Singapore-bound flight turns back due to technical issues

Singapore-bound flight turns back due to technical issues

Murali N. Krishnaswamy

CHENNAI 11.01.2025

A scheduled Air India flight, AI346, on the Chennai-Singapore sector, returned to base early on Friday, after the crew experienced technical difficulties.

The Airbus A321 had left Chennai at 12.33 a.m. and had climbed to 30,000 ft, when the crew squawked the emergency transponder code 7600 around 2 a.m., according to an aviation source. This indicates that an aircraft has experienced radio communication issues or has lost radio contact.

After the crew followed standard operating procedures with Chennai air traffic control, the aircraft was put in a holding pattern at an altitude of about 10,000 ft in the airspace over the Bay of Bengal to burn fuel. The jet then made a safe landing at 4.12 a.m. and was parked in a bay at the secondary runway. An airline spokesperson said alternative arrangements were promptly made and the nearly 160 passengers were flown to Singapore on a relief aircraft, an Airbus A320N, at 7.20 a.m. on Friday.

NEWS TODAY 10.01.2025

 

Minister says no Pongal gift due to financial crisis

Minister says no Pongal gift due to financial crisis 

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 10.01.2025

Chennai : Chief minister M K Stalin on Thursday launched distribution of Pongal gift hampers to 2.2 crore PDS cardholders and Sri Lankan Tamils in rehabilitation camps. The move cost the exchequer ₹249 crore. Finance minister Thangam Thennarasu told the legislative assembly that govt could not extend the Pongal gift of ₹1,000 this year due to a financial crisis. The Pongal hampers, consisting of a kg of sugar, raw rice and sugarcane, will be distributed from Jan 9 to 13 at PDS outlets across the state. As a token gesture, Stalin gave away hampers to cardholders at the TUCS (Tamilnadu Urban Cooperative Society) outlet at Little Mount. “Arrangements have been made to distribute hampers before the Pongal festival,” an official release said. 

The chief minister also launched the distribution of free saris and dhotis to 1.77 crore beneficiaries. Thennarasu said state govt spent ₹2,028 crore towards relief and restoration due to impact of natural disasters last year. While state govt demanded that Centre release ₹37,893 crore for relief and restoration for Chennai, Kancheepuram and southern districts, it released only the state disaster response fund of ₹276 crore. “The Centre also has not released ₹2,152 crore under the Samagra Shiksha scheme,” the minister said. He was responding to CPI MLA K Marimuthu’s request for Pongal cash. When AIADMK MLAA Govindasamy recalled demand by Stalin, while in opposition, to extend more when AIADMK distributed ₹2,500 Pongal cash and gift hamper, minister Duraimurugan intervened to say that AIADMK extended the Pongal gift during elections.

AIADMK vs DMK on poll promises

AIADMK vs DMK on poll promises 

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 10.01.2025

Chennai : There was a heated exchange of words in the state assembly on Thursday after AIADMK members alleged that DMK-led govt failed to fulfil poll promises, including NEET exemption, tablet computers for students, and the old contributory pension scheme for govt staff. 

When former AIADMK minister R Kamaraj asked about the promise of creating 10 lakh jobs per year, labour welfare minister C V Ganesan and industries minister T R B Rajaa cited data. Rajaa said Union govt data showed 10 lakh jobs were created annually in the state and ₹10 lakh crore investments attracted during the DMK’s tenure. The chief minister scripted history by generating 31 lakh jobs and directed that 50 lakh jobs be generated in five years, he said. The minister pointed to the latest RBI report saying TN generated most employment in the country, with 8.42 lakh man-days of employment in 2023-24. 

When Kamaraj countered that the data was only from a book and not physical progress, Rajaa said the information came from the “Union govt that’s closer to the AIADMK”. Later, AIADMK’s A Govindasamy said claims made in the governor’s address were AIADMK’s initiatives. When Govindasamy accused the govt of stalling his party-led govt’s marriage assistance scheme of ₹50,000 to graduates and ₹25,000 to girls completing Class X, besides a sovereign of gold, to launch Pudumai Penn scheme, transport minister S S Sivasankar said the AIADMK changed the Justice Party’s mid-day meal scheme to a nutritious meal scheme, while gold for marriage was stalled during AIADMK rule itself. Former AIADMK minister S P Velumani said the scheme could not be continued due to Covid-19, but a tender was floated and the DMK govt did not take it forward. Govindasamy sought to know when DMK would fulfil its various poll promises including additional support price for paddy and sugarcane, besides increasing days of employment under MGNREGS from 100 to 150 as four years had passed.

Flights rescheduled anticipating poor visibility on Bhogi

Flights rescheduled anticipating poor visibility on Bhogi 

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 10.01.2025

Chennai : Anticipating poor visibility on the day of Bhogi celebrations due to burning of waste and tyres, airlines have rescheduled arrival and departure of their early morning flights at Chennai airport on Jan 13. Sources said Oman Air, Etihad, Air Asia and a few other international carriers have rescheduled their early morning flights. 

Air Asia, which operates flights between Chennai and Kuala Lumpur, has rescheduled its flights for three days until Jan 15. The flight from Kuala Lumpur, originally scheduled to land in Chennai at 7.25 am, has been rescheduled to land at 9.35am. The flight, which was scheduled to depart at 8.05am, will depart at 10.15am on those three days. An Air Asia spokesperson said this was to avoid difficulty in landing at Chennai airport in smog conditions. 

Airport authorities said that flights getting diverted and delayed on Bhogi due to smog impeding visibility for pilots is a regular phenomenon, despite efforts to create awareness in the surrounding areas not to burn waste. C Mohan, a retired airlines official, said the menace of burning waste near the airport had decreased significantly due to measures undertaken by respective civic corporations and police. However, an airport source said airlines not having accredited pilots to operate under poor visibility conditions was also a reason for rescheduling the flights. “There are only a few pilots who can operate under visibility conditions of less than 400m. So, airlines, trying to hide their shortcomings, put the blame on airport authorities,” added the source.

Govt. doctors do critical brain surgery to treat aneurysm

Govt. doctors do critical brain surgery to treat aneurysm

The Hindu Bureau

TIRUCHI 10.01.2025

A team from the Department of Neurosurgery, K.A.P. Viswanatham Medical College and Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital, conducted its first endovascular ‘coiling’ of an aneurysm (a bulge or ballooning in a blood vessel wall) found in the brain of a 56-year-old man recently.

According to an official statement, the patient had complained of severe headache. Diagnostic tests confirmed the presence of a bi-lobed aneurysm, situated at the anterior communicating artery, which connects the left and right anterior cerebral arteries in the brain.

These aneurysms are particularly challenging because of their complex anatomy and the critical vascular territories they involve. With the guidance of S. Kumaravel, dean, K.A.P. Viswantham Medical College, MGMGH medical superintendent Udhaya Aruna and deputy superintendent Arun Raj, the surgical team carried out the ‘coiling’ operation on the affected area.

An aneurysm coil is a device made of platinum that can stop a ruptured aneurysm from continuing to bleed or prevent an unruptured aneurysm from bleeding. It is usually inserted via catheter.

Patient stable

After the procedure, the patient was shifted to the intensive care unit and his condition was reported to be stable.

The Department of Neurosurgery has performed around 50 diagnostic cerebral angiograms in the past six months, said the statement.

Admit cards and fake OMR sheets of NEET seized in Bihar

Admit cards and fake OMR sheets of NEET seized in Bihar

The Hindu Bureau

PATNA 10.01.2025

The Bihar Police on Thursday found admit cards and fake OMR sheets of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Postgraduate in a fire-ravaged hostel room on the Patna Medical College and Hospital campus.

Half-burnt ₹100 and ₹500 notes, coming to ₹2.75 lakh, were recovered from the room gutted on Tuesday night.

Ajay Kumar from Samastipur, who is a postgraduate, was staying in the room. He is suspected of hiring MBBS students and making them impersonate for NEET-PG candidates.

Sources said that on Wednesday, Mr. Kumar reached the hostel with many people and was furious over the damage. Several students and junior doctors have complained that he has forcibly occupied many rooms and does not pay heed to the warnings by the college administration.

“A fire had started in the room of Chanakya Hostel and it was illegally occupied by one Ajay Kumar. The room was not allotted to him, and we have sought a report from the warden of the hostel. We have seized all the documents and have sought a detailed report about every document from the college authority, including the admit cards and other documents,” Sweety Sahrawat, Superintendent of Police (Central), Patna, said.

Asked about cheating in the test or a paper leak, Ms. Sahrawat said: “We cannot say anything at present unless we verify all the documents — whether it is old or for what purpose it was kept inside the room.”

In 2024, a leak of the NEET-UG paper in Bihar led to the arrest of 45 people by the Central Bureau of Investigation.

Bihar was the epicentre of the scam.