YEH MERA INDIA

Indiscipline among Indian pilots

New Delhi: Pilots coming late for duty as well as falsely reporting sick are likely to face strict enforcement action, with the government proposing stringent regulations in this regard.

The proposal comes against the backdrop of instances where pilots did not adhere to their assigned flight duties.

To deal with such incidents, the civil aviation ministry has proposed new norms under the Aircraft Rules, 1937.

As per the proposal, likely to be finalised by the second week of December, pilots who are found to falsely report illness to escape flight duty and those unwilling to follow the dynamic roster, among others, will be considered as acts against public interests liable for enforcement action.

In a release, the ministry said cases often have come to the notice of DGCA where pilots employed with air transport undertakings do not adhere to their assigned flight duties, at times reporting sick.

“This has a bearing on flight safety and public interest, leading to last-minute flight delays or cancellation, thereby causing inconvenience and harassment to the passengers,” it noted.

Any act on the part of pilots wherein they are found to falsely report illness to escape flight duty, coming late to the aircraft, not undertaking the flight even after reporting for flight duty or unwilling to follow the dynamic roster well within the FDTL would face strict action.

FDTL refers to Flight and Duty Time Limitations.

Such activities “which result in last-minute flight disruptions and may imperil safety of aircraft operations would be treated as an act against public interest and the pilots would be liable for enforcement action against them”, the ministry said.

Files pending hence teachers denied pension

Mumbai: Harshavardhan Singh (60), who retired nearly two years ago, is yet to receive pension since the education department of Municipal corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) is yet to extend the recognition of Gyanodaya Vidya Mandir School, Malad, where he worked for 28 years. “I have been living on the money given by my relatives and friends,” said Singh. Singh has not got his pension after his retirement in April last year.

There are 50 such files for extension of recognition of private-aided schools that have been kept pending with the civic body’s education department office in Bhantewadi, Dadar, since over a year. Retired teachers and non-teaching staff are being denied their pensions because files have been kept pending.

Aided schools need their recognition to be extended every five years so that they can get salary grants and approvals for appointment of new staff from MCGM.

Sources say at least 200 retired persons are affected. Strangely, while the department blames the non-clearance of these files as the reason for not being able to pay their pension, salary is being paid regularly to staff in these schools. The department is being selective in its approach and has denied payment only to retired staff of these schools.

Singh has written to various authorities in the department, but to no avail. “The DMC (Deputy Municipal Commissioner) had forwarded my letter with a remark on it that the matter should be inquired into, but nothing happened,” he said.

Deputy Education Officer Prakash Charhate said there are only about 30 files pending. “Some of them have not satisfied norms as per RTE (Right to Education) Act and had to be held back. They will be cleared soon.”

Killing owls in the name of faith

Agra: Owls are in high demand during tantrik and black magic rituals done on Diwali night. Experts say this is affecting the bird population. An expert associated with the Wildlife SOS in Agra told that countless owls face a cruel fate at the hands of poachers who cater to ignorance and misguided beliefs. Revered in Indian mythology and culture, the owls are reportedly used as sacrificial offerings by some people indulging in tantra and black magic.

The wealthy are said to sacrifice owls to appease Goddess Lakshmi. Though it is difficult to estimate the number of owls that fall victim to superstitions ahead of Diwali, the general feeling among experts is that the number is high. Geeta Seshamani, co-founder of Wildlife SOS, said: “Such blind faith has led to exploitation of this unique wildlife species, threatening their very existence in the wild.”  Hunting and trading of all Indian owl species are banned under the Wildlife Protection Act 1972.  But this does happen, says Kartick Satyanarayan, another co-founder of Wildlife SOS and head of its Anti-Poaching Unit, Forest Watch. Weeks before Diwali, poachers hunt for owls and trap them for sale, earning handsome profits in the gray market. The body parts of owls such as talons, skulls, bones, feathers, meat and even blood are reportedly used for talismans and as ingredients in traditional medicines. A tantrik in Agra, Ram Mohan, said: “Once the owl is sacrificed, people feel that Lakshmi will remain in their homes as the bird is the carrier of the goddess.”

SC Pulls up states: Quota for disabled

New Delhi: The Supreme Court pulled up some states and Union territories (UTs) for not filing the status report with regard to implementation of its verdict and the legal scheme to grant of reservation to differently abled people and asked them to furnish the same within two weeks. "Let the response be filed with two weeks failing which this court will be compelled to direct presence of secretaries of the departments concerned," a bench of Justices Dipak Misra and Amitava Roy said and posted the matter for December 1.

The apex court was hearing a plea filed by Justice Sunanda Bhandare Foundation which has sought direction to the Centre and the states to file reports on the status of the implementation of provisions of the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995.

The court had on August 31 noted that states like Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Odisha, Karnataka, Kerala and Uttarakhand and some others have not filed their status report and had asked them to do the same in two weeks.

At the outset of the hearing, the counsel appearing for the foundation told the bench that states like Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Kerala, Goa, Karnataka, Odisha and UTs like Dadar and Nagar Haveli, Lakshadweep, Daman and Diu are yet to file their response.

Irked over the non-compliance, the bench then said, "Let the secretaries come and explain. We have directed you to file a response to the chart (given by the foundation) and you have not filed it."

While advocates representing many of these states and UTs told the court that they filed it, some of the lawyers said that they would furnish it soon.

The foundation had filed a detailed chart with respect to the steps taken by the states and UTs and what more was required to be done by them in implementation of the verdict and the provisions of the Act to grant three per cent quota in jobs to differently abled persons.

The Persons With Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act provides for separate one per cent reservation for each of the three categories of persons with disabilities -- persons suffering from blindness and low vision, those suffering from hearing disability and those suffering from locomotor disability or cerebral palsy.