Closure of Pakistan’s airspace forces Indian Airlines to take longer routes
New Delhi: Pakistan’s decision to close its airspace for Indian carriers has disrupted international flight operations, compelling airlines to adopt longer routes over the Arabian Sea to reach destinations in North America, Europe, the UK, and the Middle East. This action is likely to result in extended flight durations and possible delays for passengers while also increasing operational costs for airlines.
A Civil Aviation Ministry official added that the additional flying time and fuel costs have prompted airlines to approach the ministry seeking operational incentives and confirmed that the rerouting was unavoidable under the current circumstances. This situation mirrors the aftermath of the Pulwama attacks in 2019, when similar airspace restrictions were imposed.
Air India, IndiGo, Air India Express, SpiceJet, and Akasa Air are among the affected carriers. While most airlines have not issued statements regarding fare adjustments, the added costs may lead to future price hikes.
Citing range limitations of its current fleet under the new routing requirements, IndiGo has announced the cancellation of its flights to Almaty in Kazakhstan from April 27 to May 7 and to Tashkent in Uzbekistan from April 28 to May 7. The airline noted that around 50 of its international routes would now involve longer flight paths and slight schedule changes.
Flights from North India to the UAE would now operate on alternate routes and carry additional fuel to accommodate the longer duration, SpiceJet confirmed. Advising customers to expect delays on routes to North America, the UK, Europe, and the Middle East due to the ongoing airspace restrictions, Air India also notified passengers via social media.
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Gurugram Police arrest BJP Yuva Morcha member for spreading fake murder story on social media
New Delhi: Gurugram Police have arrested BJP Yuva Morcha member Hariom Mishra, for allegedly spreading a fabricated and communally sensitive story on social media about the murder of a college student in Gurugram.
Mishra who is also known as Shaurya Mishra had shared a collage of four photographs on his X handle earlier this month. He claimed that a 24-year-old college student, identified as Nikita Agarwal, had been murdered by her classmate Arif Khan in Gurugram. In the post, he alleged that the woman was blackmailed, forced into prostitution, gangraped, and eventually killed. He also claimed that Arif dumped her body in a forest. The claims were presented as being based on police sources.
The post went viral and garnering over 1.5 lakh views, and was amplified by several right-wing social media handles across X, Facebook and Instagram. A verification of the claims revealed that no such incident had taken place in Gurugram. A search of credible news reports showed no record of any such murder. The police said this news would have inevitably attracted media attention if it were true.
On December 11, Gurugram Police publicly refuted the claims through their official X handle. They stated that the information which was being circulated was completely false. The police warned that legal action would be taken against those spreading misinformation. Despite the warning, Mishra neither deleted the post nor issued any clarification.
Police in Gurugram confirmed Mishra's arrest on December 16. The police said a FIR was filed after he continued to spread false information about the alleged murder of a Hindu woman by Muslim man. Police said Mishra, a resident of Uttar Pradesh's Kaushambi district, is now being investigated.
Gurugram Police spokesperson Sandeep Singh told The Print that the accused had deliberately misrepresented facts and used objectionable content to spread hatred along religious lines. “Such posts can create serious disturbances in society, and the police take these matters very seriously,” he said.
A reverse image search conducted by fact-checkers at Alt News, revealed that the photographs used in the viral post were unrelated to the claims, while two of the images were traced to a Pinterest account belonging to influencer Maulik Chopra and another image was sourced from an Instagram post by influencer Shivam Thakur featuring a woman named Deepanshi Rawat. The fourth image was found on an unrelated Instagram page. The images depicted different individuals and had no connection to any crime.
Police said they are also investigating Mishra’s motive behind sharing the false and provocative content.
