Covid-19 vaccination likely to begin in India by Jan 12

Agencies
January 7, 2021

New Delhi, Jan 7: The much-anticipated inoculation programme against COVID-19 in the country is expected to begin by January 12, government sources said.

"In all likelihood, the Covid immunisation drive is expected to start early next week. Considering the preparations, the roll-out may start on January 11 or latest by January 12," a senior government official inducted in the vaccine distribution programme said.

The sources also informed that the government has started preparing the freight carrying the vaccine vials for transportation to different hubs located across the country. The agencies involved in the vaccine roll-out programme will start dispatching the vaccine vials from Thursday onwards, they added.

"The dispatch is expected to start late on Thursday evening or early in the day on Friday," the officials said.

As per the information received, the vaccines from their manufacturing units will be transported to the central hub in Pune. From there, they will be moved to regional hubs situated at different locations across the country.

Agencies were told that Karnal in Haryana and Delhi will serve as regional hubs for the storage and roll-out of the vaccines in the northern part of the country. Chennai and Hyderabad will serve as regional hubs for the distribution of vaccines in southern India. For the eastern part, Kolkata is designated as the distribution point, while the distribution in the western region of the country will be covered by the central hub only.

However, no official announcement has been made by the government yet apart from the official statement that the immunisation drive will start within 10 days from the date of approval of the vaccines. The vaccines -- Covaxin by Bharat Biotech and Covishield by Serum Institute of India -- were approved for emergency use authorisation on January 3.

Meanwhile, Suneela Garg, public health expert and professor of excellence at the Maulana Azad Medical College, who is also a key member of the task force handling vaccination in Delhi, said that the government should start the immunisation drive by January 12 as the preliminaries have been finalised.

"All the arrangements for the roll-out have been made and the scheduled dry run would confirm the preparations. The vaccine doses are ready to be dispatched. After the dry run, there would be no reason to delay the roll-out. The government should start immunisation by January 12," she added.

The second nationwide dry run for COVID vaccine is set to be conducted across 33 states and Union Territories on Friday. The mock drill will be conducted in all the districts of the country, except for Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, since the former has already conducted dry run on January 5 while the latter conducted it on Thursday.

The first dummy drive was held on January 2 where only five districts had taken place.

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan met the health ministers of states and Union Territories on Thursday and guided them on conducting the dry run.

The government has trained around 1.7 lakh vaccinators and 3 lakh vaccination team members for the process to be followed at the vaccination centres during the inoculation drive, which would include beneficiary verification, vaccination, cold chain and logistics management, bio-medical waste management, Adverse Effect Following Immunisation (AEFI) management and reporting on the Co-WIN software.

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News Network
December 6,2025

indigoticket.jpg

With IndiGo flight disruptions impacting thousands of passengers, the airline on Saturday said that it will offer full waiver on all cancellations/reschedule requests for travel bookings between December 5, 2025 and December 15, 2025.

Earlier in the day, the civil aviation ministry had directed the airline to complete the ticket refund process for the cancelled flights by Sunday evening, as well as ensure baggage separated from the travellers are delivered in the next two days.

In a post on X, titled 'No questions asked', IndiGo wrote, "In response to recent events, all refunds for your cancellations will be processed automatically to your original mode of payment."

"We are deeply sorry for the hardships caused," it further added.

Several passengers, however, complained of not getting full refund as promised by the airline.

Netizens have shared screenchots of getting charged for airline cancellation fee and convenience fee.

"Please tell me why u have did this airline cancellation charges when u say full amount will be refunded (sic)," a user wrote sharing a screenshot of the refund page.

"Well, but you have still debited the convenience charges," wrote another.

Passengers have also raised concerns about the "cancel" option being disabled on the IndiGo app. "First enable the 'Cancel' button on your App & offer full refund on tickets cancelled by customers between the said dates," wrote a user.

A day after the country's largest airline, IndiGo, cancelled more than 1,000 flights and caused disruptions for the fifth day on Saturday, the ministry said that any delay or non-compliance in refund processing will invite immediate regulatory action.

The refund process for all cancelled or disrupted flights must be completed by 8 pm on Sunday, the ministry said in a statement.

"Airlines have also been instructed not to levy any rescheduling charges for passengers whose travel plans were affected by cancellations," it said.

On Saturday, more than 400 flights were cancelled at various airports.

IndiGo has also been instructed to set up dedicated passenger support and refund facilitation cells.

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News Network
December 4,2025

Mangaluru: Chaos erupted at Mangaluru International Airport (MIA) after IndiGo flight 6E 5150, bound for Mumbai, was repeatedly delayed and ultimately cancelled, leaving around 100 passengers stranded overnight. The incident highlights the ongoing country-wide operational disruptions affecting the airline, largely due to the implementation of new Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms for crew.

The flight was initially scheduled for 9:25 PM on Tuesday but was first postponed to 11:40 PM, then midnight, before being cancelled around 3:00 AM. Passengers expressed frustration over last-minute communication and the lack of clarity, with elderly and ailing travellers particularly affected. “Though the airline arranged food, there was no proper communication, leaving us confused,” said one family member.

An IndiGo executive at MIA cited the FDTL rules, designed to prevent pilot fatigue by limiting crew working hours, as the cause of the cancellation. While alternative arrangements, including hotel stays, were offered, about 100 passengers chose to remain at the airport, creating tension. A replacement flight was arranged but also faced delays due to the same constraints, finally departing for Mumbai around 1:45 PM on Wednesday. Passengers either flew, requested refunds, or postponed their travel.

The Mangaluru delay is part of a broader crisis for IndiGo. The airline has been forced to make “calibrated schedule adjustments”—a euphemism for widespread cancellations and delays—after stricter FDTL norms came into effect on November 1.

While an IndiGo spokesperson acknowledged unavoidable flight disruptions due to technology issues, operational requirements, and the updated crew rostering rules, the DGCA has intervened, summoning senior airline officials to explain the chaos and outline corrective measures.

The ripple effect has been felt across the country, with major hubs like Bengaluru and Mumbai reporting numerous cancellations. The Mangaluru incident underscores the systemic operational strain currently confronting India’s largest carrier, leaving passengers nationwide grappling with uncertainty and delays.

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News Network
December 5,2025

Mangaluru: In a significant step to curb online hate and intimidation, Mangaluru City Police have registered a suo motu case against multiple Instagram accounts accused of circulating alleged provocative and threatening content.

While monitoring social media activity on Tuesday, Kankanady Town PSI Anitha Nikkam identified the Instagram handle ‘team_targetttt_900’ for posting a hate message alongside images of lethal weapons. Another account, ‘team_nagara_900’, allegedly shared a threatening post targeting activist Bharath Kumdelu, tagging additional pages such as KARAVALI-OFFICIAL.

Several other accounts — including ‘immu_bhai.fan’, ‘target_boy_900’, ‘kings_of_manglore’, ‘team_target_boys.900’, ‘arshad_mangalore’, ‘target_ka19_ullal’, ‘team_target__’, ‘troll_tigersz_900’, ‘tr_group_900’, and ‘team_target_900’ — are also under scrutiny for spreading similar inflammatory material, police said.

Authorities have urged citizens, especially young social media users, to report suspicious pages and avoid engaging with groups that glorify violence or threaten individuals. Online hate can quickly escalate into real-world harm, and police stress that sharing or promoting such content can attract legal consequences.

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