1. Home
  2. India
  3. 'Missing' DGCA note said safety a worry in Kingfisher Airlines

'Missing' DGCA note said safety a worry in Kingfisher Airlines

July 21, 2012

kingf

New Delhi, July 21: Bharat Bhushan's purported note on Kingfisher filed on July 9 — a day before he was summarily removed as director general of civil aviation — could have meant serious trouble for the beleaguered airline.

Accessed by TOI on Friday, the note reads: "The (airline's) financial condition continues to be precarious... In the course of its audit several engineering issues are emerging which have a direct bearing on safety... it is concluded that safety is likely to be compromised if the airline continues in its current functioning style."

The aviation ministry and the new director general, Prashant Sukul, vehemently deny that any such note exists, though Bhushan attached a copy of this purported note in his letter to the ministry and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) seeking a probe if the paper had indeed gone missing.

Indicating that action against the airline was being considered, the disputed note goes on to add, "a notice may be served on the airline... asking them to immediately arrange for payment of its employees and creditors... we may be constrained to suspend their operations if funds are not made available and liabilities reduced significantly within 15 days of the receipt of this notice."

DGCA: No records exist of Bhushan's Kingfisher note

Former DGCA Bharat Bhushan did not comment when asked to confirm the contents of the controversial note he had written on Kingfisher Airline's poor financial condition.

Late Friday night, new director general Prashant Sukul submitted a report to aviation secretary Nasim Zaidi after a search operation in the DGCA for the allegedly missing papers from the Kingfisher file.

"Bhushan's allegation seems to be an afterthought and no evidence has been found of the note ever having existed," a highly placed source who was privy to Sukul's report said.

"All sections of the DGCA were asked to conduct a search that did not yield anything. The report has concluded that there is no such paper and if there is one, it may only be in possession of the former DG as no records exist here."

With Sukul throwing his hands up, the ministry is set to ask Bhushan to hand over a copy of the file that he alleges has gone missing.

"A printout of a note - that could have been filed anytime - will not do. If there is an official file on which such noting was made, then the same should be given either in original or a photocopy.

An unsigned printout being shown as the note has no meaning as it could have been written anytime, anywhere, said the source. Questions on the alleged Kingfisher note arose as the timing of Bhushan's exit triggered suspicions.

The ministry maintains that Bhushan was removed in a hurry as the PM-headed appointments committee of the cabinet had given him extension till December while the ministry had sought senior IAS officer Arun Mishra to be made full-time director-general.

"The Cabinet secretariat goofed up big time. This entire issue has arisen because of their mishandling," said a source.

The ministry has steadfastly denied any link between Bhushan's removal and its stand on Kingfisher Airlines. Sources said aviation minister Ajit Singh had told Vijay Mallya clearly to shut Kingfisher if he couldn't raise funds to run the airline.

Excerpts from Bhushan's purported note

"We have been closely monitoring the operations of M/s. Kingfisher Airlines from November, 2011 onwards. During the period there has been significant reduction in fleet numbers as well as number of operational aircraft... Pilot strength has reduced to less than 50%... The financial condition continues to be precarious.. They (airline management) have promised a recovery plan every time they met us, but this has not happened even after passage of several months... In the course of its audit several engineering issues are emerging which have a direct bearing on safety... Under the circumstances, it is concluded that safety is likely to be compromised if the airline continues in its current functioning style. A notice may be served on the airline indicating the background and asking them to immediately arrange for payment of its employees and creditors, if not in full at least to a substantial part. It may be indicated that we may be constrained to suspend their operations if funds are not made available and liabilities reduced significantly within 15 days of the receipt of this notice."


Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
January 17,2020

Mumbai, Jan 17: A 68-year-old convict of the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, Jalees Ansari, went missing on Thursday morning while being on parole, officials said.

Ansari, a resident of Mominpura in Agripada here who is serving a life term, is suspected to be involved in many bomb blast cases across the country, an official said.

He was on parole for 21 days from the Ajmer Central Prison, Rajasthan, and was expected to surrender before prison authorities on Friday, he said.

During the parole period, he was ordered to visit the Agripada Police Station everyday between 10.30 am and 12 pm to mark his attendance, he said.

However, Ansari did not visit the police station on Thursday during the designated time, the official said.

In the afternoon, his 35-year-old son Jaid Ansari approached the police station with a complaint about his “missing” father, he said.

According to the complaint, Jalees Ansari woke up in the early hoursand told family members he is going to offer namaz, but did not return home.

On his complaint, the Agripada Police registered a missing case, he said.

The Crime Branch of the Mumbai Police and the Maharashtra ATS have launched a massive manhunt to trace him, he said.

Jalees, who is known as Doctor Bomb, was allegedly connected with terror outfits like SIMI and Indian Mujahidin and taught terror groups how to make bombs, he said.

He was also questioned by the NIA in 2011 in connection with the 2008 bomb blast in Mumbai, he said.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
August 8,2020

New Delhi, Aug 8: The Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Friday directed the governments of four states -- Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, to analyse the factors driving the high COVID-19 mortality and devise ways and means to reduce the mortality.

Apart from the higher case mortality, these states account for 17 per cent of India's active cases, high daily new cases, low tests per million, and high confirmation percentage.

In a high-level virtual meeting, Bhushan advised state administrations to adhere to measures suggested by central advisories and guidelines to prevent and reduce mortality due to coronavirus infection.

According to the health ministry, 16 districts in these four states are reporting maximum virus fatalities. It includes -- Ahmedabad and Surat in Gujarat; Belagavi, Bengaluru urban, Kalaburagi and Udupi in Karnataka; Chennai, Kanchipuram, Ranipet, Theni, Thiruvallur, Tiruchirappalli, Tuticorin and Virudhnagar in Tamil Nadu; and Hyderabad and Medchal-Malkajgiri in Telangana respectively.

"The districts were advised to ensure that the advisories, guidelines and clinical treatment protocols issued by the Health Ministry are adopted and effectively implemented to reduce the mortality among COVID-19 patients and other preventable deaths among all sections of the people, particularly those with co-morbidities, pregnant women, the elderly and children," said the health ministry official.

"States were advised to ensure optimum capacity utilization of testing labs, increase tests per million population and reduce confirmation percentage, in addition to ensuring timely availability of ambulances with target zero refusal," the official further said.

"States were also advised to analyze availability and need for projected beds and oxygen, and plan in a timely manner. States and district administration have also been advised to ensure good infection prevention and control practices to control infection in the healthcare workers," said the official.

Principal Secretary (Health) and MD (NHM) from the four States along with district surveillance officers, district collectors, commissioners of the municipal corporation, Chief Medical Officers, and Medical Superintendent of Medical Colleges participated in the meeting.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
April 23,2020

More and more Indians have become better prepared in the last one month, as far as stocking of their ration, medicine or money is concerned, according to the IANS-CVoter COVID-19 Tracker.

With the second leg of the lockdown half way through and Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying it's a long haul, 57.2% respondents said they have less than three weeks of stock while 43.3% said they have a stock that will last beyond that

However, if one breaks into weeks, most respondents said they are prepared for a week's time. 24.5% respondents said they have ration, medicine or money to last a week. This is closely followed by 21.9 % respondents saying they are ready for a month.

Meanwhile, 20.4 % said they are ready for a couple of weeks. There are 15.8 % who said they are ready for more than a month with food, ration and medicine. A tiny 5.6 % said they are ready with three weeks of stock.

However, there is 12.3% who still seem to live on the edge with less than a week's preparation.

But, the biggest takeaway from the IANS-CVoter COVID-19 Tracker is that in the last one month, a massive segment of society realised that the fight is long and the preparation should also be to last that long.

o put things into context, on March 16 when the tracker started, a whopping 77.1% said they have stock to last for less than a week. More than a month later on April 21, that number jumped to just 12.3%, which essentially means, people have become better prepared for a long-hauled lockdown period.

Similarly, on April 21, a sizable 21.9% respondents claimed they are ready with ration and medicine that will last them a month. On March 16, not even one respondent could claim they have a month's stock. In fact till March 22, just ahead of the announcement of the first lockdown, no respondent the IANS-CVoter tracker said that they have a month's preparation.

Similarly, when the tracker started, 9.9% said they simply ‘don't know'. As on April 21, that number is a big zero.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.