Regular int’l flights with ‘risk’ rider from Dec 15

Regular int’l flights with ‘risk’ rider from Dec 15

Saurabh.Sinha@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:27.111.2021

The Centre has allowed resumption of regular international flights from December 15, nearly 21 months after services were suspended on March 23, 2020. Now both Indian and foreign airlines can add capacity.

Air bubbles, that gave limited flights to some countries during Covid, will burst on December 14, allowing passengers flying between India and rest of the world to take connections from nearby hubs as per air service agreements. The increased connectivity will bring respite from sky-high airfares under the bubble system. The decision comes at a time when some countries like the UK and Italy are reimposing travel restrictions due to the detection of the new Covid variant in South Africa.

India could gain a lot from air travel move

India has become the first major south Asian country to open since the pandemic shook the world early last year and could gain a lot from the first mover advantage.

Covid high-risk countries will see a “calibrated resumption”, ranging from 75% to 50% of pre-Covid operations.

As on Friday, the Union health ministry’s list of “at risk” countries include the UK, South Africa, Brazil, Bangladesh, Botswana, China, Mauritius, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Singapore, Hong Kong and Israel. But since air travel demand is nowhere close to pre-Covid levels, even this limited resumption will be enough for the present times and help lower fares. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) order on resumption of regular flights has placed countries in three different categories for a graded return to normalcy.

1. Countries not categorised as being at risk: Flights can be restored 100% by Indian and their carriers as per air service agreements (ASA). This includes over 90 countries from where fully vaccinated with approved jabs and Covid negative passengers can fly in quarantine free to India.

Full report on www.toi.in

Rain to continue in TN for 2 days, schools & colleges shut in 21 dists

Rain to continue in TN for 2 days, schools & colleges shut in 21 dists

27.11.2021

Heavy to very heavy rain that lashed Tamil Nadu on Friday will continue for the next 48 hours, the Meteorological department has said. A red alert has been issued for Chennai, Puducherry and most of the coastal districts of Tamil Nadu.

At least five people died in rain-related incidents on Friday and 10,500 people were moved to relief camps in 12 districts, including 620 to five relief centres in Chennai. Twenty-one districts, including Chennai, have declared holiday for schools and colleges on Saturday. Kayalpattinam in Tuticorin district recorded 306mm rainfall in 24 hours till Friday morning.

The rain, which has been persisting over Sri Lanka, has started pounding northern districts, including Chennai, from Friday due to the shifting of wind convergence from south to north. At least 54 streets in Chennai were inundated and several subways were closed for traffic on Friday.

Nungambakkam received 3.38cm rain, while Meenambakkam recorded 2.4cm rain till 5.30pm on Friday. Corporation staff have kept 850 pumps ready and officials have been asked to be available for duty at night. TNN. P6&10

ROAD TURNS RIVER: Rajamannar Salai in Chennai’s K K Nagar was completely inundated

Flights return to Kol, 1 from Chennai diverted to city

Flights return to Kol, 1 from Chennai diverted to city

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Kolkata:26.11.2021

Two Andaman-bound flights from Kolkata operated by Vistara and Go First returned to the city on Thursday due to bad weather at Port Blair. The Vistara flight with 159 passengers had departed from Kolkata at 9.07am and returned at 1.12pm. The Go First flight left Kolkata at 8.10am with 180 passengers and returned at 3.13pm. The passengers were either refunded or rescheduled. A Port Blairbound flight from Chennai was diverted to Kolkata, but flew to the destination in the afternoon when weather conditions improved.

Emergency landing after flyer collapses, man declared dead at hosp

Emergency landing after flyer collapses, man declared dead at hosp

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Kolkata: 26.11.2021

An AirAsia flight from Guwahati to Bengaluru made an emergency landing at Kolkata airport late on Wednesday night after a passenger lost consciousness on board. He had no pulse and, on being taken to a hospital in Kolkata, was declared dead by an attending doctor.

Ashok Kumar Jha (52), travelling by flight I5 0673, lost consciousness while the plane was travelling through the Kolkata flight information region. The pilot then contacted the ATC in Kolkata and requested emergency landing.

“The 134 passengers and six crew members landed in Kolkata at 10.35pm. After the unconscious passenger was examined, he was taken to Charnock Hospital along with another person travelling with him. The patient was diagnosed with intestinal obstruction and his pulse rate/BP were not recordable,” an airport official said.

At 11.41pm, the flight took off for Bengaluru with 132 passengers and six crew members.

Mumba: Parents sell newborn for ₹1L, booked

Mumba: Parents sell newborn for ₹1L, booked

Pradeep Gupta@timesgroup.com

Kalyan: 26.11.2021

The police have booked the parents of a 15-dayold for selling their infant for Rs1 lakh to a doctor running a children’s hostel in Kalyan in Dombivli. Police also booked the doctor, who runs a private children hostel in Kalyan.

The police said the accused Priya and Santosh hails from Shelar Naka area in Dombivli.

Police sources said when the woman became pregnant for the third time, they consulted the doctor, at whose hostel the couple had already given up one child. The doctor gave the couple Rs1 lakh to pay for the delivery and other expenses and said he would take care of the child.

Despite spike, Bhopal continues to stay ‘unmasked’

#MASKINDIA

Despite spike, Bhopal continues to stay ‘unmasked’

Ashutosh.Shukla@timesgroup.com

Bhopal:26.11.2021

Even as Covid cases are inching up in the city, people continue to ignore the precautionary norms for protection from infection of the deadly virus and more worrisome is the fact that their numbers are rising by the day. Decision of the state government to lift all Covid restrictions, administration and police giving up on efforts to enforce the Covid protocol at public places has only contributed to a popular belief that wearing masks, maintaining social distance or washing of hands with soap or sanitiser is no longer necessary.

Meanwhile, the state government has allowed the opening of schools, colleges, hostels and coaching classes with 100% capacity and students, too, are being callous towards observing Covid norms, which may turn out to be risky.

A scene outside Nutan Girls College and adjacent Subhash School of Excellence on Thursday afternoon showed why school students are more vulnerable to the virus. While girls coming out of college campus were largely wearing masks, students of Subhash School of Excellence were mostly without masks, even those who had masks on their face were not properly worn and there was a sizeable crowd of students just outside the school gate; laughing, talking and calling out for an ice cream vendor standing nearby.

“You can check for masks when the students come into the school but as they run out after the classes, nobody can ensure that they are all wearing masks. We on our part try to see that the students observe Covid norms but children are children, you know”, said a teacher of the school, who, too, had come out of the school campus after the leave.

It’s not that all the college students are observing Covid norms. Staff in several colleges would tell you that students don’t wear masks even when asked to. But, there is a vital difference between school and college students. All the college students are vaccinated, most of them having both the doses while most of the school students are not. Moreover, if college students are not observing Covid norms, it’s deliberate but school students, particularly the smaller ones may simply forget to pull up the mask if it falls below their nose or gets stuck on their chin.

However, it’s not only the children who are vulnerable to Covid infection but also their elders, who in place of setting an example before their school or college going wards by keeping the masks on or not getting into a crowded place, in most cases don’t seem to be bothered about Covid protocol at all.

“Weather is changing. We have had a long spell of festivals. Now, it’s marriage season. So, people are socialising a lot. In such a situation, you only expect Corona cases to go up. And, people would do well to continue observing caution despite restrictions taken off by the state government. Lifting of restrictions doesn’t mean throwing caution to wind and not observing Covid norms”, said a senior faculty at Gandhi Medical College.

NO COVID CONCERN? Shoppers without mask at New Market on Thursday

Wearing a mask would not only save people from Corona but also from pollution. During winter pollutant particles in the air don’t go up, they are around you and harm your body as you breathe. Air quality index shows that air quality in the city is poor. So, it would only be advisable that people wear masks not only to prevent the spread of Coronavirus but to avoid breathing polluted air

—Subhash C Pandey ENVIRONMENTALIST

K’taka students among 10,000 NEET toppers double in 2 years

K’taka students among 10,000 NEET toppers double in 2 years

Delay Provided More Time For Prep: Experts

SruthySusan.Ullas@timesgroup.com

Bengaluru:  26.11.2021

The number of students from Karnataka among those securing the top 10,000 ranks in NEET-UG has more than doubled this year from pre-Covid times — 436 state students made it to the 1-10,000 bracket as compared to 351 in 2020 and 198 in 2019.

The number of those who secured more than 700 marks out of 720 in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (UG) this year was nearly four times more than that of 2020. As many as 11 students from Karnataka scored above 700 in 2021. As per the data shared by National Testing Agency, no student could get over 700 in 2019. In 2020, three students managed to make the cut.

In the top 50,000 ranks, there are 2,291 students from Karnataka, an increase of 279. In the first one lakh students, 5,364 are from Karnataka. The number was only 4,775 in 2020.

In the bracket of 650-699 marks, Karnataka has 212 students this year, as against 143 last year and 32 in 2019. In all, there are 629 students who scored above 99 percentile from Karnataka. The number of students in the 600-649 bracket remains more or less the same with only nine more entering it. In the 550-599 group, 42 more students secured the marks, taking the total to 1,328.

The trend in Karnataka is in sync with the national performance, where there is an 83% increase in the total number of candidates scoring more than 700. TOI had reported that state-wise candidates from Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh continued their dominance in the exam.

Experts say the numbers are overwhelming. “There are two reasons why students are scoring well in NEET,” said Sridhar G, founder, Deeksha. “When NEET started, the physics and chemistry papers were on a par with JEE papers. But after the pandemic, the papers were made simple and faithful to NCERT,” he said.

“Additionally, with board exams getting cancelled students could focus completely on NEET. The delay in conducting the test also gave them more time to prepare,” he added.

Sridhar said this has also contributed to improvement in the relative performance of Karnataka students in comparison with other states. “This is because in Karnataka most students who take NEET are first-timers. Unlike states like Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh or Tamil Nadu, repeating is not a culture here, as the engineering options are very good. Repeaters have the advantage of not focusing on board exams, which the freshers also got this time. This provided a levelplaying field to both,” he said.

Mahesh Yadav, south India head of Allen career institute, said students have also adjusted well to the online mode. “Last year, they were not as comfortable with online classes as they were this year. They have been in regular touch with teachers now. With classes going online, students also saved time they spent on travel,” he said.

However, whether the cutoff for UG medical/dental admissions will rise will depend on the seat matrix, which is yet to be announced in Karnataka.