18 fishermen from Bhatkal arrested in Iran released
Bhatkal, Jan 09: Fifteen fishermen from Uttara Kannada district have been released by Iranian authorities after they had illegally entered their country five months ago, according to a top district official.
"We are happy that fifteen fishermen from Uttara Kannada were released on Tuesday. Karnataka Chief Minister and the district administration had written to the Union government. Thereafter, a lot of effort has transpired," Uttara Kannada Deputy Commissioner S S Nakul told PTI over phone.
All the fishermen are enroute to UAE on their boats and later, based on their convenience, they would return to India, Nakul said.
Initially, the boat owners made efforts to get the fishermen released, but it was only after the intervention of the Indian Foreign Affairs Ministry that the Iranian government agreed to release them.
The fishermen were detained since July 27 by the Iranian government after they had illegally entered Kish island in Iran, he said.
They were working on three boats owned by a UAE businessman, he added.
Soon after fifteen Indian fishermen were detained along with three other fishermen from Dubai, they had posted a video through WhatsApp to Karwar district administration, Nakul said.
The district administration then wrote a letter to the Ministry of External Affairs and requested Sushma Swaraj to take up the matter, he said.
Nakul said the release of the fishermen was delayed because one of the three Dubai-based fishermen in the Iranian authorities detention escaped from the boat.
"As a punishment, the Iranian authorities, sent the other two Dubai-based fishermen to jail and Indian fishermen were detained in the boats," he said.
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Navi Mumbai International Airport starts commercial flight operations
Mumbai (PTI): The Navi Mumbai International Airport commenced commercial flight operations on Thursday, marking a key milestone for India's civil aviation sector, while expanding air travel capacity for the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).
The Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) began operations, with the first flight from Bengaluru, operated by IndiGo, touching down the runway at 8 am.
The aircraft was accorded a ceremonial water cannon salute on arrival, a time-honoured aviation tradition marking NMIA's first commercial touchdown and departure, the airport operator said in a statement.
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The inaugural arrival was followed by the airport's first departure IndiGo flight 6E882 to Hyderabad at 08:40 am, completing NMIA's inaugural arrival and departure cycle, it said.
On the first day, IndiGo, Air India Express, Akasa Air and Star Air will operate domestic services, connecting the new facility to nine destinations across India.
The airport will handle 15 scheduled departures on the first day, it said, adding that during the initial phase, the facility will operate for 12 hours -- between 8 am and 8 pm, with up to 24 scheduled daily departures to 13 destinations and the capability to manage up to 10 aircraft movements (arrivals and departures) per hour, it added.
The airport was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 8 this year.
The first phase of the five-phased airport was built at Rs 19,650 crore.
By the time all five phases of the airport are completed, it will be catering to 90 million passengers annually, along with dedicated cargo terminals and multimodal connectivity.
The entire project is being developed in multiple phases under a special purpose vehicle, Navi Mumbai International Airport Ltd (NMIAL), in which the Adani Group has a 74 per cent stake, and the remaining 26 per cent is owned by CIDCO.
From February next year, operations are planned to progressively scale up to round-the-clock services.
