Not just passengers, but the heat caused by rampant flight delays has now spilled onto political circles too. Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia today hit out at Congress leader Shashi Tharoor who shared a series of news reports of flight delays and mishaps at airports across the country.

Calling Mr Tharoor an arm-chair critic, the Aviation Minister said that sharing articles does not count as ‘research’ and that Congress lacks the depth to tackle such technical sectors.

1/6 It is for someone who is lost in his esoteric world of thesaurus that data mining of selective press articles from the internet qualifies as “research”.

Here are some actual facts for arm-chair critic @ShashiTharoor and the Cong IT Cell that might help tackle their lack of… https://t.co/hA3sijtjr8

— Jyotiraditya M. Scindia (@JM_Scindia) January 17, 2024

“It is for someone who is lost in his esoteric world of thesaurus that data mining of selective press articles from the internet qualifies as “research”. Here are some actual facts for arm-chair critic Shashi Tharoor and the Cong IT Cell that might help tackle their lack of depth in understanding of technical sectors like civil aviation,” Mr Scinida said in a post on X.

In the last week, flight delays have been rampant across India due to dense fog across North India and congestion at the Mumbai airport. Bollywood celebrities and several other social media users have also reported mistreatment by airline staff.

A flier was arrested for assaulting the aircraft’s pilot while he was announcing delays. A video of the incident, which went viral, shows the passenger abruptly running up from the last row and the flight’s captain.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor today questioned the government and airlines’ preparedness to land planes during such adverse weather conditions. He said that flight delays of up to 12 hours, frustrated passengers earing on the tarmac point to the “sorry state of affairs of India’s aviation sector”.

Mr Scindia rebutted all the points made by the Congress MP, highlighting all the efforts being made to ensure smooth operations. he said that the case where passengers were forced to eat meals on the tarmac was unacceptable.

“The treatment meted out to the passengers in the instant case was unacceptable, and we have acted immediately in the form of a show cause notice to the concerned operators. Further, SOPs for better communication to passengers were also issued. Implementation is being monitored thrice daily,” he said.

“Corrective action is underway as we speak. Rest assured that any laxity in this regard will be meted with zero tolerance,” the BJP leader added.

5/6
A) The treatment meted out to the passengers in the instant case was unacceptable, and we have acted immediately in the form of a show cause notice to the concerned operators. Further, SOPs for better communication to passengers were also issued. Implementation is being…

— Jyotiraditya M. Scindia (@JM_Scindia) January 17, 2024

Mr Scindia has announced a six-point action plan to combat fog-induced disruptions to domestic and international commercial flight operations. “‘War rooms’ will be set up by airports and airline operators at six metro airports to address any issues with regard to passenger inconvenience with immediacy,” Mr Scindia said, “Sufficient CISF (Central Industrial Security Force, which handles security at airports) manpower will be ensured round-the-clock.”

Mr Scindia also said Runway 29L at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport had been made CAT III operational, allowing it to handle take-offs and departures even during dense fog scenarios.

Fighter, one of the most anticipated films of the month releases in a matter of days. The Sidharth Anand directorial features Hrithik Roshan, Deepika Padukone, Anil Kapoor and more as pilots. Now, the makers have revealed a new poster introducing the villain played by Rishabh Sawhney.

The poster sees Rishabh Sawhney in a terrifying avatar as he comes in all guns blazing. He has a fierce look and injuries on his face.

Check it out here:

Hrithik Roshan shared the poster in a post captioned, “Locking eyes with the villain. Further details about the character are kept under wraps.

For the unversed, Rishabh Sawhney has worked as a casting assistant on titles like THe Empire, Kaun Banegi Shikharwati and Bestseller.

Fighter which also features Karan Singh Grover, Akshay Oberoi, Sartaj Gill and Sanjeeda Shaikh is all set to arrive in theatres on January 25, 2024.

In a disturbing incident on an expressway in Uttar Pradesh’s Agra, a body was run over by multiple cars, through the night, until it had to be scraped off the surface.

Pieces of the body were smeared on to the tarmac, crushed under wheels, requiring the police to use a shovel to collect body parts spread across a 500-metre stretch.

Only an intact finger could be recovered by the police. They now hope that the fingerprint will help the forensic team to identify the victim. Shocking visuals from the spot also show a shoe, apparently belonging to the victim.

While it is not clear how long the body was abandoned on the expressway and why the vehicles did not steer clear of it, dense fog conditions in north India may have prevented drivers from seeing clearly. Also, the average speed of cars on expressways is about a 100 km per hour and it is risky to make sudden manoeuvres at those speeds, especially in foggy conditions during night.

According to the police, a detailed investigation starting from the identification of the victim will help them understand the circumstances better.

What remains of the body has been sent for autopsy.

Inspector Devendra Singh said that the body appeared to belong to a 40-year-old man. “It has not been identified yet. It was badly mutilated after vehicle over vehicle crushed it. Pieces of the body were pasted onto the tarmac, so police had to use a shovel to collect them. Only a finger is intact and police are trying to identify the victim using fingerprints,” the officer said.