Air India probing drunk passenger incident
New Delhi, Sep 2 : National carrier Air India has commenced an internal probe on the incident of an inebriated passenger on a New York-Delhi flight urinating on the seat of an elderly woman two days ago.
Airline sources said a probe has commenced on the basis of an initial report submitted to the authorities.
"A detailed internal investigation is now on to ascertain if the crew followed the assigned SOPs (standard operating procedures) and whether they reported the matter when the aircraft landed back in Delhi, among other things."
The airline's In-Flight Services division has been tasked to carry out the investigation.
"There is anger among the public over the fact that such an incident did occur and that the inebriated person was allowed to walk out of the airport. He should have been apprehended on arrival in New Delhi. Even a complaint to Air India's security team would have resulted in some action," a source said.
"Lapses, if any, on part of the crew are being looked into."
Another airline source noted that economy class passengers have a limited quota of alcohol and the crew can refuse to serve more to any passenger found in an inebriated state.
"Saying that the crew went on to serve drunk passengers more alcohol is incorrect," the source said.
The airline on Saturday tweeted that the details of the incident were being sent to appropriate authorities for probe and possibly placing the passenger on the no-fly list.
Currently, safety laws on passengers' disruptive behaviour on-board aircraft mandate a ban on guilty passengers, restraining them from using domestic airlines.
Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha has asked the flag carrier to follow up on the matter on an urgent basis.
The incident took place on August 30 and was brought to the Minister's notice by Indrani Ghosh, the daughter of the affected elderly woman.
Ghosh tweeted on Friday that her mother had to face extreme shock and trauma after a drunk passenger fumbled across to her seat, removed his pants and urinated on her seat.
Tagging Ministers Suresh Prabhu and Sushma Swaraj, and Air India, Gosh urged the authorities to look into the matter urgently.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Voting begins for Assam''s 126 assembly seats
_vb_85.jpeg)
Guwahati (PTI): Polling for all 126 Assam assembly constituencies began on Thursday to decide the electoral fate of 722 candidates, officials said.
In the high-stakes election, the ruling BJP is aiming for a third consecutive term in office, while the Congress seeks to wrest power after being ousted in 2016.
Polling, being held in a single phase, began at 7 am and will conclude at 5 pm. Long queues of voters were seen outside polling stations from early morning.
An electorate of 2.50 crore, including 1.25 crore women and 318 from the third gender, can exercise their franchise in 31,490 polling stations across the state.
Prominent candidates include Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Congress state president Gaurav Gogoi, assembly Speaker Biswajit Daimary, Leader of the opposition Debabrata Saikia, AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal, Raijor Dal president Akhil Gogoi, and Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) chief Lurinjyoti Gogoi.
Several cabinet ministers, including the AGP’s Atul Bora and Keshav Mahanta, and the BPF’s Charan Boro are also in the fray.
The Congress has the highest of 99 contestants, followed by the BJP (90), AIUDF (30), NDA allies AGP (26) and BPF (11).
Opposition alliance’s Raijor Dal is contesting in 13, AJP in 10, CPI(M) in 3 and APHLC in 2. Outside the two coalitions, the AAP is contesting in 18 seats, UPPL in 18, TMC 22, JMM 16 and there are 258 independents.
The ruling NDA’s main constituents are the BJP, Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and the Bodo Peoples’ Front (BPF) while the opposition alliance comprises the Congress, Raijor Dal, Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP), CPI(M), All Party Hill Leaders Conference (APHLC) and CPI(ML).
The counting of votes is scheduled on May 4.
_vb_34.jpeg)
_vb_49.jpeg)
