Star Air begins non-stop services between Belagavi and Nasik

News Network

January 25, 2021

Belagavi, Jan 25: Bangalore based Star Air, plans to expand its operations under the regional connectivity scheme UDAN by began direct flight services between Belagavi and Nashik from Monday.

The day also marks the company’s second anniversary as Star Air operated its first commercial flight on this day two years back.

Shrenik Ghodawat Director Star Air speaking with media persons in Belagavi on Monday and said, the flight connectivity between Nashik and Belagavi is set to boost the regional aerospace sector as Belagavi is India's first private aerospace SEZ. Belagavi caters to the precision engineering requirements of the aerospace sector globally including Nashik, which is India’s defence and aerospace manufacturing hub.

Commenting on the new route, Shrenik Ghodawat, Director, Star Air, said, “Sanjay Ghodawat group and Star Air has received a lot of love from people of Belagavi and Hubballi region over the years. It really makes us happy to connect Belagavi with more Indian cities. This will certainly augment the regional connectivity and also catapult trade and tourism for Belagavi.”

With Nashik’s proximity to the major pilgrimage site, Shirdi, Star Air's flight service will attract lakhs of devotees from Belagavi and adjacent districts and enable them to travel to the spiritual capital of Maharashtra. Conversely, it will also enable tourists from Nashik and adjoining areas to visit Kolhapur, Hubballi and Goa, which are around two hours drive from Belagavi, he said.

"We are happy to connect more and more tier II and tier III cities under RCS-UDAN. The overwhelming response we received from the enthusiastic flyers keeps encouraging us. It truly reflects our ethos of connecting real India. Nashik being pivotal to the billion-dollar Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor project, we are really excited to start our flight services to Nashik which will definitely aid the industrial activities. The company plans to operate non-stop flight services from Belagavi thrice a week, i e, Monday, Friday, and Sunday. Moreover, as the flight service operates under the RCS-UDAN, the company is providing inaugural flight tickets starting at just INR 1999/," Ghodwat said.

As per company officials, Star Air operates 26 daily flights to 13 destinations to cities including Ahmedabad, Ajmer (Kishangarh), Belagavi, Bengaluru, Delhi (Hindon), Hubballi, Tirupati, Indore, Kalaburagi, Mumbai, and Surat. Around 1.6 Lac passengers have flown with Star Air since its first flight, he added.

Star Air CEO, Simran Singh Tiwana said, “It gives me immense pleasure and pride to see how the company has evolved over the last two years. I’m sure with the love and support of our flyers, this is one of the many milestones yet to come. Also, we are really excited to announce our chatbot which is powered with Artificial Intelligence (AI) for a hassle-free customer experience. Our customers can now engage with our customer care through this AI-based chatbot feature and get our latest offers and information regarding their travel with Star Air.”

The company has also forayed into non-scheduled flight services with its launch of Cargo and Charter Services. Simran said.

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HC refuses to quash probe against Mangaluru WhatsApp admin over offensive posts

News Network

February 1,2026

Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court has refused to quash an investigation against a WhatsApp group administrator accused of allowing the circulation of obscene and offensive images depicting Hindutva politicians and idols in 2021.

Justice M Nagaprasanna observed that, prima facie, the ingredients of the offence under Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code were made out. “The offence under Section 295A of the IPC is met to every word of its ingredient, albeit prima facie,” the judge said.

The petitioner, Sirajuddin, a resident of Belthangady taluk in Dakshina Kannada district, had challenged the FIR registered against him at the CEN (Cyber, Economics and Narcotics) police station, Mangaluru, for offences under Section 295A of the IPC and Section 67 of the Information Technology Act. Section 295A relates to punishment for deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage the religious feelings of any class of citizens.

According to the complaint filed by K Jayaraj Salian, also a resident of Belthangady taluk, he received a WhatsApp group link from an unknown source and was added to the group after accessing it. The group reportedly had six administrators and around 250 participants, where obscene and offensive images depicting Hindu deities and certain political figures were allegedly circulated repeatedly.

Sirajuddin was arrested in connection with the case and later released on bail on February 16, 2021. He argued before the court that he was being selectively targeted, while other administrators—including the creator of the group—were neither arrested nor investigated. He also contended that the Magistrate could not have taken cognisance of the offence under Section 295A without prior sanction under Section 196(1) of the CrPC.

Rejecting the argument, Justice Nagaprasanna held that prior sanction is required only at the stage of taking cognisance, and not at the stage of registration of the crime or during investigation.

The judge noted that the State had produced the entire investigation material before the court. “A perusal of the material reveals depictions of Hindu deities in an extraordinarily obscene, demeaning and profane manner. The content is such that its reproduction in a judicial order would itself be inappropriate,” the court said, adding that the material, on its face, had the tendency to outrage religious feelings and disturb communal harmony.

Observing that the case was still at the investigation stage, the court said it could not interdict the probe at this juncture. However, it expressed concern that the investigating officer appeared to have not proceeded uniformly against all administrators. The court clarified that if the investigation revealed the active involvement of any member in permitting the circulation of such content, they must also be proceeded against.

“At this investigative stage, any further observation by this Court would be unnecessary,” the order concluded.

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