CM Siddaramaiah directs cops in DK to take measures to combat drugs menace in district
Question cops referring to 'Vartha Bharati' report
Mangaluru: In a bid to combat the increasing drug menace in Mangalore, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has issued directives to the police to take strict legal action against drug peddlers under the Goonda Act. The Chief Minister expressed concern over the rising drug-related issues, particularly among the youth, during the district progress review meeting at the Netravati Hall of the Zilla Panchayat. He questioned the efficacy of the ongoing drug-free Mangalore campaign, referencing a report by the 'Vartabharati' newspaper.
During the meeting, Police Commissioner Kuldeep Jain briefed the Chief Minister on the current status of the anti-drug campaign in the city. Siddaramaiah emphasized the importance of stringent measures to address the drug crisis and protect the youth from its adverse impact.
Seeking Solutions for Groundnut Yellow Leaf Disease
In another development, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah expressed his intention to convene a meeting with agricultural scientists and experts to find a solution to the groundnut yellow leaf disease issue.
Additional Buses Under Shakti Yojana
Responding to concerns about the impact of the Shakti Yojana on private buses, auto-rickshaws, and other public transport vehicles in the district, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah assured that 4000 additional buses will be procured soon to meet the demand. He acknowledged the positive response from the public and students, emphasizing that this measure will benefit the district and ensure every beneficiary receives the benefits of the government's five guarantee schemes.
Education and Health Index Decline in Dakshina Kannada Raises Concern
Expressing his dismay over the decline in the education and health index of Dakshina Kannada district for the past few years, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah sought explanations from the District Deputy Director of Public Instruction (DDPI) and health officials. The district, which was ranked third in education in 2015, hasd fallen to 35th in 2022 and further to 17th in 2023. Similarly, the health index has dropped, with the district falling from third place in 2015 to 23rd in the latest rankings.
The Chief Minister raised questions about this decline, especially considering that neighboring districts Udupi and Mangalore have consistently ranked first and second. Siddaramaiah directed the DDPI and health officials to investigate the reasons behind the backwardness of Dakshina Kannada district and take necessary steps to address the issue promptly.
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Indigo cancels 67 flights from multiple airports due to bad weather, operational issues
Mumbai (PTI): Domestic carrier IndiGo on Thursday cancelled 67 flights from multiple airports due to "forecasted" bad weather and operational reasons, according to the airline's website.
Of the 67 cancelled flights, only four were for operational reasons, and the rest were due to "forecasted" bad weather at various airports, including Agartala, Chandigarh, Dehradun, Varanasi, Bengaluru, among others, as per the website.
Aviation regulator, DGCA, has announced the period between December 10 and February 10 next year as the official fog window this winter.
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As part of the DGCA fog operations (CAT-IIIB) norms, airlines have to mandatorily roster pilots who are trained to operate in low-visibility conditions, as well as deploy a CAT-IIIB-compliant aircraft fleet for such operations.
Category-III is an advanced navigation system that empowers an aircraft to land under foggy conditions.
Category-III-A is a precision instrument approach and landing that enables a plane to land with a runway visual range (RVR) of 200 metres, while Category-III-B helps in landing with an RVR of under 50 metres.
IndiGo, whose operations are under DGCA monitoring after the cancellations of thousands of flights early this month, is already operating a curtailed schedule in compliance with the government's order.
Under its original winter flight schedule, the airline was permitted to operate 15,014 domestic flights per week, or about 2,144 flights per day, roughly six per cent higher than the 14,158 weekly flights it operated during the summer schedule of 2025.
However, after the massive disruptions, which saw the airline cancelling 1,600 flights on a single day on account of new rest norms for pilots, which allow more rest to the pilots, the government cut down the airline's domestic flight schedule by 10 per cent or 214 flights per day.
As a result of that, IndiGo can't operate more than 1,930 flights per day on domestic routes under its current winter schedule.
The Rahul Bhatia-controlled airline cancelled thousands of flights between December 1 and December 9 on account of a lack of proper planning, and crew shortage in implementing the new set of regulations for pilots' duty period and rest, which were put in place from November 1, thereby causing severe hardships to lakhs of air travellers.
Following this, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) formed a four-member panel, comprising Joint DG Sanjay Brahamane, Deputy Director General Amit Gupta, senior Flight Operations Inspector Kapil Manglik, and FOI Lokesh Rampal, with a mandate to identify the root causes of widespread operational disruptions at the Rahul Bhatia-controlled domestic carrier.
The panel, which has already grilled IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers and Chief Operating Officer Isidre Porqueras as part of its probe, is expected to submit its report by this week.
Meanwhile, IndiGo, in a travel advisory on X, said, "Low visibility and fog over Bangalore has impacted flight schedule. We are keeping a close watch on the weather and doing our best where you need to be safely, smoothly".
Reacting to the advisory, an aggrieved passenger, in an X post, said, "My flight on December 20 from Bhubaneswar to Ahmedabad got delayed for more than five hours, and today my return flight from Ahmedabad to Bhubaneswar also got delayed more than three hours with the same excuse as bad weather. I am travelling with my senior citizen parents, and this delay is not acceptable. Need proper explanation, along with compensation".
