Mother gets news of pilot death on her 83rd birthday

Mother gets news of pilot death on her 83rd birthday

Shishir.Arya@timesgroup.com

Nagpur:09.08.2020

It was Neela Sathe’s 83rd birthday on Saturday when she received the tragic news of the death of her son Deepak in an air crash in Kozhikode.

Neela’s daughter Anjali Parashar, who lives in Mumbai, had planned to give her parents a surprise by coming to Nagpur. Instead, she had to rush to Kozhikode to collect Deepak’s body. The Sathes have been residing in the city’s quiet Bharat Nagar area since the 1950s when Deepak’s father Brigadier Vasant Sathe (now 87) retired from the army education corps.

The couple lost their elder son, 2nd Lieutenant Vikas Sathe, in an accident. He was returning to his unit after a military exercise in 1981. Deepak, too, had met with a major accident in Chandigarh, soon after joining the IAF and many thought that would be the end of his flying career.

“The news of Vikas’s death and Deepak’s recovery almost came together,” said Suvarna Sathe, a relative.

A tenant of the Sathes said that they got the news about Deepak’s death on Friday night itself, “but we waited till morning to inform his parents”. Suvarna shared the reaction of Sathe’s parents, saying, “The mother said why should God take them both the same way, but remained stoic. The father has been blank since he was told. He hasn’t spoken much and has not even shed a tear.”

Captain Sathe’s mortal remains will be flown to Mumbai on Sunday to his home in Nahar’s Zinnia, Powai. His wife Sushma Sathe travelled to Kozhikode by a special flight on Saturday morning and his younger son, Dhananjay, too joined his mother from Bengaluru. Captain Sathe’s elder son Shantanu who works at Amazon will also fly in from Seattle and return home on Sunday, relatives said.

(With inputs from Hemali Chhapia in Mumbai)

This was the second tragedy for Deepak’s parents (above), who had lost their elder son, second lieutenant Vikas Sathe, in an accident in 1981. Deepak’s wife and son arrived in Kozhikode on Saturday (left)

Counmcil of Architecture

 

Shocked to learn of e-pass corruption: HC

Shocked to learn of e-pass corruption: HC

‘Staff Involved Are Similar To ‘Blood-thirsty Wolves’

Sureshkumar.K@timesgroup.com

Chennai:09.08.2020

Coming down heavily on corruption in issuing epasses to travel during lockdown, the Madras high court has said ‘cut-throat’ officials who behave like ‘blood-thirsty wolves’ should be dealt with an iron hand.

“For the past few months, people are unable to do their work or travel from one place to another for various purposes and they are put to untold misery. Though the government is not responsible for the present situation, some of the corrupt officials involved in issuing epasses are bent upon making booty even in this worst scenario,” said a division bench of Justice N Kirubakaran and Justice V M Velumani.

The bench was making the observations while hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by Tamil Desiya Makkal Katchi to trace and rescue several hundred children taken from Tiruvannamalai to be engaged as child workers in private textile mills in Tirupur.

“This is a classic case that could demonstrate how corrupt government servants utilise any situation to make illegal gain,” the judges said.

When the petition filed by C M Sivababu, who heads the petitioner-forum, came up for hearing, the state Child Welfare Committee, which had raided one such mill and rescued children, informed the court that the girls had been transported from Tiruvannamalai across various districts to Tirupur without an e-pass. This apart, the children were not subjected to Covid-19 test, CWC officials told the bench.

Taking a serious view of the same, the court said, “It is not known as to how without proper e-passes, it has been possible to bring the children from one district to another. It only implies that if money is paid, the authorities would bend and flout rules, and without e-passes, people are travelling by bribing the authorities.”

The current case is only the tip of an iceberg. There are allegations that there are brokers available to get e-passes by bribing authorities while people who apply through due process are unable to get them. The bribe ranges from ₹500 to ₹2,000 according to media reports, the bench added.

Noting that the issue has been widely reported in the media, the judges said, “This aspect has to be looked into seriously by the government. It is very shocking to know about such incidents and also about cut-throat corrupt officials in the system.”

The bench then directed Chenniyappa Yarn Spinners Private Limited, which transported the children, to file an affidavit explaining as to how they were able to bring children to work without e-passes.

This is a classic case that could demonstrate how corrupt government servants utilise any situation to make illegal gain

MADRAS HC

Anna university gives 75 days to wind up next semester, colleges seek more time

Anna university gives 75 days to wind up next semester, colleges seek more time

Ragu.Raman@timesgroup.com

Chennai:09.08.2020

The new academic schedule issued by Anna University gives 75 days to engineering colleges to complete syllabus for the next semester while engineering colleges seek more time as they may have to conduct the entire semester online.

As per the new academic schedule released by Anna University, the colleges need to begin next academic year on August 12 and the last working day would be October 26.

"The online classes for all the higher semesters shall be conducted for the theory courses till the normalcy returns and the class room teaching is restored. After restoration, the laboratory classes shall be conducted or any other alternative methods if devised will be intimated in due course," the circular from Centre for Academic Courses of Anna University to colleges said.

It also asked the colleges to maintain attendance for the online classes. The semester exams will commence from November 9 and next semester will begin from December 14.

The new schedule gives the colleges roughly two and half months to complete the semester. But, colleges said they need 90 working days or 450 hours to complete the syllabus including the lab classes. "It is not possible to take more than three hours per day in online classes. Students don't have data plans and many students are not able to concentrate beyond three hours," said a college principal.

The university asked the colleges to take classes even on Saturdays. "If we leave out the Sundays, then there are only 60 working days. It is not practically possible to cover the syllabus with online classes," another principal said.

"Anna University should call for an online meeting with the principals to discuss various issues including online classes and academic schedule," said B Chidambararajan, principal of Valliammai Engineering College.

However, M A Maluk Mohammed, director and correspondent of MAM College of Engineering and Technology in Trichy said it is possible to finish the syllabus within the period provided with cooperation from students and faculty members. When asked, officials from the university said the schedule was drawn as per the instructions from the state government. "Being the election year, the state government wanted to complete all academic activity before the end of March. So, the schedule was prepared accordingly," they said.

TIGHT SCHEDULE: With 2021 being an election year, the state government wants to complete all academic activity before March and prepared the syllabus accordingly, university sources said

Lockdown extension ‘unscientific’, says PIL; wants GO quashed

Lockdown extension ‘unscientific’, says PIL; wants GO quashed

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: 09.08.2020

Calling the latest extension of lockdown till August 31 ‘unscientific,’ a city resident has moved the Madras high court to quash the government order concerned. He claimed that such unreasonable and unscientific restrictions amounted to violation of fundamental rights for free movement.

The public interest writ petition, filed by G Manoharan, may be taken up for hearing by the court in the third week of August. The petitioner said that while he resided in Chennai his aged parents lived in Kumbakonam, and that he used to visit them at least once a fortnight. However, since the lockdown was imposed in March, he was unable to travel and meet his parents.

The petitioner submitted that the National Disaster Management Authority is the appropriate authority to frame guidelines as per the Disaster Management Act during emergency situations including pandemic. The directions issued by the authority must be followed by all state governments, including the Tamil Nadu government, he said.

This apart, the Medical Experts Committee which has been established to advise the state on the measures to be taken to contain the virus spread has said ‘lockdown is nothing but killing mosquitoes with axe’. “Therefore, curfews on Sundays are an arbitrary exercise of power as it does not serve any purpose. There should have been more compelling circumstances to deny the right guaranteed under Article 21 and the governments ought to have considered sufferings on a comparative scale with that of the corona sufferings,” the petitioner said.

Calicut crash: Black box found, DGCA probe on

Calicut crash: Black box found, DGCA probe on

Cockpit Voice Recorder Also Sent To Delhi

AnanthaNarayanan.K@timesgroup.com

09.08.2020

The civil aviation ministry’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) retrieved on Saturday the digital flight data recorder (DFDR), known as a black box, and the cockpit voice recorder from the wreckage of Air India Express Dubai-Kozhikode Flight IX 1344.

Eighteen people, including the pilot and co-pilot, were killed when the aircraft, trying to land in torrential rain on Friday night, overshot the tabletop runway at Kozhikode and plunged about 35 feet into a valley.

The investigating team retrieved the black box and cockpit voice recorder after cutting into the floorboard of the cockpit. These devices, considered the most important evidence in determining the reasons leading to an air crash, were sent to Delhi for decoding and analysis.

Officials of the AAIB, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and the flight safety department of Air India Express from Delhi reached the crash site on Saturday morning. A DGCA team from Chennai, too, arrived in Kozhikode. The investigators, who visited the ATC and held meetings with different agencies at the airport, refused to comment on the accident.

A senior official associated with the probe said it was too early to say whether the accident was the result of a technical fault or human error. “All crashes are caused by multiple contributory factors and here preliminary info shows wrong landing due to bad weather as a reason. The about 8,000-foot-long runway of the airport is sufficient for a Boeing 737 to land but it is learnt that the aircraft landed 3,000 feet off. What exactly happened will be clear only after checking the flight history and ATC-pilot communications,” the official said.

Aviation experts visualised various scenarios about what may have led to the accident, ranging from hydroplaning (total loss of friction between the wheels and runway surface due to the formation of a layer of water on the ground) to “optical illusions” created by tabletop runways that can distort the flight profile.

Officials inspect the remains of the plane at Kozhikode airport; (below right) the grieving wife of a passenger who died in the crash

Pilot’s wife pregnant, not told about death

The family of co-pilot Akhilesh Kumar, who died hours after the crash at Kozhikode on Friday, had been preparing for his homecoming when they got the news — his wife is due for delivery in less than a month and does not know till now she has lost her husband. P 11

24-year-old returning to get married, dies

Muhammed Riyas was to begin a new chapter. The 24-year-old from a small Palakkad village working in Dubai was to get married in September, but died on Friday night. The wedding, slated for July 14, had been postponed due to the pandemic.P 11

Seat change, unpaid fines proved lucky

A woman with a two-year-old girl who swapped a seat right in the front for one well at the back as she wanted to sit with a friend, two others who missed the flight at Dubai because they didn’t have the money to pay a fine for expired visas — there were a few who had a lucky escape. P 11

Experts: Change in runway was pilot’s decision or ATC’s suggestion

Experts also pointed out that the last-minute change in choice of runway and subsequent wind direction was the pilot’s decision or ATC’s suggestion. There were unconfirmed reports of trouble with the landing gear of the aircraft, but, if that was the case, this was not communicated to the ATC. “The inquiry report should find out all aspects, like weather, wind factor, poor visibility, miscommunication with ATC if any, etc.,” said Bharat Bhushan, former DGCA chief.

The report of the two-yearlong investigation into the Mangaluru air crash in 2010, which killed 158 people when an AIE Boeing 737 careened off the tabletop runway, had suggested various measures, including an arrester bed, for tabletop runways. An “Engineered Materials Arresting System”, or EMAS, can reduce the severity of a “runway excursion”, but the Kozhikode airport still doesn’t have such a system.

'State Disaster Management Authority Cannot Cancel Exams': Group Of Maharashtra Students Move SC

'State Disaster Management Authority Cannot Cancel Exams': Group Of Maharashtra Students Move SC: A group of students from Maharashtra have moved the Supreme Court, challenging Maharashtra government orders cancelling the final year/term examinations in the state. They have contended that the...