New Delhi, Feb 1: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday greeted the Indian Coast Guard on its raising day, appreciating its efforts to keep the country's coasts safe.
The Coast Guard came into being in 1977.
"Greetings to the Indian Coast Guard on their foundation day. Our Coast Guard has made a mark due to their remarkable efforts to keep our coasts safe," Modi tweeted.
The prime minister said the force's "concern towards the marine ecosystem is also noteworthy".
New Delhi, May 7: Air India has opened bookings for eligible foreign nationals and valid visa holders of the UK, the USA and Singapore for outbound repatriation flights that will be operated between May 7 and May 14 under the Vande Bharat mission, officials said.
Foreign nationals or valid visa holders will be charged the same fare as Indian nationals who want a seat on the inbound repatriation flights, they said.
For all flights between India and the USA under the Vande Bharat mission, Air India is charging a fixed fare of Rs 1 lakh per passenger.
For flights between India and Singapore, the charge is Rs 18,000-20,000 per passenger, and it is Rs 50,000 per person for India-UK flights.
On Tuesday, the Ministry of Home Affairs had clarified that a person who has an Overseas Indian Citizenship (OCI) card, or citizenship of a foreign country, or a valid visa of more than one year of that country, or the green card of that country can travel on repatriation flights leaving India under the Vande Bharat mission.
Air India will be conducting 64 flights to 12 countries between May 7 and May 13 to bring back approximately 15,000 Indians stranded due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had announced on Tuesday.
However, some flights have been delayed and therefore, this set of 64 flights will be operated between May 7 and May 14, the airline officials said.
On Wednesday, an Indian businessman and his cook landed at Delhi airport from Lusaka in Zambia in a plane that was supposed to come without any passengers, senior government officials said.
The private chartered aircraft was scheduled to come empty and take around 40 Zambian nationals to Lusaka in a repatriation flight, they added.
"We had not permitted any incoming passengers. We will seek explanation from the airline (private operator) as to how it happened. BOI (Bureau of Immigration) has a very stringent protocol for dealing with such deviations, which must have been acted upon," said a senior official of aviation regulator DGCA.
It is not clear if the businessman and his cook were deported or sent to a quarantine facility within India.
India has been under a lockdown since March 25 to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. All scheduled commercial passenger flights have been suspended during the lockdown.
However, cargo flights, medical evacuation flights and special flights permitted by Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) have been allowed to operate during this time.
Feb 2: The Supreme court on Monday decided to hear on March 4 a plea seeking registration of FIRs against politicians for hate speeches which allegedly led to violence in the national capital.
A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde agreed to hear the plea filed by riots victims.
The petition was mentioned for urgent listing by senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, appearing for the riots victims.
Gonsalves said that the Delhi High Court has deferred for four weeks the matters related to riots in the national capital despite the fact that people are still dying due to the recent violence.
Thiruvananthapuram, May 24: Keralites on Sunday celebrated a low-key Eid-ul-Fitr amid the coronavirus lockdown in the state as most of the faithful marked the culmination of the fasting month of Ramzan by offering thanksgiving prayers at home.
The festival is being celebrated across Kerala and Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday, while the rest of the country will celebrate Eid on Monday.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan extended Eid-ul-Fitr greetings to all Keralites across the world.
State Governor Arif Mohammed Khan also extended his festival wishes to all the Keralites.
"May we also have the blessing to prevent and eliminate the COVID-19 disease," Khan tweeted.
Vijayan said this year Ramzan is celebrated at a time when the world is going through "an unprecedented crisis and misery" because of pandemic COVID-19.
"Usual celebration during Ramzan is not there anywhere in the world due to the pandemic. Instead of offering prayers at mosques, which is important for Muslims, this time the prayers and the feast is performed in their homes.
Community leaders have taken this important decision to protect the interests of the society" he added.
The chief minister said Eid-ul-Fitr gives out a message of equality, tolerance and repentance.
The state government had earlier announced that the lockdown restrictions in the state onSunday will be relaxed in the view of Eid-ul-Fitr with shops selling essential items remaining open.
The State government had earlier declared that a complete shutdown would be observed in Kerala on Sundays in order to contain the spread of the deadly virus.
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