M'lore air crash impact: Govt will set up Civil Aviation Authority says Prathibha Patil

March 12, 2012

arcras

New Delhi, March 12: With air traffic growing, the Government on Monday said it would set up a Civil Aviation Authority to make air travel safe and secure and take steps to modernise more airports and air traffic management services.

It would also set up an independent air accident probe panel and initiate measures to protect the interests of air travellers.

These promises were made by the Government in President Pratibha Patil's address to the joint sitting of Parliament.

"Measures will be taken to protect the interests of air travellers. A bill will be introduced this year for a Civil Aviation Authority to ensure safe, secure and affordable air services," Patil said.

She said an independent Air Accident Investigation Board would also be constituted and "air traffic management services and airports will be upgraded and modernised".

A legislation to set up a powerful Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) for better regulation of the aviation sector has already been drafted and was in an advanced stage of getting the official nod, official sources said.

They said the draft was being vetted by the Law Ministry and would be taken up by the Union Cabinet for approval before it is placed in Parliament.

The functions and powers of the proposed CAA, which would replace the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), have been based primarily on the British model.

It would have financial and administrative autonomy to take expeditious decisions on matters relating to a range of activities - from regulation of air traffic services and licensing to ensure financial fitness of airlines, they said.

The CAA would take over the responsibilities of the DGCA in areas like air safety, airspace regulation, setting aviation standards, licensing of airlines, pilots, air traffic controllers and consumer protection.

The government also proposes to provide certain economic regulatory functions to the new authority, including airfares and areas like consumer protection, environmental research and consultancy.

The CAA would come up at a time when the total aircraft fleet in India stood at over 450 and is estimated to cross 1,000 in a few years. In addition, there are over 200 helicopters and private jets.

The passenger handling capacity of Indian airports, which was just 66 million in 2005, has reached 225 million now and is expected to cross 500 million in the next 10 years.

An accident investigation panel is being proposed to separate the functions of the DGCA of making rules and monitoring whether these were being followed in cases of accidents and air incidents.

Government had in May last year created an independent panel to probe aviation accidents, separating the roles of regulator and investigator being performed by the DGCA alone.

This panel was created a day after the Faridabad air crash that claimed 10 lives. It was a step forward towards establishing an independent investigation system which would now be given effect.

The idea to separate regulatory and investigation functions, in accordance with recommendations of the UN body International Civil Aviation Organisation, was mooted in 2010 by then Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel soon after the Mangalore air crash that claimed 158 lives.

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News Network
February 28,2020

The Karnataka BJP, which faced action on Twitter earlier this month over incendiary tweets, this time has passed the blame of Sangh Parivar sponsored Delhi violence to the victims.

In an insensitive tweet on Friday, it dubbed the protests against the notorious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) as "fake" and added that the violence that followed was "the most well-planned assault on the Idea of India," in an apparent attempt to portray the victims as villains.

The handle, notorious for tweets targeting Muslims, blamed the clashes that erupted in Delhi between people demonstrating for and against the CAA on "so called 'Peacefuls'" - a known right-wing slur for Muslims.

Many people on social media called out the tweet for misleading people and covering up the role of Delhi BJP leader Kapil Mishra's provocative speech for triggering the violence or the failure of the Delhi Police, which reports to the former BJP chief and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, in controlling the riots.

Earlier this month, the Karnataka BJP had tweeted a video of Muslim women standing in queue to vote in the Delhi elections, showing their voter ID cards, with the snarky caption: "Keep the documents safe, you will need to show them again during NPR (National Population Register) exercise."

Soon after, the party unit's Twitter handle was blocked by the social media platform for 24 hours after many accused it of encouraging Islamophobia.

NPR has been widely criticised by opposition parties as a precursor to the government's planned NRC or National Register of Citizens which intends to make Indians prove their citizenship with documents that many poor or illiterate do not possess.

Many fear that combined with the already imposed CAA - which promises citizenship to only non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh - the NRC can be used to make millions of Muslims stateless.

The government has denied the allegation and said the CAA only intends to help those who have faced religious persecution. In recent weeks, it has gone back on its rhetoric on the NRC which was announced by Amit Shah in parliament as "it will certainly happen".

The CAA, which was cleared by parliament in December, has triggered deadly protests in the country which left at least 25 dead till Sunday. Since then, at least 42 more people have been killed as large-scale violence erupted in northeast Delhi and hundreds of homes and shops have been burned to the ground.

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News Network
June 26,2020

Belthangady, Jun 26: Thieves broke into a house at Kalmanja village in Belthangady taluk of Dakshina Kannada during the wee hours on Friday and decamped with cash and valuables worth Rs 13 lakhs after tying the inmates of an areca merchant's house.

Police said the stolen valuables include 40 sovereigns gold, one kg silver and cash of Rs 25,000. The robbery took place in the house of Achyut Bhat who is an areca merchant in Ujire.

The house inmates opened the door after hearing dogs barking. Immediately the criminals, wearing masks, barged into the house and threatening to kill tied them before escaping with the booty.

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News Network
March 12,2020

Bengaluru, Mar 12: Karnataka government on Wednesday issued a temporary regulation -- Karnataka Epidemic Diseases, COVID-19 Regulations, 2020 -- which aims to prevent the spread of the disease.

According to the regulation, all government and private hospitals should have flu corners for the screening of suspected cases of COVID-19.

All hospitals during the screening of such cases shall record the history of travel of the person if he or she has travelled to any country or area where COVID-19 has been reported in addition to the history of coming in contact with a suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19 shall be recorded.

Any person with a history of travel in the last 14 days to a country or area from where COVID-19 has been reported must report to the nearest government hospital or call at toll-free helpline number 104 so that necessary measures if required, may be initiated by the Department of Health and Family Welfare.

If a suspected case of COVID-19 refuses admission or isolation, the offices authorised under Section 3 of the regulation shall have powers to forcefully admit and isolate such case of a period of 14 days from the onset of symptoms or till the reports of lab tests are received, or such period as may be necessary.

No person, institution or organisation shall use print or electronic media to spread misinformation on COVID19. If a person is found indulging in any such activity, they will be punished.

If the cases of COVID-19 are reported from a defined geographic area, the district administration of the concerned district shall have the right to implement the following containment measures but not limited to these in order to prevent the spread of diseases:

* Sealing of geographic

* Barring of entry and exit of the population from the containment area

* Closure of schools, offices and banning public gathering

* Banning vehicular movement in the area

* Designating any government or private building as a containment unit for the isolation of cases

* The staff of all govt departments shall be at the disposal of the concerned district administration of the concerned area for discharging the duty of containment measures

Any person, institution or organisation found violating any of these regulations, shall be deemed to have committed an offence punishable under section 188 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

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