Prior permission mandatory for using govt premises is not to target anyone: Shivakumar
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Sunday defended the decision making prior permission mandatory for any private organisation, association or a group of persons to use government property or premises, and said they were only enforcing the orders of the earlier BJP regime.
He also sought to play down the allegations that the government's order issued on Saturday was targeted at restricting the RSS activities.
"We have not spoken about anyone (specifically). Certain orders were made by the BJP government in the past when Jagadish Shettar was the chief minister. To implement those orders, we have redefined it. We have not made any changes. We have continued with the orders made by the BJP government," Shivakumar told reporters here in response to a question.
While Saturday's government order does not specifically name RSS, the provisions of the order are said to be aimed at impacting the activities of the organisation, including its route marches.
The order is based on a Cabinet decision on Thursday, prompted by Panchayat Raj and IT/BT Minister Priyank Kharge's letter to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah seeking a ban on RSS' activities in public places.
In a letter to the chief minister dated October 4, Kharge, son of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, alleged that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has been conducting its 'shakhas' in government and government-aided schools, as well as on public grounds, where "slogans are shouted and negative ideas are instilled in the minds of children and youth."
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Pune airport runway restored after IAF aircraft snag; ops resume
Pune (PTI): The runway at Pune airport, which was temporarily unavailable due to an incident involving an Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft, has now been restored and declared operational, the Air Force said on Saturday.
The authorities at the Pune International Airport had earlier said that around 10.25 pm on Friday, a fighter aircraft experienced an undercarriage failure during landing, causing the runway to be blocked.
As many as 91 flights of airlines, including IndiGo, Air India, SpiceJet, Akasa, and Air India Express, were affected due to the incident, they said.
Earlier on Friday night, the Air Force had stated that the runway at Pune airport was temporarily unavailable following an incident involving one of its fighter aircraft. The aircrew are safe, and there is no damage to civil property, it had said.
"The runway at Pune Airport, which was temporarily unavailable due to an incident involving an Indian Air Force aircraft, has now been restored and declared operational. All necessary safety inspections and clearances have been completed. Operations are resuming in a phased manner," it said in a post on X.
Flight operations at Pune airport are being gradually restored. The situation has been brought under control with the highest priority given to the safety of citizens, a Defence PRO said.
