Ukrainian airspace closed; Air India plane departs from Delhi to bring back Indians from Ukraine
New Delhi(PTI): An Air India plane took off for Ukraine on Thursday morning to bring back Indians from the eastern European nation, which is now facing a Russian offensive.
However, as the Ukrainian authorities on Thursday morning closed the country's airspace for civil aircraft operations, Air India and the central government are considering whether the plane should be called back or allowed to continue on its journey, officials said.
The Air India flight AI 1947 started from the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) here at around 7.30 am for Boryspil International Airport in Kyiv.
The plane is expected to arrive there in nearly six hours, according to flight tracking website FlightAware.
Meanwhile, a Ukraine International Airlines flight from Kyiv landed at the Delhi airport at around 7.45 am on Thursday.
"There were 182 Indian nationals onboard the flight and majority of them were students... A couple of more flights have been scheduled," Anju Wariah, Director at STIC Group, said.
The group is the General Sales Agent (GSA) for Ukraine International Airlines in India. After weeks of rising tensions, Russia on Thursday announced a military operation against Ukraine.
The Ukrainian authorities issued a "notice to airmen", which stated that flights of civil aircraft within Ukraine "are restricted due to potential hazard for civil aviation".
Indian government officials said the decision regarding Air India's flight -- which is en route to Kyiv -- will be taken soon.
Air India's Thursday flight is the second flight being operated by the airline to bring back Indians from the eastern European nation. The first flight, operated on February 22, brought back around 240 people.
On February 19, Air India announced that it would operate three flights between India and Ukraine on February 22, 24 and 26.
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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.
