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Thursday, May 14, 2026

No biryani, wedding turns bloody

Knives Out After Wedding Guests Bicker Over Being Served Pulao

TIMES NEWS NETWORK Ahamedabad 14.05.2026

Ahmedabad : Food can make or break an event. And, a wedding meant to celebrate a new beginning went spectacularly off the rails after a late-night argument over biryani, or rather a lack thereof, exploded into a violent family clash involving knives and iron ladles.

The bride, 23, who had travelled from Delhi with her family for the May 12 wedding, ended up spending the night at a police station, accusing the groom and five others of attacking her relatives after guests complained that pulao, and not biryani, was served at dinner.

According to the bride’s complaint, she and her family were staying near the marriage hall in Kubernagar. The engagement ceremony was held on May 10, followed by the wedding rituals the next evening. Trouble began brewing during a pre-wedding dinner when guests objected to the pulao being served. They also allegedly created a ruckus on it “not being prepared properly”, the complainant stated.

A heated exchange followed, but relatives allegedly managed to calm things down. A few hours later, however, tempers flared again. The bride alleged that around 1 am, the groom, his brother and several others arrived at the hall where her family members were staying and restarted the argument over the food issue.

According to the complaint, the groom’s side began “hurling filthy abuses” at the bride’s father. The bride told police, “One of the men attacked my father with a knife, injuring his left hand, while another relative, who intervened, suffered a knife wound on her left palm. We all stepped in to separate them.” As relatives rushed to stop the fight, the marriage venue allegedly turned into a battleground, with pushing, shouting, and scuffles breaking out between members of both families.

During the chaos, gold ornaments worn by the bride and her aunt reportedly disappeared. The injured relatives were rushed to Civil Hospital for treatment before the bride filed a complaint seeking action against the groom and his relatives. However, the groom’s side has given police a very different version. According to the cross complaint, police were called to settle the verbal dispute that arose during dinner, and both sides “reached an understanding”. “However, around 1.30am, the argument allegedly erupted again after the bride’s brother began abusing members of the groom’s family.

When relatives attempted to calm him down, the bride’s brother, her father and another man attacked them with kitchen utensils and a sharp weapon. An iron ladle was used to strike the complainant on the head,” stated the complaint. Three people from the groom’s family also suffered injuries and were taken to Civil Hospital, the complaint stated. Police have registered complaints from both sides and launched an investigation into the wedding-night showdown.

Father & son who missed Chicago flight win ₹1.4L compensation

DIVERSION DRAMA - COUNSUMER AS KING

Vindhya.Pabolu@timesofindia.com 14.05.2026

Bengaluru : What began as a routine trip to Chicago soon spiralled into an overnight nightmare for two Jayanagar residents, eventually leading to a legal battle. The episode dates back to Jan 4, 2024, when 68-year-old Satish Nagarajan Iyengar and his 38- year-old son, Rupesh, booked Air India round-trip tickets between Bengaluru and Chicago for Rs 2.9 lakh.

Their onward journey was scheduled for Jan 18, with the return flight planned for Jan 22. On Jan 18, the duo checked in at Bengaluru airport and received two boarding passes each, while their baggage was tagged directly to Chica- go. Their flight departed Bengaluru at 9.10pm and was slated to arrive in Delhi at 11.55pm, where they were to board a connecting flight to Chicago at 2.35am.

The flight was normal until it entered Delhi airspace, when the captain announced a diversion to Jaipur, citing low visibility. However, the duo contended that Delhi’s CAT IIIB-compliant runways were operational and the aircraft was equipped for landing in low visibility, alleging the diversion occurred due to pilots lacking CAT IIIB certification.

The aircraft landed in Jaipur, where passengers waited for more than an hour while a CAT IIIB-certified crew was flown in. The flight then reached Delhi at 1.52am, leaving less than 45 minutes for the connection. Despite assurances that they would make the connection, they were met with placards and escorted through a priority channel. However, they were made to wait more than 30 minutes, their baggage was returned and the Chicago leg was cancelled, citing late arrival of AI 808.

Air India’s Integrated Operations Control Centre (IOCC) later confirmed seats were available but said boarding had closed. For Satish, a senior citizen, the situation turned distressing. No food, water, seating or hotel accommodation was provided, nor any timeline for resolution.

After a sleepless night at the airport, they booked a hotel at their own expense. The next morning, Air India issued tickets to Bengaluru and said reimbursement would be provided. On Jan 21, they filed a refund request. On Feb 5, Air India confirmed a full refund within 7-14 days. However, by March 5, only Rs 2.4 lakh was credited, leaving Rs 55,328 pending. Despite acknowledgement and follow-ups, payment was not made. The issue was escalated to the ministry of civil aviation on July 26, but they received no response.

The duo filed a consumer complaint on July 17, 2025. In its defence, Air India cited operational and safety requirements for the diversion, stating low visibility procedures were mandatory. It argued boarding had closed by the time they arrived at the gate, making acceptance impossible. It also said an alternative routing via London was offered but declined, contending that passengers who opted for a refund could not later claim additional damages. On refunds, Air India stated that out of the total fare of Rs 1.5 lakh per ticket, in addition Rs 11,145 had been refunded for one ticket, while Rs 27,664 and Rs 16,519, respectively, remained under process or pending approval.

The airline maintained that the delay in crediting the balance amounts was due to routine reconciliation and settlement procedures and not due to any mala fide intent. The commission observed that the flight diversion was not due to weather alone but stemmed from the crew’s lack of CAT IIIB certification, an internal lapse that could not be treated as force majeure to escape liability.

It held that DGCA exemption clauses could not justify leaving a senior citizen stranded overnight without food, water, rest or accommodation. The partial refund of Rs 2,43,774 was treated as acknowledgement of liability, making the withholding of Rs 55,328 indefensible. It also upheld Rs 33,186 as legitimate damages and concluded that Air India’s actions constituted a clear deficiency in service.

The bench, comprising president Ramachandra MS and members Nandini H Kumbhar and Savitha Airani, on April 29 ordered Air India to refund Rs 55,328 and pay Rs 33,186 for damages incurred at an interest at 6%. It directed the airline to pay Rs 20,000 as compensation for deficiency in service, Rs 25,000 for pain and suffering, and Rs 10,000 in litigationcosts.

Include foster parents’ names in birth certificate, orders HC

K.Kaushik@timesofindia.com 14.05.2026

Madurai : Dignity and the right to construct one’s own identity with reference to gender, familial and societal contexts is part of the right to privacy, Madras high court observed while granting relief to a woman who sought to include the names of her foster parents in her birth certificate without removing the names of her biological parents.

The court was hearing a petition filed by a woman from Madurai, who is pursuing a UG degree. The petitioner stated that she was born in 2005. After her father passed away in 2006, her mother also deserted her. Her paternal uncle and his wife (aunt) raised her as their own daughter. The petitioner stated that in all her identity-related documents, her uncle and aunt’s names are mentioned as parents’ names. However, in the birth certificate alone, the biological parents’ names are mentioned.

This has affected her right to be known as the daughter of her uncle and aunt and it also leads to serious prejudice to her education and career as well. Therefore, the petitioner made an application to include the names of her uncle and.as her father and mother in the birth certificate. However, the same was rejected on the ground that the petitioner should be validly adopted as per the provisions of the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956.

Challenging the order, the petitioner moved court. The woman’s counsel submitted that she did not seek to remove the names of the biological parents, but to include the names of her uncle and aunt as well. Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy observed the petitioner is not praying for proprietary rights in the foster family. She wants to be known as their daughter. The same would be within her fundamental right. This apart, her identity itself will be disputed and her education and career will be jeopardised since the names of her parents in all other certificates and birth certificate are different.

The judge observed that there is not only an obligation on the state to respect the child’s right to preserve her identity, but there is also an obligation to provide appropriate assistance. Hence, the judge directed the petitioner to file notarised affidavits of her uncle and aunt, consenting to their names being added to the birth certificate of the petitioner with the suffix ‘foster’. Upon filing such affidavits, the chief registrar of births and deaths, shall also include the names of the uncle and aunt in the appropriate columns, the judge directed

CM Vijay, Udhayanidhi spar on social media

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 14.05.2026

Chennai : Hours after the assembly session was adjourned sine die, chief minister C Joseph Vijay and former deputy CM Udhayanidhi Stalin were involved in a war of words on social media. While Vijay mocked DMK for not getting the majority in 2006, Udhayanidhi responded, saying that DMK was not involved in a postpoll alliance or horse trading despite not having enough MLAs back then.

Vijay issued a statement on X in response to the remarks made by Udhayanidhi in the assembly earlier in the day that TVK lacked people’s support as it does not have majority. Vijay said DMK was repeating “old, stale and sour arguments” by claiming TVK lacked public support.

“DMK will never understand reality,” he said. Vijay said TVK secured 34.92% vote share while contesting alone now, against DMK’s standalone vote share of 24.19%. Referring to the 2006 election when DMK had only 96 MLAs and formed minority govt with support of allies, Vijay made a sarcastic remark that ‘DMK won all 234 seats with 100% votes from people.’

“People of Tamil Nadu must have smirked recalling the single majority govt formed by DMK in 2006,’’ he said.

Udhayanidhi hit back at Vijay, saying the party did not attempt to form a postpoll alliance or indulge in “horse-trading” to capture power even when it did not have majority, unlike TVK. Udhayanidhi said Vijay became chief minister with the support of parties and votes that were “rejected” by the people. Drawing a comparison with the 2006 DMK regime, he said that govt was formed with the support of alliance partners and not by “buying MLAs, engineering defections or splitting parties”. DMK accepted the people’s verdict and chose to sit in the opposition benches, he said.

“We did not visit Lok Bhavan everyday out of desperation for power,” he said. He said DMK may have lost the election, but forcing TVK to continue the Dravidian model welfare schemes itself was “a victory for the opposition.”

Passengers can’t fly Air India to Singapore from June to Aug

Venkadesan.S@timesofindia.com 14.015.2026

Chennai : Air India will suspend its twice daily direct flights from Chennai to Singapore as part of a wider rationalisation drive in view of soaring fuel costs and operational pressures. It is not clear if the 14 connecting flights to Singapore via Mumbai and Delhi have also been curtailed. A fresh timetable is expected in some time. The Tata Group-owned carrier on Wednesday announced that operations would be curtailed on other international routes as well.

These include Delhi-Shanghai, Mumbai-Dhaka and DelhiMale through Aug, and reduced frequency of flights to Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Kathmandu, Colombo and Dhaka.

The impact extends to Europe, North America and Australia as well. Air India has suspended the Delhi-Chicago route temporarily and reduced frequencies to San Francisco, Toronto, Vancouver, Paris, Copenhagen, Milan, Zurich, Rome, Melbourne and Sydney, among others. Despite the temporary cuts, the airline said it would continue operating more than 1,200 international flights every month across fi-ve continents, including 158 weekly flights to the Far East, Southeast Asia and SAARC destinations.

The Chennai-Singapore flights cater to leisure travellers, business passengers, students and transit flyers connecting to Southeast Asia, the Far East and Australia. International carriers such as Singapore Airlines and Scoot Airways too operate direct flights between Chennai and Singapore.

A Sankar, president of Indian Air Passengers’Association, said that move will encourage other carriers to raise fares. “Airlines reducing the operations despite the Union govt releasing ₹5,000 crore emergency credit to them shows their incapability to manage the crisis,” he said. Sankar said Chennai-Singapore is one of the busiest sectors, with people from all walks of life often travelling between these countries for business, work as well as for leisure.

Air India said affected passengers would be offered alternative flights where feasible, along with 1 options for free date changes or full refunds. The airline added that it is working with regulators and airport authorities to restore full capacity once operating conditions get better.

Wednesday, May 13, 2026

With AIADMK Aid, Vijay Set For Trust Vote Win

G Babu Jayakumar & D Sekar 1

2 May 2026 10:05 PM

AMMK member Kamraj supports TVK, expelled from party

Chennai: The government led by Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay is all set to smoothly sail through the floor test on Wednesday with the top honchos of the 30-strong AIADMK dissident group, S.P. Velumani and C.V. Shanmugham, extending support to the Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK). On his part, Vijay expressed gratitude for the gesture by visiting Shanmugham at his residence in Adyar and meeting other AIADMK MLAs there on Tuesday.

Though the TVK shown the support of over 118 MLAs to Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, and there is no indication of any member or party reneging in their commitment, the AIADMK faction’s support came as a boost to Vijay.

Speaking to reporters, Shanmugam said they would meet provide a letter supporting Vijay’s government. He also alleged that AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami wanted to form government with the DMK's support.

The Palanaswami group of the AIADMK decided to vote against the confidence motion, senior party leader Agri S.S. Krishnamurthy said here. He also warned that potential cross-voting will face legal consequences, specifically noting that proceedings would be initiated under the anti-defection law if necessary. He said 47 party MLAs had earlier elected Palaniswami as their leader submitted a letter to the Assembly Speaker to that effect.

R. Kamraj, the lone MLA from the AMMK of T.T.V. Dhinakaran, who was elected from Mannargudi, pledged his support to the TVK after he was expelled from the party, thus adding to the ruling party’s tally.

Continuing his thanksgiving journey through Chennai streets that he began on Monday, Vijay also called on VCK chief Thol Thirmavalavan at his residence in Velachery and IUML president K.M. Kader Mohideen besides paying a visit to Sathyamurthy Bhavan to thank Congress leaders, who were the first to extend support to the TVK when it was struggling to prove is majority with only 108 of the 234 seats in its kitty.

( Source : Deccan Chronicle