Poll officials search Amit Shah's aircraft in Hubballi
Hubballi: BJP President Amit Shah was in for a surprise on Tuesday when Election Commission officials searched his private aircraft on landing in this Karnataka city for party events ahead of the May 12 assembly poll.
"A team of our officials searched the chartered aircraft in which Shah arrived here from New Delhi for party activities, to ensure the Model Code of Conduct is being observed," a poll official told IANS over phone.
Shah, who is on a two-day visit to the was accompanied by two more party leaders.
The search was carried by three poll officials, though nothing "unusual" was found in the aircraft.
"It was a routine check. Found nothing. It's part of our drill under the MCC, in force since March 27 when the election was announced," noted the official.
Party's Lok Sabha member from Dharwad Prahlad Joshi received Shah at the airport and accompanied him to Kaginele in Byadgi taluk of Haveri district for addressing a convention of Other Backward Classes.
Asserting that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was going to form the next government in the state, Shah said the party would fulfil the demand of the OBC community for constitutional status to the OBCs.
"Though the BJP-led NDA government has formulated 116 schemes for the OBCs across the country, unfortunately, they have not been reaching the intended beneficiaries in Karnataka due to non-cooperation of the state government," charged Shah without naming the ruling Congress.
Later, the party chief visited Badami in the state's northwest Bagalkot district for an interaction with seers of religious sects and mutts.
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Air India, Air India Express to levy fuel surcharge on tickets; airfares to rise
New Delhi (PTI): Airfares are set to rise with Air India and Air India Express deciding to levy a fuel surcharge of Rs 399 on each domestic flight ticket from March 12 and also hike the charge for international bookings due to a steep rise in jet fuel prices amid the Middle East conflict.
The new fuel surcharges will be implemented in a phased manner.
Regretting the need for fuel surcharges, Air India on Tuesday said that without such surcharges, "it is likely that some flights would be unable to cover operating costs and would have to be cancelled".
In the first phase, a fuel surcharge of Rs 399 per domestic flight ticket would be imposed from March 12, and the same will also be applicable for SAARC flights, a statement said on Tuesday.
For West Asia flights, the fuel surcharge will be USD 10 and hiked by USD 30 to USD 90 for Africa flights and by USD 20 to USD 60 for Southeast Asia services.
All these changes will be effective from March 12, including for flights to and from Singapore. Currently, there is no fuel surcharge for Singapore services.
In the second phase, Air India will increase the fuel surcharge by USD 25 to USD 50 for flights to Europe, North America and Australia starting from March 18.
Fuel surcharge for Europe flights will rise to USD 125 from USD 100, and for North America flights, the same will increase from USD 150 to USD 200.
As per the statement, the fuel surcharge for Australia flights will increase from USD 150 to USD 200.
Currently, Air India Express does not levy fuel surcharges on any of its flights.
"Air India group today announced a phased expansion of a fuel surcharge on its domestic and international routes, necessitated by the steep rise in jet fuel prices arising from the geopolitical situation in the Gulf region," the statement said.
Since early March 2026, the statement that Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF), which accounts for nearly 40 per cent of an airline's operating costs, has seen significant price escalation due to supply interruptions.
"In India, this pressure is amplified by high Excise Duty and VAT on ATF in major metro cities such as Delhi and Mumbai, magnifying the cost impact and placing substantial strain on airline operating economics," it said.
For the avoidance of doubt, the statement said that tickets that have already been issued prior to the above times will not attract the new surcharge unless customers seek date or itinerary changes that require a recalculation of the fare.
There was no announcement regarding fuel surcharges from IndiGo, SpiceJet and Akasa Air.
