Dhawan's wife, kids stopped in Dubai by airline
Cape Town: Indian opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan on Friday slammed the Emirates Airlines for not allowing his wife and kids to catch the connecting flight from Dubai to South Africa.
Dhawan and his India cricket team members touched South African soil in the morning. India will play three Tests, six One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and three Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is).
Dhawan alleged that Emirates Airlines didn't notify about producing birth certificates or identification proofs of the 32-year-old player's wife Aesha Mukherjee and their two kids.
"Absolutely unprofessional from @emirates. Was on my way 2 SA with my fam & was told tht my wife and kids can't board the flight from Dubai to SA. Was asked to produce birth certificates & other documents fr my kids at the airport which we obviously didn't have at that moment," Dhawan said on Twitter.
"They are now at Dubai airport waiting for the documents to arrive. Why didn't @emirates notify about such a situation when we were boarding the plane from Mumbai? One of the emirates' employee was being rude for no reason at all."
On its part, the airline said that it was merely complying with the South African laws.
"We note that the family was not able to continue their journey together as planned. We regret any inconvenience caused. However, since June 1, 2015, according to South African regulations, anyone travelling to the country with a minor under 18 needs to prove parenthood or guardianship -- while adults travelling alone with their children need to show that they have the consent of their non-travelling partner," said an Emirates spokesperson.
"Like all airlines, we must comply with the laws of every country in which we operate and this is a shared responsibility with passengers, who are required to hold valid travel documents for all countries on their itinerary."
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Lt Gen NS Raja Subramani to be India's next Chief of Defence Staff
New Delhi (PTI): Lt Gen NS Raja Subramani will be India's new Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and his key task is set to be to implement the ambitious theaterisation plan that seeks to ensure tri-services synergy.
He will succeed Gen Anil Chauhan whose tenure will come to an end on May 30.
Gen Chauhan, a former Eastern Army Commander, took charge as the country's senior-most military commander in September 2022, over nine months after the first CDS, General Bipin Rawat, died in a helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu.
The government has appointed Lt Gen NS Raja Subramani (Retd) as the Chief of Defence Staff, who will also function as the secretary of the Department of Military Affairs, the defence ministry said on Saturday.
Lt Gen Subramani is currently serving as the military adviser to the National Security Council Secretariat.
Prior to that, he was the Vice Chief of the Army Staff from July 1, 2024 to July 31, 2025, and was General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Central Command from March 2023 till June 2024.
As Chief of Defence Staff, Lt Gen Subramani's primary task will be to implement the theaterisation model to bring in tri-services synergy by rolling out integrated military commands.
The officer is a graduate of the National Defence Academy and the Indian Military Academy. He was commissioned into the eighth battalion of the Garhwal Rifles on December 14, 1985.
Lt Gen Subramani is an alumnus of Joint Services Command Staff College, Bracknell (UK), and the National Defence College, New Delhi. He holds a Master of Arts degree from King's College London and an MPhil in defence studies from Madras University.
In his illustrious career spanning over 40 years, Lt Gen Subramani has served across a wide spectrum of conflict and terrain profiles and tenanted a host of Command, Staff and Instructional appointments.
He commanded the 16 Garhwal Rifles in Counter-Insurgency operations in Assam as part of Operation Rhino, the 168 Infantry Brigade in Jammu and Kashmir, and the 17 Mountain Division in the Central Sector, all during a challenging operational environment.
He also has the distinction of commanding two Corps, including the Indian Army's premier strike Corps on the Western Front.
