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THE HINDU CHENNAI WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2019 NATION 9 EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Weather Watch Airlines hit as Deepavali travel fails to take off Rainfall, temperature & air quality in select metros yesterday

Fares on key metro routes are down 22% on Chennai­Delhi from ₹5,688 to ₹4,382. by 30% at a time when it usually peaks The Hindu spoke to Minis­ ter of Civil Aviation Hardeep Jagriti Chandra gust and September. On Singh Puri on this crisis in New Delhi Monday, full­service carrier the aviation sector, and he Deepavali is a time when Vistara even launched its said, “No, low fares are not most Indians spare no ex­ ‘grand international sale’ for due to an economic slow­ pense to be with their fami­ destinations like Bangkok, down. Is any plane going lies. But not this year. The re­ Dubai, and Singapore for re­ empty, not at all. LCCs are luctance to spend on air turn fares starting at ₹14,999. competing against each oth­ travel this festival season has er and dumbing down fares.” dampened celebrations and ‘Industry­wide trend’ However, both the airline is making airlines nervous, “The slowdown is beginning executives quoted above said who are forced to lower air­ to bite us. The demand for that “competitive pricing is fares to fill up their planes. air travel is not growing as country on the condition of many months, industry in­ said another senior execu­ an outcome of weak Data from the travel portal compared to the same time anonymity. siders say by August its im­ tive of another airline. demand”. Yatra.com shows that fares last year. As a result, our DGCA’s monthly data pact had diminished. Data shows that airfares “People are being more on key metro routes are yields (average fare per pas­ shows domestic traffic “Demand is stagnant due booked 15 days before the cautious than they have been Temperature Data: IMD, Pollution Data: CPCB, Map: INSAT/IMD (Taken at 18.00 Hrs) down by 30%, while this is senger mile) are lower. I growth rate was at (­)4% in to a slowing economy. Eco­ date of travel have dropped in the past. But going by the Forecast for Wednesday: Heavy to very heavy rainfall likely over usually a time airlines hike don’t see this improving for April; it rose to 6% in June nomy class is really strug­ on Delhi to Chennai route by prevailing last minute fare coastal Karnataka, coastal Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Konkan & airfares due to a huge de­ several months to come. This and then again fell to 1.18% in gling. This is a very serious 44% from ₹5,571 last year to rise trends, we could expect Goa, Telangana, Rayalaseema, interior Karnataka, Kerala & Mahe, mand and are able to make is an industry­wide trend,” September. While the clo­ situation as airlines depend ₹3,071 this year, Delhi to a rise in fares as we get closer Chhattisgarh, central Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and up for losses piled up during said a top official at one of sure of Jet Airways in mid­ on peak season to make up Pune by 30% from ₹5,219 last to the booking dates.” said Karaikal. the lean months of July, Au­ the leading airlines in the April was to be blamed for for losses in other seasons,” year to ₹3,631 this year and Yatra.com’s Sharat Dhall. city rain max min city rain max min Agartala...... 7.6....33.0....24.0 Kozhikode...... 18.2....31.0....24.0 Ahmedabad...... —....33.0....22.0 Kurnool ...... —....31.0....22.0 Aizawl...... —....26.0....17.0 Lucknow...... —....31.0....18.0 IN BRIEF Allahabad...... —....31.0....20.0 Madurai...... 30.0....32.0....23.0 Bengaluru ...... 38.9....28.0....20.0 Mangaluru ...... —....29.0....23.0 Banking services partially hit Ayodhya ‘deepotsav’ Bhopal ...... —....28.0....20.0 Mumbai ...... 9.8....28.0....24.0 Bhubaneswar...... —....31.0....24.0 Mysuru ...... 20.0....28.0....19.0 Chandigarh ...... —....31.0....16.0 New Delhi ...... —....32.0....17.0 Chennai ...... 25.7....28.0....24.0 Patna ...... —....31.0....22.0 given State Fair tag Coimbatore ...... 0.8....28.0....21.0 Port Blair...... 10.0....30.0....24.0 as unions protest merger bid Dehradun...... —....30.0....14.0 Puducherry ...... 4.1....28.0....23.0 Gangtok...... —....20.0....14.0 Pune...... 42.4....29.0....21.0 special correspondent Goa...... 33.7....32.0....24.0 Raipur ...... 28.0....22.0 LUCKNOW Guwahati ...... —....31.0....21.0 Ranchi...... —....28.0....20.0 We will seek support from Opposition parties, say leaders Nirvani Akhara Hubballi...... —....26.0....21.0 Shillong...... —....24.0....13.0 IAF carries out twin The Uttar Pradesh govern­ Hyderabad ...... —....29.0....22.0 Shimla...... —....21.0....11.0 firing of BrahMos Special Correspondent ment has granted the status seeks right to Imphal ...... 3.6....29.0....18.0 Srinagar...... —...... —...... — NEW DELHI Jaipur ...... —....32.0....19.0 Thiruvananthapuram...... 3.0....33.0....24.0 NEW DELHI of State fair to the Deepotsav Kochi ...... 17.6....30.0....23.0 Tiruchi...... 26.0....30.0....23.0 Two BrahMos surface-to- Services in some public sec­ Mela to be held in Ayodhya ‘Shebait’ Kohima ...... —....24.0....14.0 Vijayawada ...... 6.6....27.0....25.0 surface missile tests were tor banks were partially af­ during Deepavali. Kolkata ...... —....32.0....25.0 Visakhapatnam ...... 26.8....27.0....25.0 conducted as part of routine fected on Tuesday with two The festival, in which ov­ Indo-Asian News Service (Rainfall data in mm; temperature in Celsius) operational training at the unions observing a nation­ er 5.5 lakh lamps will be lit New Delhi Pollutants in the air you are breathing Yesterday Trak Island in the Andaman & wide one­day strike to prot­ on October 26, will be held CITIES SO2 NO2 CO PM2.5 PM10 CODE The Supreme Court on Ahmedabad...... — 130 .21 ..196 .123 ....* Nicobar group of islands on est against the Centre’s pro­ at an estimated cost of ₹133 Tuesday allowed Nirvani Bengaluru ...... 2 .45 108 ....32 ...46 ....* In observation made at October 21 and 22, the IAF posed merger of banks and Chennai ...... 11 .32 .58 ....69 .....— ....* 4.00 p.m., Varanasi, Uttar crore, government spokes­ Akhara, one of the Hindu Pradesh recorded an said on Tuesday. banking reforms. Delhi ...... 5 .75 .26 ..260 .299 ....* overall air quality index person Shrikant Sharma parties in Ayodhya title dis­ Hyderabad ...... 5 .40 .35 ....88 .....— ....* (AQI) score of 276 No govt. jobs for those The strike, called by the said. pute, to file a note seeking Kolkata...... 12 .57 .29 ..220 .129 ....* indicating a severe level of All­India Bank Employees Lucknow...... 2 .30 .50 ..328 .....— ....* pollution. In contrast, with over 2 children With the change, the Mela right to manage the wor­ Eloor, Kerala recorded a Association (AIBEA) and the Mumbai ...... 5 .22 110 ....32 ...52 ....* healthy AQI score of 30. GUWAHATI will now be planned by the ship of deity as the ‘She­ Pune...... 87 ...8 .68 ....36 ...34 ....* Two years after it adopted a Bank Employees Federation District Magistrate of Ayod­ bait’, a person who takes Visakhapatnam 26 .45 .56 ....24 ...28 ....* of India (BEFI) saw the parti­ population policy, the Assam hya. Earlier, the Tourism De­ care of the deity and man­ Air Quality Code: * Poor * Moderate * Good (Readings indicate average AQI) cipation of 3 lakh employees Bank employees taking part in the strike at Azad Maidan in Cabinet on Monday decided partment organised it. ages its daily affairs. SO2: Sulphur Dioxide. Short-term exposure can harm the respiratory system, to make government jobs out and led to about 20 lakh Mumbai on Tuesday. * EMMANUAL YOGINI The decision was taken making breathing difficult. It can affect visibility by reacting with other air The Nirmohi Akhara particles to form haze and stain culturally important objects such as statues of bounds for people with banking instrument, inlcud­ given the “international sta­ had filed the suit seeking and monuments. more than two children. The ing cheques worth around stop the merger of 10 public cept it as the merger itself tus” of the festival and on Shebait right in 1959. Both NO2: Nitrogen Dioxide. Aggravates respiratory illness, causes haze to form by reacting with other air particles, causes acid rain, pollutes coastal waters. policy will come into effect ₹15,000 crore not being sector banks. was the bone of contention. the proposals sent by the Nirmohi Akhara and Nirva­ from January 1, 2021. cleared, AIBEA general se­ Mr. Venkatachalam said “Merger of the banks is to­ CO: Carbon monoxide. High concentration in air reduces oxygen supply to District Magistrate in letters ni Akhara have contested critical organs like the heart and brain. At very high levels, it can cause cretary C.H. Venkatachalam the unions would seek sup­ tally unwarranted in India as dated January 15 and July 3, each other's stand. dizziness, confusion, unconsciousness and even death. ED custody of HDIL said. port from other unions and we need more banking ser­ the government said. PM2.5 & PM10: Particulate matter pollution can cause irritation of the eyes, promoters extended DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD nose and throat, coughing, chest tightness and shortness of breath, reduced Opposition parties ahead of vices and opening of more The BJP government lung function, irregular heartbeat, asthma attacks, heart attacks and premature MUMBAI Clerical staff stay away the winter session of Parlia­ branches to serve the peo­ plans to organise a grand guest at the event. death in people with heart or lung disease A special Prevention of Mr. Venkatachalam said the ment. He said the govern­ ple. Past mergers have re­ Deepavali celebration in Restrictions under Sec­ Money Laundering Act court strike affected services as ment representatives who sulted in closure of branch­ Ayodhya. tion 144 of CrPC have been on Tuesday extended the ED’s “clerical and subordinate met the union leaders on es. Recovery of the huge bad custody of Housing Last year, the festival imposed in Ayodhya until staff” stayed away from Monday had said the work­ loans is the top priority of Development Infrastructure showcased the Korean con­ December 10 in anticipation Limited’s (HDIL) directors work. The unions had an­ ers’ issues would be ad­ the banks and mergers nection to the town, and of the Supreme Court’s ver­ Rakesh Wadhawan and his nounced in September that dressed after the merger, would change the priority,” South Korea’s first lady Kim dict in the land dispute son Sarang till October 24. they would hold the strike to but the unions did not ac­ he said. Jung­sook was the chief case. Power firm takes Water Ministry to court over Ganga notification The order requires hydropower companies situated on the river’s tributaries to release more water than previous years

Jacob Koshy years. Located on the Alak­ vernment ought to be com­ tion specifies that the upper commodate greater flows. new requirements. The com­ NEW DELHI nanda river — a major source pensating it for the losses stretches of the Ganga would Companies are reluctant to pliance date was therefore The Alaknanda Hydropower river for the Ganga — the 330 that would accrue due to the have to maintain 20% of the release water because it im­ advanced to 2019. Company (AHC) has taken MW project was commis­ notification. monthly average flow of the pedes power generation. An NMCG official, who did the Union Water Ministry sioned in 2014 and is among “The matter is in the preceding 10 days between The 2018 order by the not want to quoted, said that and the Uttarakhand State the 19 hydropower projects court. Any losses to the com­ November and March, which NMCG gave companies three GVK had claimed losses of government to court follow­ functioning along various pany have to be reimbursed is the dry season; 25% of the years — until October 2021— nearly ₹4,000 crore, adding, ing a 2018 notification by the stretches of the Ganga and its by the State government (Ut­ average during the “lean sea­ to make necessary changes “We have had some meet­ National Mission for Clean tributaries. tarakhand) as this is a change son” of October, April and but site visits to 11 companies ings at the Prime Minister’s Ganga (NMCG), a Union Wa­ in law,” G.V.K. Reddy, chair­ May; and 30% of the monthly by the Central Water Com­ Office and the government is ter Ministry body, that re­ ‘Financially detrimental’ man, GVK Group, told The average during the monsoon mission, which is tasked with considering making good the quires hydropower compa­ Company officials said that Hindu in a text message. months of June­September. measuring flows, showed losses. We will have to see nies located on the Ganga’s the notification was finan­ AHC is run by GVK Power & This would require exist­ that most companies did not how the case proceeds.” Mr. tributaries to release more cially detrimental to the Infrastructure Ltd. ing and upcoming projects to need to make major design Reddy did not confirm this water than from previous company and that the go­ The 2018 e­flow notifica­ change their design to ac­ changes comply with the number to The Hindu. Kamlesh Tiwari’s killers Ex­BJP MLA’s daughter arrested in Gujarat returns home The two are residents of Surat Staff reporter SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT Bhopal LUCKNOW A former BJP MLA’s The Gujarat Anti­Terrorism daughter, who had left Squad on Tuesday said it home alleging torture by has arrested the two main the family, returned on suspects who allegedly mur­ Tuesday. dered Hindu Samaj Party “We found her at a vil­ leader Kamlesh Tiwari in lage near Raver of Maha­ Lucknow on October 18. rashtra ... There was no The two suspects were settlement between the nabbed from Shamlaji near two sides,” said Umesh Ti­ the Gujarat­Rajasthan bor­ wari, T.T. Nagar City Supe­ der and they were on the The two were on their way rintendent of Police. “She way to Gujarat after having to Gujarat after reaching had run away on her own reached Shahjahanpur from Shahjahanpur. * PTI accord and returned the Nepal, police said. same way,” he said. The two were identified that they had committed the On October 16, former as Ashfaqhussain Jakirhus­ crime “in retribution to pur­ MLA from Bhopal Central sain Shaikh, 34, and Moi­ ported statements by the Surendranath Singh had nuddin Khurshid Pathan, deceased,” the ATS said. filed a complaint claiming 27. While Shaikh is a medi­ In 2015, Tiwari had shot his “mentally ill” daughter, cal representative, Pathan is into the limelight after he Bharti Singh, had gone mis­ a food delivery boy, the pol­ made some controversial re­ sing. Days later, Ms. Singh ice said. Both are residents marks, following which sev­ released a video online al­ of Surat. eral Muslim groups held leging torture by her family The ATS said the two huge protests demanding for a decade, including ad­ were apprehended on the action against him. ministration of sleep­in­ basis of technical and physi­ Six persons, including ducing injections. cal surveillance mounted on two Muslim clerics from Bij­ On Monday, Mr. Singh their family and acquain­ nor in west U.P., have been told The Hindu that his tances. detained for allegedly daughter was a victim of The primary investiga­ scripting the conspiracy be­ “love jihad”, in which Con­ tion of the accused revealed hind the murder. gress leaders had a hand.

CM M CH-CHE YK