Kolkata, Feb 27: A SpiceJet flight on the way to Bangkok made an emergency landing at the Kolkata airport in the early hours of Monday after the pilot noticed that an engine blade was broken, officials said.

The Boeing 737, operating as flight SG83, took off with 178 passengers and six crew members from the Kolkata airport for Bangkok around 1.09 am. Minutes later, the pilot noticed that a blade of the left engine was broken, they said.

Soon, he contacted the air traffic control and a full emergency was declared at the Kolkata airport with fire engines, ambulances, and emergency teams of the CISF in waiting, they added.

The plane made an emergency landing at 1.27 am and all the passengers and crew members were brought out safely, airport officials said.

The full emergency was terminated at 2 am, they said.

The passengers left for Bangkok on another flight at 7.10 am, officials said.

The aircraft with the faulty engine blade was undergoing checking, they said.

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New Delhi (PTI): The Congress Monday slammed as "outrageous and unacceptable" Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi's remark that "secularism is a European concept" and demanded his immediate sacking.

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh claimed that Ravi is "only a trial balloon floater" and is echoing what Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to get done.

Ramesh's remarks came after Ravi said secularism is a European concept that evolved after a conflict between the church and the king whereas Bharat is a dharma-centric nation and therefore, it was not part of the Constitution but added during Emergency by "one insecure prime minister".

The Tamil Nadu governor, while addressing an event in the Kanyakumari district on Sunday, said a lot of frauds have been committed against the people of the country and one of those was a wrong interpretation of secularism.

Reacting to the remarks, Ramesh said, "This man, who has taken an oath on the Constitution and who -- inspite of his drumbeating -- remains a Constitutional functionary, should be sacked forthwith. He is a disgrace."

"This is not the first outrageous and unacceptable statement he has made. But he is only a trial balloon floater. He is echoing what the non-biological PM wants to get done," the Congress leader said.

Ravi had also said, "What does secularism mean? Secularism is a European concept, secularism is not a Bharatiya concept."

Decades later, during Emergency (1975-77), "one insecure prime minister," introduced secularism in the Constitution in order to appease some sections of people, the Governor alleged.

Indira Gandhi was the prime minister during Emergency.

Ravi further said that secularism emerged in Europe as there was a fight between the church and the king and in order to end this conflict, which went on for a long time, this concept was evolved.

At the time of Independence, when the Constitution was being drafted, a discussion came up on secularism and the Constituent Assembly rejected it observing that Bharat is a dharma-centric country and there has been no conflict, similar to what was witnessed in Europe, Ravi had claimed.