4 Injured As Helicopter On Mumbai-Hyderabad Flight Crashes Near Pune Hills

by Shambhu Datta Mishra

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS

The tragedy occurred near Paud which has been lashed by heavy rains in the past two-three days, and the ill-fated chopper belonged to Global Vectra Helicorp Ltd. based in Mumbai at Juhu Airport

Though the exact causes of the crash are not clear, it is believed to be some technical glitches accompanied by turbulence in the inclement weather conditions at that time

The helicopter was a Leonardo AW139, with two engines, a call sign of VT-GVI, and had a seating capacity of 15

Pune, Aug 24: Four persons including the pilot were injured when a private helicopter crashed in a hilly area near a Pune village Saturday while on a flight from Mumbai to Hyderabad, and attempted to make an emergency landing, an official said.

The tragedy occurred near Paud which has been lashed by heavy rains in the past two-three days, and the ill-fated chopper belonged to Global Vectra Helicorp Ltd. based in Mumbai at Juhu Airport.

Though the exact causes of the crash are not clear, it is believed to be some technical glitches accompanied by turbulence in the inclement weather conditions at that time.

The injured persons are identified as Captain Sanjay Anand, Amardeep Singh, S.P. Ram and Dir Bhatia, according to the police.

The helicopter was a Leonardo AW139, with two engines, a call sign of VT-GVI, and had a seating capacity of 15.

Aviation expert and Pune pilot Vijay Sethi said that the region of Paud is a hilly area with strong gusty winds that have been lashed by heavy rains in the past few days, with forecast for more rains in the next three days.

He said that apparently the pilot may have attempted to make an emergency landing as it crashed in a relatively safe area, but there may have been some technical issues leading to the crash.

"We don't know what must have exactly gone wrong but the route from Mumbai to Begumpet Airport in Hyderabad passes over this terrain that is treacherous during the monsoon. Most pilots try to fly at higher altitude if it's absolutely necessary to take a flight to avoid such conditions," explained pilot Sethi.

All the injured were rushed to a hospital in Pune, and they are described as safe, while Capt. Anand has been admitted for treatment, and no officials of the company in Mumbai were available for comment.

(IANS)

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RG Kar Tragedy: Junior Doctors’ Street Protest Enters Fourth Day

by Utkalika Mohanty

Kolkata, Sep 13: The dharna by junior doctors in front of the West Bengal health department headquarters at Salt Lake over the rape and murder of a doctor at RG Kar Medical College & Hospital, entered its fourth day on Friday.

The agitators are determined to continue with their protests for an indefinite period till their demands are fulfilled.

The proposed discussion with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at state secretariat Nabanna on Thursday did not fructify as the administration refused to accept the doctors’ demand for a live-telecast of the meeting.

Following the refusal, the 30-member delegation went back to the dharna venue at Salt Lake and announced the continuation of the protests for an indefinite period.

The demonstration started on the afternoon of Tuesday and is still continuing.

The protesting doctors on Thursday morning reiterated their previous stand of going to the discussion table only if their four conditions are accepted by the state government.

These four conditions are allowing a delegation of 30 representatives, meeting with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, live telecast of the meeting for the sake of transparency among all parties and finally the meeting to be based around the five-point agenda outlined since the beginning.

One of the major demands in the five-point agenda already outlined includes the suspensions of the state health secretary, state director of health services and director of medical education.

Now, it remains to be seen whether in the next hearing at the Supreme Court in the matter on September 17, the counsel for the West Bengal government will highlight these continuing protests as contempt of the apex court’s observation about the doctors re-joining duty.

In the September 9 hearing, the three-judge Bench of the apex court observed that the court will not be able to intervene in any possible state government action against the junior doctors if they do not rejoin duty by 5 P.M. on September 10.

Legal experts are of the opinion that if the state government’s counsel makes any attempt to describe the protests as contempt of the top court’s order, going strictly by legal terms this argument is unlikely to be accepted by the Supreme Court.

According to the senior counsel of Calcutta High Court, Kaushik Gupta, the Supreme Court never gave a direction to the junior doctors to return back to duty by the deadline fixed by it.

“What the apex court observed was that it will not be able to intervene if the state government acts against the junior doctors unless the latter rejoin duty by a specific time and date.

“Legally the ball is now in the court of the state government on what administrative action it will adopt to end the protests and compel the junior doctors to rejoin duty. But in my opinion, the logic of contempt of court will not be applicable," Gupta explained.

--IANS

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ASI DG To Inspect Shreemandir Ratna Bandar On Sept 18; Darshan To Be Suspended From 1 PM

by Pabitra Mohan Senapaty

Puri, Sept 13: Darshan of deities-- Lord Jagannath and His siblings Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra-- in Shreemandir will remain suspended for devotees from 1 pm on September 18 because of the scheduled Ratna Bhandar inspection work.

Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) has set a special ritual schedule for the day.

According to the information, the Director General of the Archeological Survey of India and his team will inspect the inner Ratna Bhandar on September 18 after the second Bhoga Mandap.

The second Bhoga Mandap is likely to end by 1 pm. The ASI DG will start inspection work at 1 pm. Darshan of deities will remain suspended for the devotees during the inspection work," said an SJTA official.

4 Injured As Helicopter On Mumbai-Hyderabad Flight Crashes Near Pune Hills

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