kottayam l tuesday l November 12, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION Vistara makes its last flight ahead of merger with Air India The airline operated its last international and domestic flights as an independent airline on Monday night ahead of its merger with Air India Delhi-singapore flight was airline’s last Vistara’s ‘UK’ code gives way to ‘AI2’ Vistara’s last domestic flight departed Mumbai for Delhi around 11.15 pm on Monday. Almost half-an-hour later, its last international flight, bound for Singapore, took to the skies from the Delhi airport. Vistara commenced its flight operations in January 2015. The airline, a joint venture between Tata Group and Singapore Airlines, will merge with Air India on Tuesday ■ ■ Post the merger, the airline’s ‘UK’ code will be replaced with a special four-digit Air India code — ‘AI2XXX’. Vistara has a fleet of 70 airplanes The merger marks the second major consolidation wave in the country’s fast-growing civil aviation space after Indian Airlines merged with Air India and Air Sahara merged with Jet Airways in 2006-2007 208 The size of air india’s aircraft fleet post the merger with vistara CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Ten militants killed in Manipur gunfight Senior IAS officers Gopalakrishnan, Prasanth suspended E x p r ess Ne w s S e r v i c e @T’Puram Kuki-Zo Council says its ‘volunteers’ shot dead by CRPF PRA S ANTA M A Z U M D AR @ Guwahati TEN militants were killed and a CRPF jawan was injured in a gunfight in restive Manipur’s Jiribam district on Monday. Manipur police said in a statement that the incident occurred at around 3 pm when armed militants attacked the CRPF post located at the Jakuradhor and Borobekra Police Station, located nearby . “The security forces retaliated strongly. Due to the attack, one CRPF constable namely Sanjeev Kumar sustained bullet injury and has been evacuated to Silchar Medical College, Assam and is under treatment,” the statement said. It added that the CRPF and civil police personnel fiercely retaliated and the situation was brought under control after 40-45 minutes of heavy exchange of fire. Police said they searched the whole area after the firing ceased and found the bodies of 10 militants along with arms and ammunition. The weap- Clean air a fundamental right, says apex court S u c h i t r a K a lya n M o h a n t y @ New Delhi The Supreme Court said on Monday that it is a fundamental right of every citizen to live in a pollution-free atmosphere, adding no religion encourages any activity that creates pollution. Pulling up the Delhi authorities over their failure to enforce firecracker ban during Diwali, a bench of justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih said if firecrackers are burnt in this fashion, it will also affect the fundamental right to health of the citizens. “The right to live in a pollution-free atmosphere is a fundamental right of every citizen which is protected by Article 21 of the Constitution of India. Prima facie we are of the view that no religion encourages any activity that creates pollution or compromises with the health of the people,” the bench observed. The Delhi government issued an order banning the use of firecrackers on October 14. “We wonder why Delhi government delayed the promulgation of order till October 14. It is quite possible users by that time must have acquired the stock of firecrackers.” Noting that the ban order has not been taken seriously by the police, the bench directed the commissioner of Delhi Police to form a special cell to ensure the effective implementation of the ban. “There is nothing filed in the affidavit that the order imposing ban was communicated to those who have been permitted to manufacture, store and sell crackers,” the bench noted. The court ordered the commissioner to file a personal affidavit by November 25 on the steps taken to enforce the ban. ons recovered included three AK series rifles, four SLRs, two INSAS rifles, one RPG, one Pump Action Gun besides bullet-proof helmets and magazines. “Accordingly, a criminal case has been registered and is being investigated into. Operations in and around Jakuradhor, under Borobekra Police Station, Jiribam District continued to flush out armed militants. Reinforcement teams consisting of Assam Rifles, CRPF and Civil Police have been rushed there,” the Manipur Police statement added. Reacting to the gunfight, the Kuki-Zo Council said its ‘volunteers’ were killed and announced a total shutdown on Tuesday – from 5 am to 6 pm. It said the protest is “in honor of the victims and to express our collective grief and solidarity who were brutally shot dead”. In its statement, the Council demanded an immediate and thorough investigation “to bring the perpetrators to justice”. CURFEW IMPOSED IN Jiribam Following the incident, prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the BNSS were imposed. An order issued by the district magistrate said curfew was clamped due to “apprehension of widespread disturbance to peace and public tranquillity or a riot or any affray in the area” We condemn in the strongest terms the violence and call for thorough investigations to bring perpetrators to justice Kuki-Zo Council New CJI sworn in President Droupadi Murmu administers the oath of office to Justice Sanjiv Khanna as the 51st Chief Justice of India, at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on Monday | PTI Pinarayi promises permanent solution to Munambam issue E x p r ess Ne w s S e r v i c e @Kochi Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday promised that the state government will find a permanent solution to the land dispute at Munambam, where the Waqf Board has claimed rights over property . The chief minister gave the promise at a meeting with the representatives of the Munambam Land Protection Committee led by Kottapuram Bishop Ambrose Puthenveettil, when they called on him at the Ernakulam Guest House. The Munambam Land Protection Committee has been holding a relay hunger strike EXPRESS READ By-election campaign in Wayanad, Chelakkara ends Kalpetta: The month-long Lok Sabha by-election campaign came to an exciting end in Wayanad. UDF candidate Priyanka Gandhi addressed hundreds of people in road shows and announced in Malayalam, “I will come back.” Meanwhile, grand rallies and meetings marked the end of campaign in Chelakkara assembly constituency. P4 With seaplane, a new chapter in Kerala Tourism takes off Kochi/Idukki: A new chapter opened in the history of the state when a 17-seater seaplane took off from the Bolgatty Palace Waterdrome in Kochi on Monday. With the successful completion of the trial flight of the seaplane to Mattupetty reservoir, the doors have been open for tourists to venture out to hitherto unexplored destinations. P2 for the past one month to draw the government’s attention to the problems faced by the residents of the coastal village, near Kochi, in the wake of the Waqf Board claims. “We appraised the CM of the situation in Munambam. During the discussions, the CM told us not to be worried and that a permanent solution would be arrived at after the by-elections,” Kottapuram Diocese Vicar General Rockey Roby Kalathil told TNIE. The government has decided to hold a ministerial-level meeting on November 22 to discuss and find a solution to the ● More on P5 Munambam issue.  The state government late on Monday evening suspended two senior IAS officers, K Gopalakrishnan (industries & commerce director) and Prasanth N (agriculture special secretary), from service reportedly for breach of discipline. The action against the officers came at the directions of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan after Chief Secretary Sarada Murlaeedharan apprised him of the two bureaucrats’ conduct. Gopalakrishnan allegedly created a WhatsApp group of IAS officers on religious l i n e s, wh i l e P r a s a n t h launched a tirade against Additional Chief Secretary A Jayathilak through social media. Though the suspension orders were not formally issued till the time of going to print, it is learnt that the action against the two officers, pending inquiry, has been taken for violation of the All India Services (Conduct) Rules. Action against Gopalakrishnan was certain after the chief secretary forwarded the state police K Gopalakrishnan Prasanth N chief ’s report on the WhatsApp group incident to the CM on Sunday. The police had concluded that Gopalakrishnan’s claim that his phone was hacked could not be corroborated. The CS had also submitted a note with the report, saying the explanation by the IAS officer was not satisfactory. The group, Mallu Hindu Off ’, was created on October 31 and had both serving and retired bureaucrats as members. It was deleted after some of the added members pointed out the impropriety . The chief secretary had submitted a report on Prasanth’s Facebook posts to the CM on Sunday, giving indications that disciplinary action against him was likely . However, Prasanth continued with his Facebook exploits on Monday, but with cryptic and indirect refer● More on P4 ences.