Air India to operate two flights to Bucharest to evacuate Indians stranded in Ukraine: Report
New Delhi, Feb 25: Air India will operate two flights to Romanian capital Bucharest on Friday to evacuate Indians stranded in Ukraine due to a Russian military offensive against it, senior government officials said.
Indian nationals who have reached the Ukraine-Romania border by road will be taken to Bucharest by Indian government officials so that they can be evacuated in the two Air India flights, they added.
The Ukrainian airspace was closed for civil aircraft operations by the country's authorities Thursday morning and therefore, the evacuation flights are operating out of Bucharest.
While one Air India flight will depart from Delhi around 9 PM on Friday, the other one will depart from Mumbai around 10.25 PM on Friday, the officials mentioned.
The two Air India flights will depart from Bucharest to India on Saturday, the officials said. Air India did not respond to PTI's request for comments on the development.
The Indian embassy in Ukraine on Friday said it is working to establish evacuation routes from Romania and Hungary.
"At present, teams are getting in place at the following check points: Chop-Zahony Hungarian border near Uzhhorod, Porubne-Siret Romanian border near Chernivtsi," it said.
Indian nationals, especially students, living closest to these border checkpoints are advised to depart in an organised manner in coordination with teams from the Ministry of External Affairs to actualise this option, the embassy said.
Once the above-mentioned routes are operational, the Indian nationals travelling on their own would be advised to proceed to the border check points, it noted.
The embassy advised Indian travellers to carry their passports, cash (preferably in US dollars), other essential items and COVID-19 vaccination certificates to the border check points.
"Print out Indian flag and paste prominently on vehicles and buses while travelling," it said.
Around 20,000 Indians, mainly students, are currently stranded in Ukraine, the officials said.
The distance between Ukrainian capital Kyiv and the Romanian border check point is approximately 600 kilometres and it takes anywhere between eight-and-a-half to 11 hours to cover it by road.
Bucharest is located approximately 500 kilometres from the Romanian border check point and it takes anywhere between seven to nine hours to cover the distance by road.
The distance between Kyiv and the Hungarian border check point is around 820 kilometres and it takes 12-13 hours to cover it by road.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
