Jayathilak, set to become Kerala chief secretary, faces probe over alleged funds misappropriation
Thiruvananthapuram: Just days before his scheduled appointment as Kerala's new Chief Secretary, A. Jayathilak, the state's Additional Chief Secretary (Finance), is facing a probe over allegations of misappropriation of central funds.
Jayathilak is set to take over the position from Sarada Muraleedharan, a 1990-batch officer, who will retire on April 30.
The complaint, which was filed by Kollam native J. Bency, accuses Jayathilak, a 1991 Kerala cadre Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, and his colleague K. Gopalakrishnan of mishandling funds allocated under the Pradhan Mantri Anusuchit Jaati Abhyuday Yojana (PM-AJAY), a scheme aimed at uplifting scheduled caste communities. The complaint alleges that the officers diverted funds and issued suspicious contracts.
One of the central allegations includes the granting of a contract to a firm lacking IATA accreditation to train Scheduled Caste youth in aviation-related jobs.
The complaint received by the CWC was forwarded to the state government as it did not fall under the jurisdiction of the former.
Sarada Muraleedharan, the outgoing Chief Secretary, has reportedly stated that she would look into the allegations.
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Power bank catches fire inside stationary IndiGo plane at Chandigarh airport; all evacuated
New Delhi (PTI): The power bank of a passenger onboard a stationary IndiGo aircraft caught fire at the Chandigarh airport on Tuesday, and all passengers and the crew were evacuated, according to a source.
In a statement, the airline said that when IndiGo flight 6E 108 from Hyderabad to Chandigarh was stationary after landing, an incident involving a customer's personal electronic equipment catching fire was reported.
"In the interest of safety, an immediate evacuation was carried out, and all the relevant authorities were immediately informed. All customers have been safely moved to the terminal and are being attended to by the team to ensure their well-being," the statement said.
The source said that soon after the aircraft landed, there was smoke coming from one of the overhead bins and all onboard were evacuated.
The smoke was due to the power bank catching fire, the source said, adding that no one sustained major injuries.
Details about the number of passengers could not be ascertained.
