Starvation reportedly consumes another life in Jharkhand

Agencies

October 22, 2017

Dhanbad, Oct 22: In yet another case of death by starvation which came to light, a 40-year old rikshaw puller reportedly died of a severe poverty-stricken condition in Dhanbad's Jharia distict, his family claimed.

The victim, identified as Baidnath Das, reportedly could not avail any of the government's schemes for the poor, and hence had no ration to fend his family, which ultimately resulted in his death on Saturday.

A rickshaw puller by profession, Baidnath allegedly under went a three-year struggle in obtaining a ration card. Fed up after receiving no response, he applied online for the card. However, before he could complete all the formalities, he passed away, leaving the family behind in a poverty-stricken situation.

Ravi Kumar Das, the deceased's son, said the family was not able to afford two square meals in a day, and was thoroughly dependant on their father for their livelihood.

"My uncle's name was on the list of those below poverty line. However, he passed away four years ago, and ever since, we have been struggling to obtain a ration card and update the list, for which we have travelled between Dhanbad and Jharia many times. My father has been ill for twenty days now, and we don't have enough money for his treatment. If we would have gotten the rations we're entitled to, my father would have been alive. Now, the only bread-winner of our family has passed away," he said.

However, an official press note from the district administration noted that the cause for death was not starvation, but a prolonged illness. The release also noted that the deceased's son and wife were both earning members of the family, contrary to what was said by his son.

Furthermore, the release also noted that the application for the ration card was received three days ago, and the ration card would be issued usually in 60 days. It also claimed that there are four lakh card holders in the area who are being served under the various schemes of the government, and all action required is being taken within the prescribed time slots.

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IndiGo CEO says less than 1,000 cancellations on Dec 6; normalcy by Dec 15

News Network

December 5,2025

New Delhi, Dec 5: IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers issued a public apology this evening after more than a thousand flights were cancelled today, making it the "most severely impacted day" in terms of cancellations. The biggest airline of the country cancelled "more than half" of its daily number of flights on Friday, said Elbers. He also said that even though the crisis will persist on Saturday, the airline anticipates fewer than 1,000 flight cancellations.

"Full normalisation is expected between December 10 and 15, though IndiGo cautions that recovery will take time due to the scale of operations," the IndiGo CEO said.

IndiGo operates around 2,300 domestic and international flights daily.

Pieter Elbers, while apologising for the major inconvenience due to delays and cancellations, said the situation is a result of various causes.

The crisis at IndiGo stems from new regulations that boost pilots' weekly rest requirements by 12 hours to 48 and allow only two night-time landings per week, down from six. IndiGo has attributed the mass cancellations to "misjudgment and planning gaps".

Elbers also listed three lines of action that the airline will adopt to address the issue.

"Firstly, customer communication and addressing your needs, for this, messages have been sent on social media. And just now, a more detailed communication with information, refunds, cancellations and other customer support measures was sent," he said.

The airline has also stepped up its call centre capacity.

"Secondly, due to yesterday's situation, we had customers stranded mostly at the nation's largest airports. Our focus was for all of them to be able to travel today itself, which will be achieved. For this, we also ask customers whose flights are cancelled not to come to the airports as notifications are sent," the CEO said.

"Thirdly, cancellations were made for today to align our crew and planes to be where they need to start tomorrow morning afresh. Earlier measures of the last few days, regrettable, have proven not to be enough, but we have decided today to reboot all our systems and schedules, resulting in the highest numbers of cancellations so far, but imperative for progressive improvements starting from tomorrow," he added.

As airports witnessed chaotic scenes, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) stepped in to grant IndiGo a temporary exemption from stricter night duty rules for pilots. It also allowed substitution of leaves with a weekly rest period.

Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu has said a high-level inquiry will be ordered and accountability will be fixed.

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