Automatic cash refund if flight delayed by 3 hours or more in U.S. The White House issued new rules on Wednesday requiring airlines to provide automatic refunds in case of flight cancellations or significant delays Consumers can insist on cash refunds thrissur l thursday l april 25, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l city EDITION Public campaigning ends, Silent wooing starts All in a day Minor incidents of violence were reported from various parts of the state during kalasakottu on Wednesday. In Karunagappally, UDF and LDF workers pelted stones at each other, prompting the police to fire tear gas shells. Scuffles were reported in Malappuram and Peroorkada too. At an election rally in Alappuzha, Union Home Minister Amit Shah tore into Communists and Congress, accusing them of harbouring terrorists to win over minority votes While campaigning for brother Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad, AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi alleged a nexus between PM Narendra Modi and CM Pinarayi Vijayan UDF candidate Shashi Tharoor and NDA’s Rajeev Chandrasekhar seen atop cranes amid a sea of party workers, during kalasakottu at Peroorkada in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday. CPI’s Pannian Raveendran chose to stay in his campaign vehicle. The colourful event marked the end of public campaigning in the state | B P Deepu Cong’s loot won’t stop even after you die, says Modi At Chhattisgarh rally, PM attacks party over Cong leader Sam Pitroda’s remarks on inheritance tax Express news Service @ Raipur/Bhopal/Bengaluru Congress leader Sam Pitroda’s faux pas on inheritance tax in the US gave Prime Minister Narendra Modi fresh ammunition on Wednesday to attack the party over its proposed wealth redistribution. Indian Overseas Congress chairman Pitroda, in an interview, said that in the US, 55% of a p e r s o n’s we a l t h i s “grabbed” by the government when he or she dies and only 45% goes to children. He called it “an interesting law”. Addressing a campaign rally in Chhattisgarh, Modi cited Pitroda’s comment and said the Congress will loot people during their lifetime and even after death. “Congress ka mantra hai Congress ki loot ‘zindagi ke saath bhi, zindagi ke baad bhi,” Modi said borrowing the Life Insurance Corporation’s famous tagline. To control the damage, the Congress distanced itself from Pitroda’s comments. Party leader Jairam Ramesh said Pitroda’s comment on inheritance tax does not reflect the party’s views on the subject. “I would like to categorically state that Congress has no plan on the inheritance tax,” Ramesh said. In Madhya Pradesh’s Sagar and Betul, both reserved constituencies for tribals, Modi recalled a three-decade-old Congress decision in Karnataka to add all Muslim castes to the backward caste basket. “Congress has always been working at snatching the rights of SCs, STs and OBCs to bolster its vote bank,” he charged. In his sharp reposte, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah described it as an irresponsible statement. Siddaramaiah said based on the Chinnappa Reddy Commission report, and taking consideration of the social and economic status, Muslims were brought under ‘2B’ of the OBC category in the state. “But this has been there for the last three decades. During this period, BJP in the state or Centre never questioned it,” he pointed out. Ahead of polling Delhi L-G meets Church heads; Oppn cries foul Anu Kuruvilla & Jaison Wilson @Kochi/Pathanamthitta In a curious development two days before Kerala votes in the Lok Sabha elections, Delhi Lt Governor V K Saxena arrived in Kochi on Wednesday and met heads of various churches, including Syro-Malabar Church Major Archbishop Raphael Thattil, Major Archbishop Emeritus George Alencherry and evangelist leader , Tangu Brother in Kottayam. Though the L-G’s office said Saxena’s visits were “unrelated to the elections”, political opponents termed them as Centre’s “intimidation tactics” ahead of the polls. Saxena’s requests for an audience with heads of the Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church in Ernakulam and Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church in Kottayam were denied. Thomas J Netto, Archbishop of Latin Archdiocese of Thiruvananthapuram, with whom Saxena had sought an audience on Thursday also excused himself saying the , meeting on election eve will send confusing signals to people, said sources. The Kerala Latin Catholic Association (KLCA) had recently questioned the delay in unfreezing the archdiocese’s bank account. The archdiocese had termed the Centre’s move a punitive step against its participation in the Vizhinjam protest in 2022. Fr Antony Vadakekkara, public relations officer (PRO), Syro-Malabar Church, said Saxena met Archbishop Thattil at Mount St Thomas in Kakkanad, Kochi, ● More on P5 around 10.30am. ‘My own views’ Sam Pitroda said his views on inheritance has nothing to do with the Congress party. “I mentioned US inheritance tax in the US only as an example in my normal conversation on TV. Can I not mention facts?” he asked. In the capital, AICC chief Mallikarjun Kharge said the PM was acting like a ‘petty politician’ turn to P2 edge-of-the-‘seat’ thriller Left, BJP hope to prick Rahul’s ‘balloon’ CI T H A R A PA UL @ Kochi Wayanad offers an interesting paradox. It is probably the only constituency in India where one cannot see Congress flags flutter at any party convention even though its candidate is none other than Rahul Gandhi. It is also one constituency in Kerala where nobody is unsure of who the winner would be. And in this paradox lies the story of this picturesque constituency, considered the “safest Congress seat” in the country . Clearly bitter lessons the par, ty learnt in 2019, when Rahul contested from Wayanad for the first time, prompted the Congress to avoid its own, as well as ally IUML’s, flags this time. That Rahul took refuge in Wayanad, where the Muslim League calls the shots, was something the BJP had gone to town with in 2019. Visuals of Rahul campaigning amid a sea of League flags went viral. And that had seriously impacted the Congress’ fortunes in north India. The Congress, hence, has been extremely careful this time. Instead of flags, it has been using balloons – in shades of saffron, green and white. It is the demography of Wayanad constituency – Muslims form 35% of population and Christians 13% – that makes it a safe bet for the Congress. Rahul had won with a margin of 4,31,770 votes in Illustration: Mandar Pardikar 2019, a record in Kerala. Despite the desperate efforts of the Congress to underplay the ‘Muslim connection’, the BJP has not allowed it to go unnoticed. Every top BJP leader who came to Wayanad made it a point to take a dig at Rahul for contesting from a place “where the majority is in minority”. Though there is no hype around Rahul’s candidature this time compared with 2019, ironically, it is this same factor, which the BJP has been harping on, that will help him this time as well. If there was someone who had ardently hoped that Rahul would not be contesting from Wayanad this time, it would be Annie Raja. A feisty face of the CPI – and also a close friend of Rahul – Annie was the first to hit the campaign trail. Her name was announced at a time when there was speculation that Rahul would not be contesting from Wayanad, as there w a s s t i f f o p p o s i t i o n from the CPM and the CPI against him running against an INDIA bloc Continued on p9 ally . New rules also cover checked-in bags. Airlines must automatically refund checked-in bag fees if the bag isn’t delivered within 12 hours of the flight landing for domestic and 15-30 hours for international New rules specify length of delay President Joe Biden’s administration defined ‘a significant delay’ as one lasting at least 3 hours for domestic and 6 for international flights. Under current regulations, airlines decide how long a delay must last for them to issue refunds. 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 ■ ■
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