Paralympian Deepa Malik alleges rude behaviour by airline

October 6, 2016

New Delhi, Oct 6: Paralympic silver medallist Deepa Malik has alleged rude behaviour by a cabin crew member of TATA-SIA-run Vistara, prompting the airline to issue an apology.

Deepa

Malik, who was travelling on Vistara's Mumbai-Delhi flight UK 902 on Thursday, when the incident happened, also complained to the airlines about "poor handling" of wheelchair-bound passengers by the airline staff.

In her onboard written complaint to the airline, she alleged that one of the cabin crew members behaved rudely with her when she was informing her mother on the phone that her flight from Mumbai was delayed.

"Crew member Priyanka was very rude in the flight. She told me to speak softly when I called parents to inform them about the delay in flight," she wrote in the complaint.

"On objecting, she said 'sweetheart, chill'," Malik wrote, adding plus wheelchair handling is so poor that you do not know how to shift a person from seat to cabin chair. The entire staff stands and looks at each other for 10 minutes. No action."

She alleged that the cabin crew was not ready to help her reach the cabin seat as they were not trained.

Later, in a series of tweets, she urged the airline to treat physically challenged passengers with dignity.

She also tagged her tweets to Union Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thaawar Chand Gehlot.

"Very poor handling of wheelchair passenger in De boarding and fragile items. Rude n ill mannered crew. Sad experience. @airvistara (sic)," she tweeted.

"Hope @airvistara takes note of my complaints and revert. More dignity for physically challenged passengers @socialpwds @TCGEHLOT (sic)," she said in another tweet.

After Malik, who made country proud by becoming first Indian woman to win a medal in Paralympic Games in Rio last month, went public about her complaint on the mirco-blogging site, Vistara apologised to her and assured her of a thorough probe and necessary action.

"As a team, we would like to sincerely apologise Deepa for her disappointing experience. We have been in touch with Deepa and are grateful for the feedback shared by her. We are investigating the incident thoroughly and will take all necessary corrective actions to ensure something like this never occurs again," Vistara said in a apology letter to Deepa.

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News Network
June 2,2020

New Delhi, Jun 2: Manchester United's Paul Pogba on Monday paid tribute to George Floyd, stressing that violent acts of racism can no longer be tolerated and they have to stop.

Pogba took to Instagram to write: "During the past few days I have thought a lot about how to express my feelings about what happened in Minneapolis. I felt anger, pity, hatred, indignation, pain, sadness."

"Sadness for George and for all black people who suffer from racism Every day! Whether in football, at work, at school, Anywhere! This has to stop, once and for all! Not tomorrow or the next day, it has to end today! Violent acts of racism can no longer be tolerated," he added.

Protests erupted in Minneapolis and other US cities on Tuesday after Floyd, an African-American man, died following his arrest by the four officers.

A viral video showed a police officer, Derek Chauvin, pinning 46-year-old Floyd to the ground with his knee on his neck for nearly eight minutes. Floyd died at a local hospital shortly thereafter.

The four police officers were fired. Chauvin was also charged with murder and manslaughter, according to Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman.

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zaki ahmed
 - 
Wednesday, 3 Jun 2020

This photograph in the above mentioned article is of Floyd Mayweather Jr , the world welterweight & super heavy weight champion & wrongly menitoned as Pogba .

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News Network
April 24,2020

New Delhi, Apr 24: Veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh said he doesn't think Mahendra Singh Dhoni will play for India again, adding to the guessing game over the future of the superstar former captain.

Dhoni, 38, has not appeared for club or country since last year's 50-over World Cup and India's coronavirus lockdown could threaten his chances of getting back into the national team.

The Indian Premier League, the main platform before this year's scheduled T20 World Cup, is likely to be truncated or cancelled because of the pandemic.

Harbhajan, who plays with Dhoni at IPL side Chennai Super Kings, said international retirement was on the cards for Dhoni and that he was increasingly being asked about his teammate.

"It's up to him. You need to know whether he wants to play for India again," Harbhajan said in an online forum.

"As far as I know him, he won't want to wear India's blue jersey again. IPL he will play, but for India I think he had decided the (2019) World Cup was his last."

Dhoni, who gave up Test cricket in 2014, started training for the Super Kings in March but has not commented on his international future.

Dhoni led India to win the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup in 2007. He hit a six to seal the 2011 World Cup final victory and, along with it, his status as a national hero. He has amassed 10,773 runs from 350 ODIs.

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News Network
March 5,2020

Mar 5: India reached a maiden women's Twenty20 World Cup final Thursday after their last four clash against England was washed out, sparking calls for the International Cricket Council to include reserve days in future events.

Harmanpreet Kaur's unbeaten side were due to face the 2009 champions at the Sydney Cricket Ground, but the rain began pouring early in the day with barely any let-up.

With a minimum 10 overs per side needed for a result and no break in the weather, the umpires called it off without a ball being bowled.

Normally, five overs per side are needed to constitute a Twenty20 match, but the rules are different for ICC tournaments.

Four-time champions Australia are scheduled to take on South Africa later in the second semi-final, with that match also under threat.

With no reserve day, the highest-ranked teams from the two groups move into the final if play is not possible

That would pit India against South Africa at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday, where organisers are hoping to attract 90,000 plus fans, denying Australia a chance to defend their crown.

A reserve day is allowed for the final and the lack of one for the semis has been criticised by some players, with England captain Heather Knight among those calling for change.

"If both semi-finals are lost it would be a sad time for the tournament," she told reporters ahead of the match. "It's obviously going to be a shame if it does happen and I'm sure there will be a lot of pressure on the ICC to change that."

Cricket Australia chief Kevin Roberts said he sought clarification from the ICC about adding a reserve day with the Sydney weather looking ominous, but the request was denied.

"We've asked the question and it's not part of the playing conditions and we respect that," he told Melbourne's SEN radio.

"It gives you cause to reflect and think about how you might improve things in the future, but going into a tournament with a given set of playing conditions and rules, I don't think it's time to tinker with the rules."

It is not the way India would have wanted to make the final, but they are deserving of being there having gone through the group phase as the only unbeaten team.

After opening their campaign by upsetting Australia, they beat Bangladesh, New Zealand and then Sri Lanka.

While the entire team played well, teenage batting prodigy Shafali Verma excelled, which saw her elevated to the top of the ICC T20 batting rankings this week aged just 16.

She is only the second Indian after Mithali Raj to reach number one, pushing New Zealand veteran Suzie Bates down to second.

Ranked four in the world, India had made three semi-finals before this year and lost every time, including against England at the last World Cup.

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