GoAir launches bookings for Kuwait-Kannur-Kuwait

DECCAN CHRONICLE.

PublishedSep 12, 2019, 6:11 am IST

GoAir will be deploying its brand new Airbus A320neo aircraft on this important sector in the Gulf.

GoAir also announced the appointment of its General Sales Agent (GSA), Kuwait's Resource Management International (RMI). RMI is part of Kuwait's Al-Waseet Travel Tourism Services (WTTS).

Chennai: GoAir has opened bookings for the Kuwait-Kannur-Kuwait sector. Close on the heels of launching Abu Dhabi, Muscat and Dubai, GoAir has launched its 4th destination — Kuwait — as part of its GCC strategy.

With an inaugural fare of KD 56 (Rs. 13,160) for a return ticket, GoAir will be operating daily flights G8 62 from Kuwait to Kannur and G8 61 from Kannur to Kuwait starting Sept. 19, 2019.

GoAir will be deploying its brand new Airbus A320neo aircraft on this important sector in the Gulf. The inaugural flight will take-off from Kannur International Airport at 07:00 hours (local time) and reach Kuwait at 09:30 hours (local time).

GoAir also announced the appointment of its General Sales Agent (GSA), Kuwait's Resource Management International (RMI). RMI is part of Kuwait's Al-Waseet Travel Tourism Services (WTTS). WTTS is a full-service travel management company that is a member of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Association of American Travel Agents (ASTA), and it has International Standards Organisation certification (ISO 9001:2008).

Says Jeh Wadia, Managing Director, GoAir: “I am very pleased to announce the launch of GoAir flights to and from Kuwait. This is our 7th international destination - 4th in the Gulf and sequentially it is our 31st destination. There is a huge pent-up demand on the Kuwait - Kannur - Kuwait sector and we intend to cater to this segment with our basic three-tier business principle: punctuality, affordability and convenience. India and Kuwait have traditionally enjoyed friendly relations, rooted in history and have stood the test of time. GoAir's Kuwait flight is one more step in that direction.”

It must be noted that geographic proximity, historical trade links, cultural affinities and presence of large number of Indian nationals in Kuwait continue to sustain and nurture this long standing relationship between the two countries.

India has been a natural trading partner of Kuwait and until 1961 Indian Rupee was the legal tender in Kuwait. Nearly 20 % of the population in Kuwait are Indians; mostly hailing from South India.

Saleem Murad, Managing Director, RMI, said, “we are delighted to associate with GoAir and we are glad to be a part of GoAir's online operations with Kuwait in the capacity of Passenger General Sales Agency for the State of Kuwait. We are thankful to the Government of Kuwait, Government of India and Mr. Jeh Wadia and his team for making our long cherished dream come true. We will extend our wholehearted support to ensure GoAir commence operations to more and more destinations in India in the near future.”

Kerala consumes more alcohol this Onam

People spent nearly ₹500 crore

13/09/2019, SPECIAL 

CORRESPONDENT,THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

Kerala capped a season of indulgence by consuming nearly ₹500 crore worth of alcohol this Onam.

According to the Kerala State Beverages Corporation (Bevco), the State-owned liquor retail monopoly, the proceeds from the sale of liquor through its outlets in the past week alone has exceeded the 2018 figures by an estimated ₹30 crore.

The amount of liquor sold in bars and hotels remained unquantified. Bootleg liquor, hooch and moonshine also appropriated a sizeable segment of the market for cheap and hard spirits on holidays.

Kerala has the highest per capita consumption of alcohol in the country. The sale of liquor here has continued on an upward spiral despite the prohibitive tax on legal alcohol and the many dry days.

Officials said that consumers showed an increasing preference for popular brands of cheap Indian made brandy and rum. Premium counters retailing costlier brands and foreign-made foreign liquor also registered good sales.

Bevco officials said the increase in sales was despite outlets remaining shut on Thiruvonam day. An Excise official said the closure of outlets on Thiruvonam had spawned hoarding of liquor, and illegal and covert sales. It also prompted bars to up their rates. Many violated their licence conditions by selling liquor as parcels.

Fishkill along seashore sparks panic

Scientists blame Noctiluca marine microalgae for the incident

13/09/2019, D.J. WALTER SCOTT,RAMANATHAPURAM

A team of scientists from the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute collecting samples of dead fish from the seashore in Ramanathapuram on Thursday. L. Balachandran

Panic gripped the fishing community in as the water along a 10-km stretch of the shoreline between Kunthukal in Pamban and Vedalai in the Gulf of Mannar turned green and witnessed mass fish deaths on Thursday.

As fishermen grew anxious, a team of scientists from the Mandapam Regional Centre of the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI), led by Scientist in-charge R. Jayakumar, conducted tests and concluded that the sudden blooming of ‘Noctiluca marine microalgae’ was to blame for the incident.

The good organic conditions in the seawater and the high temperatures in the region over the last three days had provided a conducive environment for the ‘green algae’ to breed and release spores, Mr. Jayakumar said.

“The breeding had been taking place over the last two days and the blooming happened on Thursday, resulting in the mass fish deaths,” he told The Hindu.

Around 3,000 fish would have died, he said, adding that they had suffered ‘gill choking’ and had died of oxygen depletion and breathlessness. The tests proved that the dead fish contained no bio-toxins, he noted. Mostly juvenile and near-shore fish, which could not migrate to the deep sea, fell victim to the algae. “Fishermen need not panic as the algae will dissipate in one or two days, once there is a fall in temperature, a good downpour and the currents grow stronger,” Mr. Jayakumar said.

Needle in child’s thigh: inquiry held at GH

Parents lodge complaint with police

13/09/2019, STAFF REPORTER ,COIMBATORE

Health department officials and paediatric experts visited the government hospital at Mettupalayam in on Thursday to investigate the incident of the broken edge of a needle getting lodged in a newborn’s thigh during vaccination.

The inquiry team was led by P. Krishna, Joint Director of Health Services, Coimbatore. The other members included a paediatric surgeon from Coimbatore Medical College Hospital and a paediatrician from the Government Head Quarters Hospital in Pollachi. “We can arrive at a conclusion only after the investigation is over,” Dr. Krishna told The Hindu from Mettupalayam. All the doctors from the hospital who attended to the infant, including the nurse who gave the injection, were questioned, she said.

The male baby was born in the government hospital on August 20 and was vaccinated the next day. On September 8, the family members found a broken piece of needle protruding from a swelling in the baby's thigh, following which they rushed to the hospital and got it extracted. Meanwhile, the parents of the child lodged a complaint at the Mettupalayam police station.

Meenakshi temple to offer free laddus to devotees

13/09/2019, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT ,MADURAI

The Meenakshi Sundareswarar temple will soon begin distributing free laddus to devotees. The temple authorities have proposed to start the practice from Deepavali.

“We are planning to distribute small laddus to all devotees after their darshan,” said the temple Thakkar, Karumuttu T. Kannan.

The temple has already procured a machine at a cost of ₹5 lakh to make laddus, its joint commissioner Natarajan said.

500 an hour

The machine can make at least 500 laddus an hour, Mr. Kannan said.

“The Meenakshi Sundareswarar temple is the first temple in the State to make prasadam on its own, without any outsourcing,” he said.

“We started it more than a decade ago and the price of the prasadam has not been revised since then,” he added.

One-way traffic on RBI subway from tomorrow

13/09/2019, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT ,CHENNAI

The traffic police are set to implement one-way traffic flow on the subway near the Reserve Bank of India from Saturday.

The existing steel girders on the railway tracks over the RBI subway have to be replaced due to safety concerns. The work is proposed to be done in two phases by the Southern Railway. During the execution of the work, there is a need for maintenance of one-way traffic under the RBI subway, said a press release from the Additional Commissioner of Police, Traffic.

Hence, the following traffic arrangements will come into operation from Saturday, till the completion of work. There is no change in the route of vehicles coming from Kamarajar Salai towards Parrys Corner via Rajaji Salai-Secretariat-RBI subway.

Diversions

Vehicles coming from the Royapuram Bridge, Rajaji Salai towards Kamarajar Salai will not be allowed towards the RBI subway (towards War Memorial). Instead, they will be diverted at the Rajaji Salai and Parrys Corner to RBI subway service road- NFS road- R.A Mandram- Muthuswamy Salai- Muthuswamy Point- Muthuswamy Bridge- Wallajah Point- Flagstaff Road- War Memorial- Kamarajar Salai, to reach their destinations.

Uber adds safety features to app for women commuters

The taxi aggregator earns positive reviews after conducting gender sensitisation workshops

13/09/2019, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT ,CHENNAI

To give a push to commuter safety in the city, Uber has brought in several features in the application software in recent times. It has also been organising awareness workshops for its drivers.

A team from Uber, during an interaction with mediapersons in the city on Thursday, highlighted the measures the taxi aggregator has developed in the application software to help commuters have a safe ride.

Uber, which has a stringent driver verification programme, has been earning a lot of positive reviews from women commuters through gender sensitisation workshops conducted for drivers in several cities, including Chennai. The workshops are organised by Manas, a non-governmental organisation.

Pavan Vaish, head of operations, India and South Asia, Uber, said, “Uber is committed to providing safer transport, particularly for women, and to train drivers to handle women passengers gently.”

More than 6,900 drivers have participated in the workshops across the country. As a result, the drivers have pasted the sticker ‘We respect women’ in their cars, he added.

A representative of Uber said as drivers come from diverse backgrounds and different regions, gender sensitisation helps in making them treat women passengers with more respect. She said the technical team has been adding several new safety buttons to applications to enable women passengers have a safe journey.

Any passenger wanting to make an emergency call can tap the safety shield icon on the map for immediate contact with the Uber representative and also the law enforcement official.

Centralised number

To keep the passenger contact information secret to prevent drivers from making abusive calls for any reason including rating-related issues, Uber has started routing calls and messages of drivers and passengers through a centralised phone number.

The representative said this two-way call anonymisation does not reveal the contact numbers of the drivers as well as passengers until they themselves share the contact details.