Vistara to operate Kolkata-Port Blair flights for stranded passengers; cancels Kolkata-Delhi flight
New Delhi (PTI): Full-service carrier Vistara has said it had to cancel one of its flights from Kolkata to Delhi scheduled for Sunday in order to operate additional flights for passengers stranded in Kolkata and Port Blair.
"Vistara Flight UK747 operating from Kolkata to Port Blair and the return flight UK787 on 30 September 2023 were cancelled due to bad weather in Port Blair. We are operating one additional flight on the two sectors on 01 October 2023 for the stranded customers in the two cities," an airline spokesperson said in a statement late on Saturday.
"In order to accommodate these additional flights, we had to take the difficult call of cancelling one of our flights scheduled to fly from Delhi to Kolkata and then back to Delhi," the spokesperson said.
The statement came against the backdrop of Trinamool Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member Derek O'Brien mentioning the flight cancellation in the context of the party's proposed protests on Monday and Tuesday in the national capital.
"First, they abruptly cancel special train services from Kol to Del to prevent those who were to travel to participate in protests on Oct 2 & 3, demanding 10s of 1000s of crores owed to Bengal by BJP Union govt. Now a flight gets cancelled! Try as you might, we WILL TAKE YOU ON," he said in a post on X on Saturday.
He also shared a screenshot of the details about the cancelled Vistara flight which was scheduled to depart from Kolkata at 6.45 pm to Delhi on Sunday.
According to the Vistara spokesperson, the airline is in touch with all the affected customers to offer them alternate options, including offering them seats on the next flights, basic availability, or refunds and deeply regrets the inconvenience caused to the customers.
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Minister Parameshwara says remarks on properties linked to drug peddlers 'misunderstood'
Tumakuru (PTI): Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Saturday said his recent remarks on the demolition of properties linked to those involved in narcotics trade were "misunderstood and misinterpreted".
His clarification follows remarks made two days ago on the government's uncompromising crackdown on the drug menace, including action against properties linked to foreign nationals allegedly involved in drug trafficking.
"It is unfortunate. It is taken in the wrong sense. I didn't mean that tomorrow itself I am going to send bulldozers and demolish the houses. That was not my intention. It was wrongly taken," he told reporters here.
Responding to Congress MLC K Abdul Jabbar's question in the legislative council on the growing drug menace in Bengaluru, Davangere and coastal districts, the minister on Thursday detailed the extensive enforcement measures initiated since the Congress government assumed office.
Pointing to the involvement of some foreign nationals, the minister had said, "Many foreign students from African countries have come to Karnataka. They are into the drug business. We catch them and register cases against them, but they want the case to be registered because once the case is registered, we cannot deport them."
"We have gone to the extent of demolishing the rented building where they stay," he had said.
