Heena Sharma Blog

India will launch the second phase of ' Vande Bharat Mission ' from the United States on May 16 under which Air India will operate 7 flights to bring back countrymen from the United States. These will be a repeat of the same cities as phase one as flights will originate from San Francisco, Washington DC, Chicago and New York. However, the onward and final destination will not remain the same. A total of 7 flights will be a part of the second phase break down. Two flights are scheduled to depart from San Francisco, one from DC, two from Chicago and other two from New York, news agency ANI reported. Read More

A total of 7 special evacuation flights from across the globe will bring home stranded Indians on the fifth day of ‘ Vande Bharat Mission ’on Monday. The special flights include London to Delhi to Bengaluru, San Francisco to Mumbai to Hyderabad, Dhaka to Mumbai, Dubai to Kochi, Abu Dhabi to Hyderabad, Kaula Lampur to Chennai and Bahrain to Kozhikode. Read More

SpiceJet on Wednesday suspended stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra from flying with it after he allegedly heckled journalist Arnab Goswami aboard an IndiGo Mumbai-Lucknow flight. SpiceJet is the third airline to take action against Kamra. While IndiGo suspended Kamra from flying with it for a period of six months on Tuesday itself, Air India banned him until further notice. Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had taken note of the incident on Tuesday and "advised" other airlines in India to impose similar restrictions on Kamra, stating "offensive behaviour designed to provoke & create disturbance inside an aircraft is absolutely unacceptable & endangers safety of air travellers". On Wednesday morning, SpiceJet said on Twitter, "SpiceJet has decided to suspend Mr. Kunal Kamra from flying with the airline till further notice." An AirAsia India official told PTI that the airline is waiting for the aviation regulator DGCA to issue a formal n...

Air India flights from Mumbai are facing delays, some by as much as six hours, owing to a flash strike called by the carrier’s ground staff. Ground-handling functions like check-in, loading and unloading of bags, among other things, are handled by the airline's subsidiary Air India Air Transport Services Limited (AIATSL), whose staff went on a flash strike from 11 pm on Wednesday, demanding the reinstatement of three employees who were fired from the job. The flash strike is causing delays, but there have been no cancellations so far. The airline's Newark flight (AI 191) departed 2.30 hours late and Bangkok flight (AI 330) took off six hours after scheduled departure. "Due to a sudden industrial situation at Mumbai by AIATSL employees, some flights have got delayed. We are assessing the situation and all efforts are being made to minimise delays or disruption," said an Air India spokesperson. "Air India staff have been called from home to hel...

In 2018 alone, there have been 50 severe storms across 16 Indian states that have led to more than 500 deaths, compared to 22 storms between 2003 and 2017 Current Affairs News : Deadly   dust   storms sweeping over the densely-populated north Indian plains are part of a "new normal" of disruptive weather events worsening the country’s already-lethal   air pollution   and causing disruption in the $2.3-trillion economy. In recent months,   dust   clouds and storms have killed hundreds of people, destroyed thousands of homes and farmers’ crops and led to flight cancellations. The government in New Delhi, a city of more than 20 million people, ordered a halt to construction activities as the airborne sand significantly worsened north India’s air quality, far outside the winter months that usually herald the region’s descent into a months-long toxic haze. "It’s definitely a new normal -- the frequency and intensity of these storms is unpre...

The proposal also included a 'Swachhta Express' for Sabarmati and adjoining stations Current Affairs News : The  Indian Railway Board  proposed to mark the occasion of  Gandhi Jayanti  as a 'Vegetarian Day', suggesting that it will not include non-vegetarian items in the meals served on that day. The Railway Board has planned that non vegetarian food will be served to passengers on railway premises on October 2 in 2018, 2019 and 2020. The proposal also included a 'Swachhta Express' for Sabarmati and adjoining stations. The board has also proposed for Mahatma Gandhi watermarked tickets. The board has approached the Ministry of Culture, headed by Bharatiya Janata party's Mahesh Sharma for approval of the said proposals. Railway Board Chairman Ashwani Lohani had initiated a similar exercise in July 2017, when he was the Chairman and Managing Director of Air India, wherein it was announ...