Hong Kong bars Air India flights till October 3 after passengers test positive for COVID
Air India passenger flights were barred from landing in Hong Kong between August 18 and August 31 after 14 passengers on its Delhi-Hong Kong flight of August 14 tested positive for COVID-19 post arrival.
Passengers from India can arrive in Hong Kong only if they have a COVID-19 negative certificate from a test done within 72 hours prior to the journey, according to rules issued by the Hong Kong government in July.
Moreover, all international passengers are required to undergo a post-flight COVID-19 test at the Hong Kong airport.
A spokesperson of the national carrier confirmed the recent order, saying, "Hong Kong has prohibited Air India for two weeks -- September 20 to October 3."
"There is only one flight scheduled in the two weeks -- the Delhi-Hong Kong flight of September 21. That flight is cancelled and the passengers have been informed," the spokesperson added.
Air India Express had on Friday said its flights were suspended for 24 hours by the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority (DCAA) for bringing two passengers with COVID-positive certificates on August 28 and September 4.
Air India Express, which is a subsidiary of Air India, resumed its Dubai flights on Saturday.
According to rules in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), every passenger travelling from India is required to bring an original COVID-negative certificate of an RT-PCR test done within 96 hours prior to the journey.
"A few passengers on a September 18 Delhi-Hong Kong flight tested positive for COVID-19 post arrival," the senior government official said.
"As a result, Air India's flights have been banned from September 20 to October 3 by the Hong Kong government," the official added.
Besides India, a pre-flight COVID-19 negative certificate is mandatory for all passengers from Bangladesh, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, South Africa and the US, according to the Hong Kong government's rules.
An airline operating a flight to Hong Kong from any of these nine countries has to submit a form before departure, stating that all passengers on board have COVID-19 negative certificates.
Scheduled international passenger flights continue to remain suspended in India since March 23 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
However, special international flights have been operating with the approval of aviation regulator DGCA.
Air India has been operating special international flights since May 6 under the Vande Bharat Mission to help stranded people reach their destinations.
Since July, India has established separate bilateral air bubble arrangements with countries such as the US, Germany, France, the UAE, the UK and the Maldives for international flight operations.
Under a bilateral air bubble pact, the airlines of both countries can operate international flights with certain restrictions.
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Karnataka Cabinet to meet again to discuss SC internal reservation during recruitment
Bengaluru (PTI): The Karnataka Cabinet has decided to meet again to discuss the issue of providing internal reservation among Scheduled Castes for direct recruitment in the government sector, as deliberations on the matter remained incomplete.
While no specific date for the next meeting has been announced, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil told reporters it would be held "at the earliest" and reiterated the government's commitment to the issue.
The issue came up for discussion at the Cabinet meeting on Thursday, amid reports of rifts between SC(Right) and SC (Left) factions within the ruling Congress over providing internal reservation in the recruitment to 56,432 vacant posts.
"The government is committed to providing internal reservation. We will meet again for further discussion. The chief minister will decide when to meet at the earliest. It will be a Cabinet meeting and will be held as early as possible," Patil said.
He said, "We had a detailed discussion on this matter for some time, but it was incomplete because many ministers are yet to speak on this. The order already issued (for filling up vacancies) will not be disturbed, and about other things, we will discuss in the next meeting."
The state government decided to conduct recruitment for 56,432 vacant jobs based on the reservation order in force before December 28, 2022, (15 per cent for SCs and 3 per cent for STs), due to the stay on the enhanced quota and internal reservation, while continuing to pursue its case in court.
The previous BJP government had increased the reservation quota for SCs from 15 per cent to 17 per cent and for Scheduled Tribes from 3 per cent to 7 per cent, raising the state's total reservation to 56 per cent, exceeding the Supreme Court-mandated 50 per cent ceiling.
While this matter is still in court, the Congress government decided to provide internal reservation by slicing up the 17 per cent reservation matrix given to 101 scheduled castes, under three groups, with a formula of six, six, and five per cent respectively.
According to sources, the SC(Left)/Madiga community, which has fought for internal reservation for decades, opposes recruitment for 56,432 jobs without providing internal reservation.
The SC (Right)/Holeya community, however, favoured recruitment without providing internal reservation.
At the meeting, the Cabinet gave administrative approval for Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation to purchase 144 'BS-VI' urban transport diesel buses at an estimated cost of Rs 62 crores.
It also granted administrative approval for the purchase of hardware and software for implementing ICJS (Inter-operable Criminal Justice System) and IT services in the state under the Police Modernisation Project at an estimated cost of Rs 227.58 crores.
The Cabinet also asked the health minister to speak with officers, doctors and other staffers appointed on a permanent, contract, temporary, or outsourced basis in the health department, who have threatened to go on strike over their various demands.
Approval was also given for amendments to certain sections of the Karnataka Municipalities Act, 1964, and the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act, 1976, regarding advertisement charges under local bodies.
