British Airways flight lands in Scotland instead of Germany by mistake

Passengers only found out about the mishap when the pilot said the plane was coming in to land in Edinburgh, which is around 500 miles (800 kilometres) from Dusseldorf.

Published: 25th March 2019 09:12 PM

British Airways planes (File|AP)

By AFP

LONDON: A British Airways plane flew by mistake from London to Edinburgh instead of Dusseldorf in Germany on Monday.

Passengers only found out about the mishap when the pilot said the plane was coming in to land in Edinburgh, which is around 500 miles (800 kilometres) from Dusseldorf.

After the crew realised the mistake, the plane was refuelled and flown to Dusseldorf, landing in Germany with a delay of more than three and a half hours.

"We are working with WDL Aviation, who operated this flight on behalf of British Airways, to establish why the incorrect flight plan was filed," a spokesman said.


Twitter user Son Tran, who said he was on the plane, said: "While an interesting concept, I don't think anyone on board has signed up for this mystery travel lottery".

Another passenger, Sophie Cooke, told the BBC that the wait in Edinburgh "became very frustrating".

"The toilets were blocked and they ran out of snacks. It was also really stuffy," Cooke said.

BDU gets ready for third cycle of accreditation

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

TIRUCHI, MARCH 26, 2019 00:00 IST

A peer team from NAAC to visit Bharathidasan University today

A peer team of the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) will undertake a three-day visit to Bharathidasan University from Tuesday to rate the institution for the third cycle of accreditation.

The university was re-accredited with ‘A’ Grade by the NAAC during 2012. The university scored 3.16 on a four-point scale based on a set of seven parameters: curriculum, teaching-learning and evaluation, research consultancy and extension, infrastructure and learning resources, student activities, governance, and innovative practices.

For the third cycle, the university had submitted an elaborate self-study report with the aim of securing A++ ranking. For this, the CGPA (Cumulative Grade Point Average) must be above 3.76 on the four-point scale, with the parameters remaining the same.

The top ranking became imperative for the university to scale up distance education programme, which has been a major source of revenue, after the Ministry of Human Resource Development decided to permit only those universities with top NAAC ranking to offer distance education programme.

The self-study report encompassed details of UGC SAP/ DST FIST recognitions, H-index, descriptions about uniqueness of the department or centre, their significant achievements in the last five years, best and innovative practices, future plan for one to five years, and future plan for six to 20 years, university sources said.

The peer team is expected to prepare a report on a standard format divided into four sections: general profile of the institution, criterion-wise analysis, overall analysis, and recommendations for quality enhancement of the institution.

The NAAC deputes peer team only after obtaining 'No Conflict of Interest' statement from the members. The NAAC chooses only those who are above board for the accreditation exercise.

With 23 autonomous colleges, 128 non-autonomous colleges in its fold, Bharathidasan University also expects to improve its ranking under the NIRF (National Institutional Ranking Framework).

A report submitted for NIRF 2019 ranking states that there are 529 students pursuing doctoral programme full time and 331 on part-time basis till 2017-18. During 2017-18, 108 full-time and 34 part-time Ph.D. students graduated from the university.

MKU to start anthropology course

STAFF REPORTER

MADURAI, MARCH 26, 2019 00:00 

‘High time it was started in a culturally and historically significant city’

Madurai Kamaraj University will soon become the first university in Tamil Nadu since independence to offer a masters programme in anthropology.

According to academicians in MKU, the only other university in Tamil Nadu to offer M.A. in Anthropology is University of Madras, where the department was started during the colonial period.

T. Dharmaraj, Professor and Head, Department of Cultural Studies, which will be offering the course, said it was high time an anthropology course was offered by the MKU, which is located in Madurai, a culturally and historically significant city. Though Tamil Nadu had extensive scope and need for anthropological studies, it was unfortunate and ironic that students from the State almost had no opportunity to study the course here. “It is no wonder a majority of the anthropological studies related to Tamil Nadu came from people outside,” he said.

He pointed that even institutions such as the American Institute of Indian Studies had a language centre in Madurai, through which many scholars from abroad came for anthropology-related studies.

With the cultural and historical significance of Madurai and the recent findings in Keezhadi, he said it would be exciting to have MKU offer a course in anthropology. “Moreover, the field of anthropology is now focussing more on multi-species ethnography, which is closer to the concept of ‘ Ainthinai ’ we have in Tamil culture,” he said.

He said that some subjects such as Medical Anthropology would be dealt in collaboration with School of Biological Sciences in the university. The course, to be offered from the coming academic year, would accommodate 20 students. Apart from this, Department of Cultural Studies would also offer a masters course in Cultural Informatics.

Vice-Chancellor M. Krishnan said there would be a high demand for the anthropology course, owing to a range of job opportunities available in the government sector.

“Importantly, students aspiring to crack competitive exams such as the Union Public Service Commission prefer this course,” Mr. Krishnan said.

He added that offering these new courses was in alignment with university’s focus on improving student enrolment.

Over one crore absentees in every election in T.N. in the last 30 years

Dennis S. Jesudasan

CHENNAI, MARCH 26, 2019 00:00 IST

Assembly election turnout has been higher than that of Lok Sabha polls

Irrespective of the long and intensive awareness campaigns by the Election Commission of India, on an average, at least one crore electors across Tamil Nadu did not cast their vote in every Parliamentary and Assembly election held since 1989. Meanwhile, the size of the electorate keeps swelling every year.

An analysis of the voting percentage shows the polling percentage during Assembly elections was higher compared to Lok Sabha polls due to various factors, such as interest in local issues and the Assembly being a smaller segment.

During the past 30 years, the highest polling percentage of 78 was recorded during 2011 Assembly elections and the lowest 57.95, during 1998 Lok Sabha polls.

An officer, who has observed elections in Tamil Nadu, argued that the interest of local issues among the electorate could be a major reason behind the trend of more voters exercising their franchise during an Assembly election.

“The electorate sees the work the MLA is doing but in the case of MP, there is his perception that he/she is involved in work that are far away. Also, Assembly segments are smaller and more candidates canvass for voting as against MP where only few are in the fray,” he pointed out.

While regional parties are more active in Assembly polls, the appeal of national parties is not much here, he observed and added that the voting percentage in rural areas has always been better than urban habitations.

Lack of interest

DMK MP and spokesperson T.K.S. Elangovan felt the lack of interest among the professionals settled in cities away from their native towns could have contributed to absenteism.

“Also, the challenge of waiting in queues could be a reason that many do not come to booths. While th e middle class and others vote, the trend of not voting is mostly among the upper class,” he contended.

Senior BJP leader L. Ganesan said that lack of awareness could be a reason. “Maybe not many people are thinking that the country’s Prime Minister could be from Tamil Nadu.” If you compare the polling percentage in local body polls, the polling percentage in Assembly polls could be less, he argued.

Many voters told The Hindu that they did not exercise their franchise as they were away from the native place where their names are enrolled in the voters’ list.

But, some skip voting as they are fed up with political parties. “I always had a notion we had to choose a lesser evil and hence did not votes,” said a voter.

“Earlier, I used to vote for a national party, which had great leaders but now even they are corrupt,” said a disenchanted senior citizen from Mogappair West.

With clock ticking down, heavyweights enter the fray

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

CHENNAI, MARCH 26, 2019 00:00 IST

Congress’ Vasanth Kumar is the richest, with assets of Rs. 417 crore, among those who have filed their papers so far

With just a day left for filing nominations for the Lok Sabha elections and Assembly by-polls, a number of high-profile candidates filed their papers before the respective returning officers across Tamil Nadu on Monday.

An examination of the net worth of the candidates in the fray so far, based on the declaration made in the nomination papers, revealed that Congress Nanguneri MLA Vasanth Kumar, who is crossing swords with Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan of the BJP in Kanniyakumari, is the richest with declared assets worth Rs. 417.48 crore. His liabilities stood at Rs. 154 crore.

Candidates from across parties, barring the AMMK, filed their nomination papers in their respective constituencies. As of Monday, 610 candidates, including two from the third gender, had filed nominations.

In Thoothukudi, DMK women’s wing leader Kanimozhi and BJP state president Tamilisai Soundararajan filed their papers. Both have declared assets – including that of family members – of over Rs. 10 crore.

At Sivaganga, Karti Chidambaram, whose candidature had been a matter of speculation till Sunday evening, filed his papers, declaring assets of over Rs. 79.38 crore. BJP national secretary H. Raja too filed his nominations from the constituency declaring assets of over Rs. 2.62 crore and liabilities of Rs. 59.10 lakh

In Karur, AIADMK propaganda secretary and Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker M.Thambi Durai filed his papers. His principal rival Congress candidate S. Jothimani and former minister V. Senthil Balaji (DMK), engaged in a heated exchange with a police officer at the officer of the Returning Officer. The issue arose when Mr. Balaji and Ms. Jothimani were prevented from entering the RO’s room when Mr. Thambi Durai was filing his papers for over 30 minutes.

In Erode, the MDMK candidate A. Ganesamoorthy, who is contesting on the DMK’s ‘Rising Sun’ symbol, staged sit-in-protest outside the Returning Officer’s room at the Collectorate for 10 minutes. Mr. Ganesamoorthy said that a police Inspector had informed him over phone that the time was allotted to him was from 1 p.m. to 1.30 p.m.

Though he was waiting till 1.30 p.m., he was not allowed inside the RO’s office, leading him to stage a protest. The candidate took up the issue with the Returning Officer and Collector C. Kathiravan, who informed him that he did not allot any time to the candidates for filing their nominations.

When DMK candidates D.M. Kathir Anand and S. Jagathrakshagan went to file their nominations for Vellore and Arakkonam Parliamentary constituencies respectively, chaos persisted at the District Collectorate for sometime. Though a large posse of policemen were present at the Collectorate and its surrounding areas, they were helpless for more than half an hour as the party cadre who had been advised to stay out of the portico area, forced their entry into the Collectorate and turned it into a ‘free for all’. In the melee, some of the party functionaries accompanied the candidates up to second floor where the nominations took place. This led to a situation in which Vellore MLA, P. Karthikeyan had to fight his way to the Collector’s office.

Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi founder Thol. Thirumavalavan, former TNCC presidents Su.Thirunavukkarasar and EVKS Elangovan, former Union IT Minister A Raja, Puthiya Tamilagam leader Krishnasamy, DMK South Chennai candidate Thamizhachi Thangapandian and IJK founder Paarivendhar were among those who filed their nominations.

(With inputs from Bureaus)

Business class flyers worst affected as Jet Airways suspends flights

TNN | Mar 25, 2019, 07.58 AM IST

CHENNAI: Flying business class on the domestic sector from Chennai might soon become a thing of the past as Jet Airways, which had the most number of flights to metros, especially during peak hours, have cancelled most of them from Chennai after the airline grounded its planes due to a financial crisis.

The members of Jet Airways frequent flyer programme and also those who have booked business class seats have started cancelling their tickets since there is uncertainty whether the airline would maintain its schedule. Air India is the only alternative, and there is a huge increase in airfare as only a few seats are left on Chennai-Mumbai and Chennai-Delhi flights.

Air India, Jet Airways and Vistara offer business class / first class seats on domestic network. Among these, Jet had the maximum services from Chennai. Air India has only fewer flights while Vistara flies to four cities from Chennai.

Air Passengers Association of India (APAI) national president D Sudhakara Reddy said, “The choice is few for business class travellers. They have no option but to travel by economy.”

M K Ajith Kumar of Asia Pacific Tours said, "Business class options will remain confined to Air India and Vistara apart from few international airlines which may connect some cities. Hence, business class fares are likely to go up unless the fares are capped until the situation stabilizes."

Reddy said Jet Airways had four to five flights to Mumbai and two to three flights to Delhi during peak hours.

"It has a loyal customer base. The airline should try to retain the customers in this time of crisis. They should not be charging cancellation fee from passengers who are cancelling the tickets because they are not sure if the flights are operated."

There could also be an arrangement with other airlines to carry the passengers, he added. "Such measures will help the airline retain its customers," he said.

Jet Airways has cancelled 19 flights outside Chennai in March of which many were during the peak hours.

Poisonous snake found only in Africa seized at Chennai airport along with other reptiles

TNN | Mar 26, 2019, 04.27 AM IST

Chennai: For probably the first time in the country, Customs officials at Chennai international airport on Monday morning seized a horn pit viper, a poisonous African snake, besides several other endangered reptiles from the bag of a passenger who had arrived from Bangkok. 

Apart from the viper, two rhinoceros iguana (cyclura cornuta), three rock iguana (cyclura genus), 22 Egyptian tortoise (testudo kleinmani ), four blue-tongued skink, three green tree frogs (genus hyla), an amphibian species, were found inside plastic containers in the passenger’s bags.

The passenger, a 22-year-old Chennai student, Mohammad Abdul Majeed, had arrived from from Bangkok by Thai Airways flight TG337.

Incidentally, on February 2, a leopard cub was seized by customs officials at the airport from a passenger who had arrived on the same flight.

The Viper is an African venomous snake and there is no anti venom available in India for it. Egyptian tortoise is a critically endangered species and is endemic to Egypt and Libya.

The wild life species were seized under the provisions of Customs Act 1962. The passenger was detained. The seized wild life species will be sent back to Bangkok.

Customs officials received a specific intelligence that wild animals were likely to be smuggled from Thailand.

When the flight arrived in the wee hours of Monday morning, the customs officials zeroed in on Majeed who was behaving in a suspicious manner.

He was questioned and his purple stroller bag was examined. It was found to contain nine plastic containers along with some chocolates, gift items and personal clothing. When the containers were opened, some reptiles were present inside. When he was questioned, he said that he was supposed to hand over the bag to someone outside the airport. He was taken outside but no one turned up to receive the bag even after waiting for a considerable time.

To identify the reptile species, Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) officials were called. A team of Veterinary doctors were called from Arignar Anna Zoological Park who inspected and found the animals in healthy condition.

Rajan Chaudhary, commissioner of airport customs, told TOI Bangkok has become a hub from where wild animals were being smuggled to India. Recently, two seizures of 2300 and 4800 red-eared slider turtles were also seized from passengers coming from Bangkok, he said.