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

July 23, 2011

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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
May 26,2020

Bengaluru, May 26: Unknown miscreants have set ablaze 30-40 migrant labourers hutments in Bengaluru east, prompting police to take suo motu cognizance, an official said on Tuesday.

"As many as 30-40 migrant labourers' hutments have been set ablaze by unknown miscreants at Kacharakanahallin in KG Halli, we have taken suo motu cognizance of the crime," said a police official to media.

Police are investigating the arson invoking IPC Sections 143, 147, 188, 436, 123, 504, 506 and others.

"There was no loss of life in the arson as the migrant labourers were away at their hometowns because of COVID lockdown," said the official.

The labourers came from different parts of Karnataka to eke out a living and were living in those huts near the Rama Temple in KG Halli.

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News Network
March 6,2020

Bengaluru, Mar 6: At least 13 persons, including women and children, were killed and five critically wounded when an SUV collided with a car that had crashed against a road divider moments ago near Kunigal in Tumakuru district of Karnataka in the early hours of Friday, police said.

Of the victims, while 12 died on the spot, a child breathed his last in a hospital, they added.

The injured were admitted to the hospital, the police said.

Among the dead, 10 were from Tamil Nadu and three from Bengaluru. All of them were pilgrims who were on their way to Dharmasthala in Karnataka.

There were five women and two children among the dead, the police said.

"Thirteen persons have died. The incident occurred post midnight. A car crashed against the road divider and another car collided with it," Tumakuru Superintendent of Police (SP) K Vamsi Krishna said.

The police had to struggle to pull the bodies out from the mangled vehicles.

On learning about the incident, relatives of the victims rushed to the spot.

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News Network
April 9,2020

Kalaburagi, Apr 9: An FIR has been lodged against the management and staff of Bahamani Super Speciality Hospital here in Kalaburagi allegedly for not following procedures meant to deal with COVID-19 and hiding details of patients with coronavirus symptoms, said District Deputy Commissioner Sharath B on Wednesday.

The district family welfare department official and nodal officer of KPME Kalaburagi took cognisance of the reports that the private hospitals in the district are not informing the government about patients having COVID-19 symptoms and they are only reporting about such cases at the last moment.

"It has come to our light that some private hospitals in Kalaburagi city are hiding information about the patients who are having COVID-19 like symptoms and these cases are not being reported on time to us," said the District Deputy Commissioner.

"We verified the records of these hospitals and it is clear now that they are revealing the serious cases in the last moment when the treatment has not given any help to patients. Only then such cases are bringing to ESI hospital in Kalaburagi. We have taken steps to quarantine the entire staff member of Bahamani hospital. We have taken legal steps against them for non-compliance of the orders issued to them and for not reporting this matter to us at the earliest stage," he said.

A case has been registered under the Disaster Management Act, 2005 column 51, 58 and sections 269 and 188 of the Indian Penal Code.

He further said that two new cases were reported positive on April 8 and one person has succumbed to the infection because he was having a severe respiratory infection.
He appealed to everyone to strictly follow lockdown restrictions and not violate Section 144 at any cost.

Speaking about the attacks on Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) and Anganwadi workers, who were given a task to collect travel details of locals in view of coronavirus crisis, Sharath said: "Some of the health workers, ASHA and Anganwadi workers, who have been given a task to going from door to door to verify health status were troubled unnecessarily, saying that they have come to collect data for NRC and NPR."

"They are doing a survey on behalf of the district administration as they have to gather travelling information so that a person can be quarantined to contain COVID-19 spread. There has been an attack, a case has been registered in this regard," he said.

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