DK administration to turn to Instagram reels to fight drugs menace in district
Mangaluru: In a bid to spread awareness about the ill effects of drug usage, Dakshina Kannada Deputy Commissioner Mullai Muhilan on Thursday instructed the Special Officer of the Department of Collegiate Education to take steps to create reels and short films by interested college students about the adverse effects of drug usage.
He was speaking while presiding over the district level committee meeting of the Narco-Coordination Center which was held at the hall of the Deputy Commissioner’s office.
He further informed that the colleges in the city have already formed Drug Eradication Committees and also have appointed its members. Different types of programs should be organized including awareness rallies and others spreading the message of the ill effects of drugs. Devi Prasad, Special Officer of the Department of Collegiate Education, should take steps to ensure that the students are motivated to create a good script on drug eradication in colleges and produce short videos within one minute by the students themselves. The best reels and short films will be awarded on August 15, he added.
Meanwhile, Muhilan has also instructed Dr. Kishore Kumar Welfare Officer of the Health and Family Welfare Department to appoint counsellors identified at the district level for counseling the drug addicts in the district.
Speaking on the occasion, District Superintendent of Police Rishyant C.B instructed the Forest Department Officials to investigate and provide a report on the cultivation of Ganja near Belthangady. He also instructed the department officials to reward those who would be providing information pertaining to illegal cultivation of Ganja.
Law and Order Department DCP Anshu Kumar, Puttur DySP Dr. Gana P. Kumar, Joint Director of the Agriculture Department and others were present at the meeting.
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DGCA revises air ticket refund norms; no addl charges for changes within 48 hrs of booking
New Delhi (PTI): Passengers can now cancel or change air tickets without paying additional charge within 48 hours of making the bookings subject to certain conditions, with aviation watchdog DGCA revising the ticket refund norms for airlines.
The option would not be available for domestic flight bookings where the departure date is less than 7 days and in the case of international bookings, the departure date should be not less than 15 days.
Coming out with the amended norms that are more passenger-friendly, DGCA also said that airlines should not levy any additional charge for correction in the name of the same person when the error is pointed out by the passenger within 24 hours of making the booking, when the ticket is booked directly through the airline's website.
"In case of purchase of ticket through travel agent/portal, onus of refund shall lie with the airlines as agents are their appointed representatives. The airlines shall ensure that the refund process is completed within 14 working days," the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said.
Besides, there are changes with respect to norms for ticket cancellations due to a medical emergency faced by the passenger.
The amendments to the Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) for 'Refund of Airline Tickets to Passengers of Public Transport Undertakings' comes against the backdrop of the rising passenger complaints about not receiving refunds on time.
The ticket refund issue also got highlighted during the IndiGo flight disruptions in December 2025 and at that time, the civil aviation ministry had directed the airline to complete the refunds within a specified timeline.
The revised CAR was issued on February 24.
Now, the airlines have been asked to provide 'Look-in option' for a period of 48 hours to passengers after booking tickets.
"During this period a passenger can cancel or amend the ticket without any additional charges, except for the normal prevailing fare for the revised flight for which the ticket is sought to be amended.
"This facility shall not be available for a flight whose departure is less than 7 days for domestic flight and 15 days for international flight from booking date when ticket is booked directly through airline website," the regulator said.
Beyond 48 hours of initial booking time, this option would not be available and the passenger would have to pay the relevant cancellation fees for amendment.
In a significant move, the watchdog said that airlines should not levy any additional charge for correction in name of the same person when the error is pointed out by the passenger within 24 hours of making the booking, when ticket is booked directly through airline website.
According to DGCA, in the event of ticket cancellations due to a medical emergency, where the passenger or a family member listed on the same PNR gets admitted/hospitalised during the travel period, airlines may provide either a refund or a credit shell.
"For all other situations, refunds will be issued once an opinion on the passenger's fitness to travel certificate is received from an airline's Aerospace Medicine specialist/ DGCA empanelled Aerospace Medicine specialist," it said.
In December 2025, scheduled airlines received a total of 29,212 passenger-related complaints and 7.5 per cent of them were related to refunds. During that month, domestic carriers carried over 1.43 crore passengers, as per DGCA data.
India is one of the world's fastest growing civil aviation markets and domestic airlines carried over 16.69 crore passengers in 2025.
