Video of bodybuilder smoking in SpiceJet flight surfaces online; Scindia says investigating
New Delhi(PTI): Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Thursday ordered an investigation after a video showing bodybuilder Bobby Kataria smoking on a SpiceJet flight surfaced on social media.
The video shows Kataria -- who has 6.3 lakh followers on Instagram -- lighting a cigarette on one of the back rows of a SpiceJet plane.
Passengers are not allowed to take lighter in the plane. Passengers are also not allowed to smoke in the plane.
SpiceJet said that the smoking incident took place in its Dubai-Delhi flight on January 20 when passengers were boarding the plane and the cabin crew members were busy with completing the on-boarding procedure.
After investigation, the airline had put the passenger on "no flying list" for 15 days in February, it mentioned.
As per the regulations of aviation regulator DGCA, an airline has the power to ban an "unruly" passenger for a certain period of time if he or she violates any rules.
When the video of this incident was posted on Twitter on Thursday, Scindia responded: "Investigating it. There will be no tolerance towards such hazardous behaviour."
Sources from the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) said on Thursday that the video of this incident came to their knowledge in January this year and they had then written to the concerned airline and subsequently sent a complaint to the police in Gurugram.
"We understand the police filed a complaint against him there (in Gurugram)," one of the CISF source said.
In a statement, SpiceJet said: "This is with reference to a video on social media of a passenger smoking onboard a SpiceJet aircraft. The matter had been investigated thoroughly in January 2022 when the video was brought to our notice and a complaint had been filed by the airline with the Udyog Vihar Police Station in Gurugram."
The video, the investigation had revealed, was shot on January 20, 2022 while passengers were boarding flight SG 706 scheduled to fly from Dubai to Delhi, it said.
"The said passenger and his co-passengers shot the video on the 21st row when the cabin crew were occupied with completing the on-boarding procedure. None of the passengers or crew was aware of the act. The matter came to the airline's notice on January 24, 2022 through social media posts," it said.
"The matter was referred to the Internal Committee constituted as per the provisions of Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) on handling of unruly passengers (not consisting of any SpiceJet employee). The said passenger was put on a no flying list by the airline for 15 days in February 2022," the carrier said.
Passenger namely Balvinder Kataria has travelled from Dubai to New Delhi via @flyspicejet flight no SG706. He landed in New Delhi on 23/01/22. The video is not available on his personal Facebook/ Instagram page. Appropriate action has taken by Aviation Security earlier. #AvGeek pic.twitter.com/DYnTxkPo5Y
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LS passes bill to open up nuclear sector for private participation
New Delhi (PTI): Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed the nuclear energy bill with Union minister Jitendra Singh asserting that it would help India achieve its target of 100 GW atomic energy generation by 2047.
The Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Bill, which seeks to open the tightly-controlled civil nuclear sector for private participation, was passed by voice vote amid a walkout by the opposition.
Singh termed the bill a "milestone legislation" that will give a new direction to the country's developmental journey.
"India's role in geopolitics is increasing. If we have to be a global player, we have to follow global benchmarks and global strategies. The world is moving towards clean energy. We too have set a target of 100 GW of nuclear energy capacity by 2047," he said.
The opposition contended that the bill diluted provisions of the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010 that passed on the liability for a nuclear incident on to the suppliers of nuclear equipment.
