Zero-tolerance on drugs and other illegal activities, nobody will be spared
New Mangaluru Police Commissioner warns Rowdies in an interview with Vartha Bharati
Mangaluru: IPS Officer Dr. Harsha PS, took charge as the new Commissioner of Mangaluru Police on Friday, August 9 after his predecessor Sandeep Patil was transferred to Bengaluru as the Joint Commissioner of city’s crime department.
Having served in the Dakshina Kannada more than a decade back as the Assistant Superintendent of Police in Puttur, Dr. Harsha says he is much familiar with the people of the District and knows how things work in Coastal Karnataka.
Vartha Bharati Sub-editor Ismail Zaorez recently caught up with the incoming officer for an exclusive interview at his office, wherein he spoke on a range of topics and elaborated on his plans as the City's Commissioner of Police.
Excerpts from the interview:
What are your views about Mangaluru?
Mangaluru is one of the most cosmopolitan, globally relevant and fast-growing city of India. It is also a pride of Karnataka with very rich cultural roots. It’s been a hub of education and one of very sound health cities with a history of having accommodated people of all religions and cultures.
What will be your priorities as the Commissioner of Mangaluru City Police?
The priority will be to take policing closer to the people here and to make it people-friendly. We will straightaway work towards strengthening the beat system at the police stations. We will be actively collaborating with various groups of citizens, religious leaders and influencers of the society to pinpoint the problems of citizens and how they can be tackled. Second priority will be zero tolerance about any goondaism which pose a threat to the tranquility of the society. Also, we will deal with any illegal activities strictly. Mangaluru is a fast-growing city, so traffic is also a priority, and we are working on bringing in new methods through which we can regulate seamless and congestion-free traffic in the city.
Traffic and Drugs are two of the biggest problems the city is currently facing. How are you planning to deal with it?
In any developing city where there are students and migrant population, drugs abuse and substance abuse will be there. It causes a lot of inconvenience to the administration and Mangaluru is no different. I have been informed about this problem. We have planned a few programs to deal with it. We will collaborate with individuals and educational institutions and we will continuously work towards uprooting the source and peddlers from the city. There will be zero tolerance in this regard. Those who are involved in peddling and consumption of drugs, they better refrain from such activities, otherwise, we will not spare anybody.
Apart from Drugs and Traffic, Mangaluru also has a tag of being ‘Communally Sensitive’ city. What are your views about it?
Coastal Karnataka has been a house to several cultures and various lifestyles, so I will not call it communally sensitive. It’s a fact that people of various cultures, religions, ethnicity have been staying in this region. If you look at it, Dakshina Kannada has been an ambassador to the communal harmony and co-existence of several cultures, religions and ethnicity. There have been incidents where the communal harmony and peace of the region have been put to test but law enforcement machinery will take very firm legal action against anybody trying to medal with communal harmony. Again, those will be isolated incidents, if you look at bigger picture people here have been co-existing very peacefully over the years. We will work in collaboration with the religious representatives to ensure peace, harmony in the region.
Your message to the people of Mangaluru.
Mangaluru city can be made much more public friendly only when the people will come together with the police department. Policing is an activity that can effectively work when the people are involved and are cooperating with the Police department. So I want to assure people that the department is for people and will come to their aid whenever there is a need. Whatever be the problem the department will be ready to offer any help to the people. The only appeal to the people is to cooperate with us and not sensationalize issues.
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AI, IndiGo, SpiceJet seek ATF price relief; say airline industry on verge of 'stopping operations'
Mumbai (PTI): Air India, IndiGo and SpiceJet have told the government that the country's airline industry is under extreme stress and on the verge of "stopping operations", as they sought revision in ATF pricing and financial support.
The West Asia turmoil has pushed up oil prices, and airspace restrictions have increased airlines' operating costs, especially on long-haul routes. Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) accounts for around 40 per cent of a carrier's operational expenses.
Against this backdrop, the Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) has written to the civil aviation ministry, seeking steps to extend the same fuel pricing mechanism uniformly across both domestic and international operations as was done in the past with the establishment of the crack band.
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With an unprecedented rise in jet fuel prices and exorbitant crack/differential between crude and ATF, the federation said the operation of airlines is being challenged in totality.
"... any ad hoc pricing (domestic vs international) and/or irrational increase in the price of ATF will result in unsurmountable losses for airlines and will lead to grounding of aircraft, resulting in cancellation of flights," the federation, which represents Air India, IndiGo and SpiceJet, said.
"In order to survive, sustain and continue operation, we request your urgent intervention for immediate and meaningful financial support to tide over the current situation," it said in a letter on April 26.
Also, the airlines have sought temporary deferment of excise duty on ATF, which is at 11 per cent.
"With the abnormal increase in ATF prices from the pre-crisis period, adding rupee depreciation to the increased prices, the 11 per cent excise duty also increases manifold for the airlines and adds to the ATF price as a big impact on airlines," they said.
Last month, the government limited the hike in ATF price to Rs 15 per litre for domestic operations, but for international operations, the price rose by Rs 73 per litre.
The airlines said the situation has practically made international operations, along with domestic operations, completely unviable and resulted in significant losses for the aviation sector in April.
Seeking urgent intervention on the current ATF ad hoc pricing, FIA said the current situation is creating a severe imbalance in domestic and international operations and rendering airline networks unviable and unsustainable.
"The airline industry in India is under extreme stress and is on the verge of closing down or of stopping its operations."
The federation has pitched for a transparent pricing framework under the crack band mechanism (USD 12–22/BBL) that was implemented in October 2022, saying there was a fair and reasonable margin for Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs).
According to FIA, the country's largest aviation hub Delhi has the second-highest value-added tax (VAT) of 25 per cent on jet fuel, while the highest rate is 29 per cent levied in Tamil Nadu.
"The other major aviation cities, viz. Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Kolkata range between 16 per cent and 20 per cent. These 6 cities cover more than 50 per cent of airlines' operations within India," the federation said.
