efforts failed.

Chiranjeevi Sarja, the relative of mutlilingual South Indian actor, Arjun Sarja, had married Meghana Raj, the daughter of Prameela Joshai and Sundar Raj in 2018. He acted in 22 films. 

His throat swab sample have been sent for testing, added the sources.

He had started his career with Vayuputra in 2009. Shivarjuna, which was his last film, had released days before lockdown was imposed.

In October 2017, he was engaged to actress Meghana Raj. They married on 2 May 2018.

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News Network
July 1,2020

Bengaluru, Jul 1: Karnataka registered a record 1,272 Covid positive cases to breach the 16,000- mark to take the states tally to 16,514, while seven people succumbed to the dreaded virus, an official said on Wednesday.

"New cases reported from Tuesday 5 p.m. to Wednesday 5 p.m. 1,272," said a health official.

In the past 24 hours, seven people have succumbed to the virus, two each in Bengaluru Urban and Bidar and one each in Dakshina Kannada, Belagavi and Hassan, taking the state''s death toll to 253.

Of the record number of cases in the last 24 hours, Bengaluru Urban bore the brunt with 735 infections, taking the city''s tally rise to 5,290, out of which 4,649 are active cases.

Among the new cases, excluding Bengaluru, Ballari accounted for 85, followed by Dakshina Kannada (84), Dharwad (35), Bengaluru Rural (29), Vijayapura and Hassan (28 each), Uttara Kannada (23) and Udupi (22).

Chamarajanagar witnessed 21 cases, followed by Bagalkote (20), Tumkur (19), Davangere (16), Chikkaballapura (15), Kalaburagi and Ramanagara (14 each), Koppal (13), Raichur and Chitradurga (12 each), Yadgir, Bidar and Belagavi (8 each), Kodagu (7), Mandya and Kolar (5 each), Shivamogga (3), Gadag (2) and Chikkamagaluru (1).

Of the 1,272 new cases, 1,068 or 84 per cent are contacts of earlier cases while domestic returnees accounted for 42 cases or 3 per cent.

On Wednesday, 145 people got discharged from different hospitals, elevating the total number discharges to 8,063.

Of the 16,514 cases in Karnataka, 8,194 are active cases.

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