Three Indians on board crashed Asiana Airlines flight

July 7, 2013

Francisco_airport

Washington, Jul 7: Three Indians were on board the ill-fated Asiana Airlines flight which crashed landed at the San Francisco airport, killing two people and injuring more than 180, officials said today.

The tail ripped off the airplane as it was touching down on the San Francisco airport runway about 11:30 am local time yesterday after arriving from Seoul, Federal Aviation officials said.

Ten passengers were said to be either in serious or critical condition, they added.

The Asiana Airlines flight en route from Seoul had 291 passengers on board and had 16 crew members.

The Indian Ambassador to South Korea, Vishnu Prakash, said there were three Indian passengers on board the Asiana Airlines from Seoul to San Francisco. One of them suffered collar bone fracture.

"ASIANA mishap at SFO: 3 Indians on board too. 1 suffered collar bone fracture and other minor injuries. Wish ASIANA gives out complete info," Prakash said on Twitter, the micro blogging site.

Majority of the passengers were comprised of 77 Korean citizens, 141 Chinese citizens, 61 US citizens, one Japanese citizen, etc., Asiana Airlines said in a statement. Evacuation slides were used for the passengers to escape the burning flight.

Soon after the plane crash, US President Barack Obama was made aware of the incident by Lisa Monaco, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counter terrorism.

"The President will continue to be updated as new information becomes available. The President expressed his gratitude for the first responders and directed his team to stay in constant contact with the federal, state and local partners as they investigate and respond to this event.

"His thoughts and prayers go out to the families who lost a loved one and all those affected by the crash," the White House said. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has launched a full go-team to San Francisco, to investigate the crash.

"The crash occurred while the aircraft was landing at San Francisco International Airport," the board said in a statement. "We have not determined what the focus of this investigation is yet. Everything is on the table at this point.

"The team will include people focused on operations; human performance; survival factors; airport operations; and aircraft systems, structure and power," the NTSB chairwoman, Deborah Hersman, told reporters in Washington.

"Asiana Airlines is currently investigating the specific cause of the incident as well as any injuries that may have been sustained to passengers as a result," the airlines said in a statement.

Extending its deepest condolences to the families and friends of those who perished in the accident and wishing for the recovery of those injured, Boeing said it will join the NTSB at their request to provide technical assistance to their investigation.

Some of the passengers recounted their harrowing tale of the incident. "All of a sudden, boom, the back end just hit and flies up into the air and everyone's head goes up the ceiling," Elliott Stone, one of those on the flight told the CNN.

Some of the videos posted on You Tube by eyewitness showed the plane engulfed in plane and people sliding out of the plane and running for safety. "I just crash landed at SFO," read the message from David Eun. According to eye witnesses the plane's tail struck the ground first, and then the aircraft braked suddenly and spun around.

"It flipped... hit the ground," said a teenage boy who was on aboard the flight.

As a result of the crash landing, the San Francisco airport was shut down and planes were diverted to the nearest airports, most of them to the busy Los Angeles airport.

Facebook's chief operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg, said that she and her family were booked on the Asiana flight that crashed, but they switched to a United Airlines flight to get frequent-flyer miles.

"Taking a minute to be thankful and explain what happened. My family, colleagues Debbie Frost, Charlton Gholson and Kelly Hoffman and I were originally going to take the Asiana flight that just crash-landed. We switched to United so we could use miles for my family's tickets," she wrote on her Facebook page.

"Our flight was scheduled to come in at the same time, but we were early and landed about 20 minutes before the crash. Our friend Dave David Eun was on the Asiana flight, and he is fine," she wrote.

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News Network
June 8,2020

Jaipur, Jun 8: An inquiry has been initiated against staff of a private hospital in Rajasthan's Churu district after receiving screenshots of a purported WhatsApp chat in which they allegedly discussed about not attending to Muslim patients affected by COVID-19, police said on Sunday.

Screenshots of the chat between the hospital staff had gone viral following which an investigation has been initiated, they said.

Dr Sunil Choudhary, who runs the Srichand Baradiya Rog Nidan Kendra in Sardarshahar and whose staff purportedly wrote the messages, apologised through a Facebook post, saying the hospital staff did not have any intention to hurt any religious groups.

"We have received a complaint following which we are taking action to register FIR in the matter," Churu Superintendent of Police Tejaswini Gautam said.

Sardarshahar police station SHO Mahendra Dutt Sharma said the police control room had received a complaint regarding screenshots of the chat being circulated on social media. "We are inquiring into the matter. An FIR will be registered against the names mentioned in the WhatsApp chat," Sharma said.

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Agencies
July 12,2020

Jaipur/New Delhi, Jul 12: The crisis in Rajasthan Congress has deepened with state Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his deputy Sachin Pilot at loggerheads.

While Gehlot is blaming BJP for trying to destabilise the state government by poaching MLAs, Pilot is camping in Delhi to speak to the party leadership regarding the political turmoil in the state.

According to sources, Pilot has sought an appointment with party's interim president Sonia Gandhi but time for the meeting has not yet been given by her. Although Pilot met another party leader to apprise him about the situation in the state and spelled out his grievance.

As of now, many MLAs, who are believed to be in the Pilot camp, are also in Delhi to meet the party leadership. According to sources, the deputy chief minister has the support of nearly 30 Congress MLAs along with many independent legislators.

It is important to note that the controversy broke out in Rajasthan after Special Operation Group (SOG) sent a notice to Sachin Pilot to record his statement in the case registered by SOG in the alleged poaching of Congress MLAs in the state. The clash between Gehlot and Pilot is also over the post of PCC Chief as Gehlot Camp wants that 'One Leader One Post' formula to be implemented in Rajasthan. Currently, Sachin Pilot is heading the PCC besides holding the Deputy CM post.

Sources close to Sachin Pilot have informed that the young leader is upset with the notice issued to him. He believes it is aimed to record his phone calls and keep him under surveillance. Many of Pilot's supporters feel indignation and told Pilot that they cannot work with Ashok Gehlot. Also, Pilot is unlikely to attend the meeting called by Gehlot today, according to sources.

While the top leadership of the party is keeping mum, sources say it is keeping a watch on the development. General Secretary KC Venugopal has taken up the matter of the rift with the party's top brass with them not happy about it.

Rajasthan AICC Incharge Avinash Pandey told media persons: "Everything is under control. Few MLAs had issues and after discussion, they have returned back to Jaipur and others are also in touch. BJP's attempt of destabilising the government will not be successful in Rajasthan and government is stable."

Gehlot also held a meeting with ministers last night in Jaipur.  According to Gehlot camp, the top leadership is apprised of the development of the poaching attempt in the state. Amid Political Crisis Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot called a meeting of Ministers and all Cong MLAs tonight at his residence.

The Rajasthan crisis has alerted the other senior leaders of the party who have opined that the Madhya Pradesh incident should not get repeated in Rajasthan.

Former Union Minister and Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibbal tweeted, "Worried for our party. Will we wake up only after the horses have bolted from our stables?"

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News Network
May 27,2020

Muzaffarpur, May 27: A toddler's vain attempt to wake up his dead mother from eternal sleep on a railway platform in Bihar's Muzaffarpur on Wednesday presented the most poignant picture of the massive migrant tragedy unfolding across several states.

A video tweeted by Sanjay Yadav, an aide to RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, shows the child walking unsteadily up to his mother's body, tugging at the blanket placed over her, and when failing to wake her up, covering his own head with it.

As the mother still lay still, he wobbles away from her, announcements continuing in the background about the arrival and departure of trains that would bring in tens of thousands of people in a rush to get away from hunger and hardship they face in large cities that could sustain them no more.

"This small child doesn't know that the bedsheet with which he is playing is the shroud of his mother who has gone into eternal sleep. This mother died of hunger and thirst after being on a train for four days. Who is responsible for these deaths on trains? Shouldn't the opposition ask uncomfortable questions?" tweeted Yadav.

However, police had a different story to tell.

Ramakant Upadhyay, the Dy SP of the Government Railway Police in Muzaffarpur, said the incident occurred on May 25 when the migrant woman was on way to Muzaffarpur from Ahmedabad by a Shramik Special train.

He told reporters the woman, who was accompanied by her sister and brother-in-law, had died on the Madhubani bound train.

"My sister-in-law died suddenly on the train. We did not face any problem getting food or water," the officer said, quoting the deceased's brother-in-law who he did not name.

He said on getting information, poice brought down the body and sent it for postmortem.

Citing the brother-in-law of the deceased, Upadhyay said she was aged 35 years and was undergoing treatment for "some disease" for the last one year in Ahmedabad. "She was also mentally unstable," he said.

When persistently queried about the cause of death, he said,"Only doctors can tell".

A massive exodus of migrant workers is on in several parts of the country, unprecedented in magnitude since Partition.

The humanitarian crisis still unfolding on highways and railway platforms has shone light on disturbing tales of entire families walking hundreds of kilometres with little children on foot in a seemingly endless march to escape hunger.

People have been found travelling on trucks and in the hollow of concrete mixing plants, and in many cases, dying from hunger and exhaustion before reaching their destinations.

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