Passengers to be put on ‘no-fly’ list for violating covid norms in India

Agencies

March 26, 2021

New Delhi, Mar 26: As the COVID-19 cases in the country are surging, Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri today said that the airport authorities have been directed to put passengers on the 'no-fly' list if they do not follow the SoPs and guidelines to curb COVID-19.

Speaking to media, Hardeep Singh Puri said, "We can win the fight against COVID-19 but the negligence of some people is creating problems. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has been instructed to crack the whip."

"We can issue SoPs and guidelines in regard to COVID-19, some people are being careless. We have started putting people on the no-fly list," the Minister said.

"When you compare the air travel to surface route, travelling by buses or train, air travel is much safer," he added.

According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, India has reported 59,118 new COVID-19 cases, 32,987 recoveries, and 257 deaths on Thursday.

"The UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) scheme produced connectivity and affordability. We have fare-bands. The lower fare-band is a little more than that of the fare of the lower class AC car in a train," Hardeep Singh Puri said.

"I am 100 per cent confident that the UDAN scheme is a roaring success. We are building another 100 airports. We have more than 300 operational routes which will be increased to 1000," Hardeep Singh Puri said.

The Minister said that demand for airports has been increased and many airports are being privatised.

"The land for the development of an airport is to be provided by the state government. In Darbhanga Airport, earlier, there was no place to park the aircraft. Eventually, the facilities are increasing and by creating a bigger terminal and by getting more lands, we will be solving the problems," he added.

All flight operations at Darbhanga airport in Bihar commenced in November last night, which has been developed under the UDAN initiative.

UDAN is a regional airport development and "Regional Connectivity Scheme" of the Government of India which was started in April 2017.

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UN condemns Israeli regime’s ‘organized torture’ against Palestinians

News Network

November 30,2025

The United Nations Committee against Torture (CAT) has condemned the Israeli regime for enforcing a policy of “organized torture” against Palestinians.

In a report published on Friday, CAT stated that the occupying regime enforces a deliberate policy of “organized and widespread torture and ill-treatment” against Palestinian abductees, particularly since October 7, 2023, when Israel launched its genocidal war on Gaza.

The committee expressed “deep concern over repeated severe beatings, dog attacks, electrocution, water-boarding, use of prolonged stress positions [and] sexual violence” inflicted on Palestinians.

Palestinian prisoners were degraded by “being made to act like animals or being urinated on,” systematically denied medical care, and subjected to excessive restraints, “in some cases resulting in amputation,” the report added.

CAT also condemned the routine application of “unlawful combatants law” to justify the prolonged detention without trial of thousands of Palestinian men, women, and children.

More than 10,000 Palestinians, including women and children, are currently held in Israeli prisons, according to Palestinian and international human rights groups, with 3,474 Palestinians in “administrative detention,” meaning they are imprisoned without trial for indefinite periods.

The report highlighted the “high proportion of children who are currently detained without charge or on remand,” noting that while Israel sets the age of criminal responsibility at 12, even younger children have been abducted.

Children designated as security prisoners face severe restrictions on family contact, may be subjected to solitary confinement, and are denied access to education, in clear violation of international law.

The committee further suggested that Israel’s policies across the Occupied Territories constitute collective torture against the Palestinian population.

“A range of policies adopted by Israel in the course of its continued unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory amounts to cruel, inhuman or degrading living conditions for the Palestinian population,” the report said.

On Thursday, the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas condemned the systematic killing and torture of Palestinian abductees in Israeli prisons, urging international action to halt these abuses.

Citing human rights data, Hamas stated that 94 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli prisons since the start of Tel Aviv’s genocidal war on Gaza.

“This reflects an organized criminal approach that has turned these prisons into direct killing grounds to eliminate our people,” the resistance movement said.

Hamas called on the international community, the UN, and human rights organizations to immediately pressure Israel to end crimes against prisoners and uphold their rights as guaranteed by all international conventions and norms.

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