India extends ban on international commercial flights till Jan 31
Darpan News Desk IANS, 09 Dec, 2021 11:36 AM
New Delhi, Dec 9 (IANS) India's civil aviation regulator, the DGCA, on Thursday extended the ban on scheduled international commercial flights till January 31.
Earlier, India had announced plans to allow resumption of scheduled commercial international passenger services from December 15 with certain conditions.
However, on December 1, the Directorate General of Central Aviation (DGCA) said it is "closely monitoring" the situation emerging out of the Covid-19's Omicron variant and the final decision on the resumption of near normal international flight operations will be taken after consultation with stakeholders.
In the notification on Thursday, the DGCA extended the ban on scheduled international commercial flights till January 31, 2022.
"This restriction shall not apply to international all-cargo operations and flights specifically approved by the DGCA."
It also said that scheduled international flights might be allowed on selected routes on a case to case basis.
India had banned the operation of international flights on March 23 last year to contain and control the spread of Covid-19. Flight restrictions, however, were later eased under air bubble arrangement with certain countries.
At present, India has formed air bubble pacts with over 30 countries.
The country had been operating Vande Bharat flights to many countries over the last one year to evacuate stranded Indians abroad.
Currently, several nations have either closed their air spaces or placed strict restrictions on incoming passengers.
On Tuesday, the Centre mandated a contactless self-declaration by international air travellers arriving in India on the 'Air Suvidha' portal.
As per a Ministry of Civil Aviation statement, all international passengers arriving in India are mandated to declare their current health status prior to boarding on the Air Suvidha portal along with the required documents.
"For immigration, the copy received in e-mail is essential on arrival in India and has to be verified at the 'APHO' counter," the statement said.
According to the ministry, all applications from 'at risk' countries are marked with 'H' and 'red band', while others are marked 'green'.
"This helps in smooth on-arrival segregation and processing. The application also takes into account countries visited in the last 14 days to highlight 'at risk' applications. This field has also been made into multi-select drop-down option for standardisation."
There are more than 10 countries in the "at risk" list, including countries in Europe, South Africa, Brazil, Bangladesh, Botswana and China, among others.
Referring to the killing on October 15 of a Dalit labourer from Tarn Taran in Punjab, and latest disclosures in the media, the Deputy Chief Minister, who also holds the Home portfolio, promised complete justice, saying the government will reach to the bottom of the case and expose the conspirators behind the incident.
The activists entered the AIIMS premises raising slogans for immediate action against the students who performed the Ramlila skit. They tried to break into the AIIMS hostel, but were stopped by the police who took them outside the AIIMS premises.
Two gold bars, of 3 kg each, of 24 carat purity, and worth Rs 2.96 crore, were concealed in two rechargeable lights. The officials, who searched the baggage of a passenger arriving from Dubai by flight EK 524, found the two emergency lights. On suspicion, they opened the lights and found the bars kept inside the rechargeable batteries.
The former Punjab CM also said that he is hopeful of a seat-sharing arrangement with the BJP for next year's Assembly elections in the state, if the farmers' issues are resolved in their interest.
According to the firm, the event will provide an opportunity to the game developers, publishers and creators across India to build, grow their communities and monetize on Facebook.
Suggesting Kejriwal to keep himself up to date, the minister said the state government has already executed the Punjab Anti-Red Tape Act of 2021 to promote effective administration of public affairs through simplified and trust-based procedures that shall expedite processes and make governance efficient.
