AI crisis: 16 more sacked, HC says strike 'illegal'
New Delhi/Mumbai: Holding that the strike by over 200 Air India pilots was "illegal", the Delhi High Court Wednesday barred them from any protest action, as the airline management sacked 16 more pilots. As the agitation by pilots owing allegiance to the Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) entered the second day, harried passengers complained of flight delays by over two hours with some having heated exchanges with airline staff in Delhi and Mumbai for not helping them. Six international flights were cancelled today. These were from Mumbai-Newark and those from Delhi to Singapore, New York (JFK), Chicago and Toronto. The government, which has been talking tough, said it was ready to talk to the protesting pilots but only after they resumed duty. The cancellation of flights has been causing Air India a huge financial loss of over Rs 10 crore per day. Justice Reva Khetrapal of Delhi High Court said in her order: "The defendant no 1 (IPG), its members, agents and its office bearers are restrained from illegal strike. The pilots are also restrained from reporting sick, holding dharnas, staging demonstrations or resorting to any other modes of strike in and outside the company's offices in Delhi and other regional offices." She also said allowing such strike to continue will cause irreparable loss to the company as well as huge inconvenience to the passengers travelling by the national carrier. Trying to reason out, Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh told the pilots, "if you have grievances, we can talk, but discussions and disruptions cannot take place simultaneously. They should withdraw their strike and apologise to the passengers." He said the government has "a back-up plan (to deal with strike)...We can downsize...If employees are not interested that Air India should expand, then government is not going to provide money to it." Singh said agitating pilots reported sick, even when it was well known that they were not. "Air India is almost bankrupt. It is not able to pay salaries for months, not paid to airport authority and oil marketing companies," he said, adding the government is trying to revive Air India by infusing Rs 30,000 crore of "public money" over a period of time, but there are strings attached. He held out the assurance that the Justice Dharmadhikari panel report, on integration of workforce of erstwhile Air India and Indian Airlines including promotions, would be discussed in a month or two and pilots would be actively involved. Filing an injunction suit against the pilots in the Delhi High Court, counsel for AI management Lalit Bhasin termed the strike as illegal and said due to the pilots' strike, the company has been compelled to cancel some of its international flights. When contacted for his reaction to the High Court order, IPG President Jitendra Awhad said, "we have received some information about it. So, we are seeking legal opinion." As contingency plans were put in place, Air India's domestic operations were also "marginally" affected as some narrow-body aircraft like Airbus A-319s and A-321s were taken off from domestic operations and operated on routes like Singapore and Tokyo, where the wide-body Boeing B-777 planes generally fly, airline sources said. All other international flights are operating as per the contingency plan that has been put in place with the available pilots, the official said. 16 pilots were sacked today while the services of 10 office-bearers of the IPG, which is spearheading the strike, had been terminated yesterday, taking the total of dismissed agitating pilots to 26. The IPG has a strength of about 250 pilots while the Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA) has over 1,200 membership out of a total of 1,600 pilots. The remaining are mostly executive pilots. The pilots' strike issue figured in Parliament with members asking Government to ensure that concrete steps are taken to revive the ailing airline.
Russian jet gone missing in Indonesia, 50 on board
Jakarta: A Russian commercial jet with at least 50 people on board went off radar during a test flight over West Java in Indonesia, officials said on Wednesday.
The Sukhoi Superjet 100 was carrying Russian embassy officials, businessmen and journalists and was on a demonstration flight for potential buyers. The plane took off from Halim Perdanakusuma Airport in the capital, Jakarta, at 2:21 p.m. (0721 GMT). Officials said that the plane successfully completed the first round of flight, but it lost contact during the second term near the Salak mountain range, after the crew asked air traffic control for permission to descend from 3,000 meters to 1,800 meters. No explanation was given for the sudden change of course. Though drizzling at the time, it was not stormy. Search and rescue teams were heading to the area just south of the capital, said Bambang Ervan, a spokesman for the Ministry of Transportation. Bad weather, however, forced at least two helicopters to turn back. Head of Search and Rescue Agency Rear Marshal Daryatmo hoped that they would manage to reach the location by tonight. Developed by the Russian aerospace company Sukhoi in co-operation with Western partners, the plane is the first completely new airliner designed by Russia since the Soviet collapse. Russia has hoped that the short- to mid-range jet, which made its maiden run in 2008, would help it break into international markets dominated by Boeing and Airbus.
The Sukhoi Superjet 100 was carrying Russian embassy officials, businessmen and journalists and was on a demonstration flight for potential buyers. The plane took off from Halim Perdanakusuma Airport in the capital, Jakarta, at 2:21 p.m. (0721 GMT). Officials said that the plane successfully completed the first round of flight, but it lost contact during the second term near the Salak mountain range, after the crew asked air traffic control for permission to descend from 3,000 meters to 1,800 meters. No explanation was given for the sudden change of course. Though drizzling at the time, it was not stormy. Search and rescue teams were heading to the area just south of the capital, said Bambang Ervan, a spokesman for the Ministry of Transportation. Bad weather, however, forced at least two helicopters to turn back. Head of Search and Rescue Agency Rear Marshal Daryatmo hoped that they would manage to reach the location by tonight. Developed by the Russian aerospace company Sukhoi in co-operation with Western partners, the plane is the first completely new airliner designed by Russia since the Soviet collapse. Russia has hoped that the short- to mid-range jet, which made its maiden run in 2008, would help it break into international markets dominated by Boeing and Airbus.
Close shave for Arjun Munda in chopper crash
Ranchi: Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda had a miraculous escape after the helicopter, in which he was travelling, crashed upon landing at the Birsa Munda airport here on Wednesday afternoon. The pilot of the chopper was also severely injured in the incident. Confirming the development, Ranchi Superintendent of Police Ranji Kumar said, “The Chief Minister suffered injuries when the helicopter met with an accident while landing." The incident occurred around 12.30 pm when helicopter was returning to Birsa Munda Airport after it could not land at Kuchai in Sareikela-Kharsawan district, about 100 kms from here. The pilot, after detecting a technical snag, contacted the air traffic control (ATC) and sought priority landing. The chopper did land but it was not a controlled descent and it turned turtle seconds before it touched ground. Luckily, the chopper – belonging to Jharkhand government - did not catch fire but suffered damages. "The helicopter fell from a height apparently due to a technical problem while landing," a close aide of the Chief Minister said. Jharkhand DGP G S Rath also said, "The Chief Minister was accompanied in the helicopter by his wife Meera Munda, an MLA and a security officer." Minutes after the mishap, all those present onboard, including the Chief Minister, were rushed to Ranchi Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) for a precautionary check-up. He was later shifted to Apollo Hospital. Doctors who attended on Munda said that his condition is stable and his injuries are not of serious nature. According to sources, Munda was returning to the state capital from Kharsawan. The entire area has been cordoned off. The chopper was completely damaged in the accident and efforts are being made to remove it from the tarmac. All civilian flight operations to-and-fro Ranchi remain suspended for the moment. Meanwhile, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has ordered an inquiry into the incident.
IPL 2012 Gayle powers RCB to an emphatic win over Mumbai
Mumbai: With an emphatic 9 wickets victory over Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore kept themselves in the hunt for playoffs courtesy another ‘Gaylestorm’ here at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Wednesday. Gayle led the chase with a clinical but equally brutal 82 runs off 59 balls that included five fours and six hits over the boundary. Gayle and T Dilshan started off the run chase in a cautious manner playing out the early assault of Malinga and RP Singh on the lively green wicket. Once both the openers got themselves settled, they started milking runs all-around the park ably supported by Virat Kohli 36 (25). Earlier in the day, Mumbai Indians had crawled to a decent total of 141 in their allotted 20 overs courtesy a late blitz by Harbhajan Singh (20) and Kieron Pollard (21). Dinesh Karthik had held the Mumbai Indians innings together with a well compiled 44 (39) after the top order had collapsed first up.
| For Bangalore, Vinay Kumar and Zaheer Khan provided the perfect start with some tight bowling and quick wickets in the powerplay overs. Harshal Patel and Muttiah Muralidharan choked the Mumbai batting line up during the middle overs picking up two wickets each. |
New Delhi: Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday cautioned her party Members of Parliament (MPs) that indiscipline will not be tolerated at any cost and asked them to prepare for the coming General Elections. Congress president’s tough talking came during a crucial meeting of the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) which was held for the first time after party’s debacle in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. Sonia, while asking her party workers to prepare for upcoming polls and shun factionalism, advised them to refrain from publicly speaking against the party policies and decisions taken by the central leadership. Coming down heavily on the opposition parties, Congress president said that the recent developments have exposed the real face of the opposition parties. The meeting of the Congress Parliamentary board was attended by all top party leaders including Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, Pranab Mukherjee and party general secretary Rahul Gandhi. During the meeting, which took place in Parliament, Sonia Gandhi also unveiled party's strategy in view of forthcoming Presidential and Vice Presidential elections. The Congress chief also released a document named ‘Vision 2014’ for next two years ahead of the General Elections. The parliamentary board also discussed a crucial report submitted by AK Antony on the recent poll debacle in Uttar Pradesh. In her last meeting with the party MPs, Sonia had asked the party MPs to be prepared for the 2014 General Elections and take lessons from party’s debacle in the recently concluded assembly elections in five states. The Antony panel had attributed the loss to poor ticket distribution, and nepotism and the failure to fight the perception that the Congress was corrupt. Interestingly, the Antony panel had also given a clean chit to Rahul Gandhi for the party's failure in Uttar Pradesh.
