SpiceJet cancels over 1,800 flights in domestic sector

December 9, 2014

SpicejetChennai, Dec 8: Cash-strapped SpiceJet has cancelled over 1,800 flights across the country for the current month, in signs of mounting troubles for the budget airline.

The air carrier, which is part of Kalanithi Maran-led Sun Group, has cancelled a total of 1,861 flights, a few to Kathmandu in Nepal and all others connecting domestic cities, till December 31, SpiceJet said in an update on its website.

These included 81 flights scheduled for today itself.

The large-scale flight cancellations came at a time when the aviation regulator DGCA was considering issuing a show- cause notice to the airline for defying its directives regarding advance bookings.

DGCA has asked the airline to stop taking bookings by tomorrow of more than one month in advance.

Besides, Airports Authority of India (AAI) is said to be considering putting SpiceJet on cash-and-carry mode soon if it does not furnish a bank guarantee against its dues to the airport operator, which stand at around Rs 200 crore.

While the regulatory actions might not immediately impact the airline's licence, it could force "a series of actions".

Concerned over the deteriorating condition of SpiceJet and large-scale flight cancellations, DGCA had on Friday also withdrawn 186 of its slots and asked it to clear salary dues of all its employees within the coming 10 days.

Shares of SpiceJet, which tumbled 13 per cent in early trade today amid a flurry of negative news including fund drought and large-scale flight cancellations, closed with a loss of 4.39 per cent at Rs 15.25 apiece.

Union Civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju also last week raised serious concern over the financial health of the domestic airline.

"We are running through a lot of turbulent weather...not only the public sector, private sector is also crashing. (With) Kingfisher crashing and, right now, SpiceJet seems to be giving us heart attacks as far as airlines are concerned," Raju had said.

Experts said that SpiceJet needs to act fast to avoid problems like Kingfisher, which had to be grounded amid growing financial burden.

SpiceJet reported fifth straight quarter of net losses for the July-September period at Rs 310 crore.

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March 31,2020

New Delhi, Mar 31: India is likely to blacklist about 300 foreigners who came from 16 countries, including Malaysia and Thailand, on tourist visas but attended an Islamic congregation at Nizamuddin here that has become a key source for the spread of coronavirus in the country, officials said on Tuesday.

These foreigners were among around 8,000 people who attended the Tabligh-e-Jamaat at Nizamuddin Markaz facility in March, many of whom have shown symptoms of COVID-19, a Union Home Ministry officlal said.

About 30 of those who attended the Nizamuddin event in mid-March tested positive and at least three have succumbed to the infection in last few days.

"Those who came on tourist visa but attended the Nizamuddin event stands being in our blacklist as they have violated the visa conditions. Tourist visa holders can't attend religious function," a Union Home ministry official said.

If a foreigner is put in the Home ministry's blacklist, he or she can't travel to India in future.

A total of 281 foreigners were found by the police at the Nizamuddin campus in the last two days.

They include 19 people from Nepal, 20 people from Malaysia, one from Afghanistan, 33 from Myanmar, one from Algeria, one from Djibouti, 28 from Kyrgystan, 72 from Indonesia, 7 from Thailand, 34 from Sri Lanka, 19 from Bangladesh, three from England, one from Singapore, four from Fiji, one from France and one from Kuwait.

Most of these foreigners came on a tourist visa, an official said.

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News Network
August 3,2020

Indore, Aug 3: In a bizarre development, the Indore Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court has granted bail to an accused in a sexual harassment case on the condition that he will request the victim to tie a ‘rakhi’ on him with a promise to protect her “to the best of his ability for all times to come”.

Justice Rohit Arya on July 30 also ordered the man to pay Rs 11,000 to the complainant as a “customary ritual usually offered by brothers to sisters” on Raksha Bandhan and seek her blessings while visiting her with his wife and a box of sweets. “The applicant shall also tender Rs 5,000 to the son of the complainant for purchase of clothes and sweets,” the order said.

The court directed the accused to take photographs and receipts of payment made to the victim and her son, which should be filed through his lawyer for placing on record of the case before the Registry.

The victim, a resident of Ujjain district, had alleged that her neighbour, Vikram Bagri, entered her house and sexually harassed her on April 20. The police registered a case under Sections 452 (House-trespass after preparation for hurt, assault or wrongful restraint), 354 (A) (Sexual harassment and punishment for sexual harassment), 354 (Assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 323 (Punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) and 506 (Punishment for criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.

The order said the man, in jail for more than two months, was released on bail, on furnishing a personal bond of Rs 50,000 with “one solvent surety in the like amount to the satisfaction of the trial court, on the condition that he shall remain present before the court concerned during trial,” and comply with conditions under Section 437 (3) of CrPC, along with other conditions.

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News Network
May 22,2020

Mumbai, May 22: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday reduced repo rate by 40 basis points to 4 per cent in an effort to further boost liquidity in the economy which has been reeling under the impact of COVID-19 induced countrywide lockdown.

As a result, the reverse repo rate stands at 3.35 per cent, said RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das. The six-member monetary policy committee (MPC) voted 5:1 in favour of the decision.

Repo rate is the rate at which a country's central bank lends money to commercial banks, and the reverse repo rate is the rate at which it borrows from them. 

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