Pioneer in short
Krishna Karunesh appointed Noida CEO
Senior IAS officer Krishna Karunesh has been appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Noida Authority, replacing Lokesh M, who was removed from the post days after a techie drowned in Noida. Karunesh, a 2011-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, took charge days after a controversy erupted following the death of a 27-year-old software engineer, Yuvraj Mehta, in Sector 150 here on the night of January 16, which triggered protests by residents alleging negligence by developers and the authority. Following the incident and the subsequent protests, Lokesh M, also an IAS officer, was removed as Noida Authority CEO and placed on the waiting list on January 19.
Uphaar tragedy: Charges framed against convict
Setting the stage for trial, a Delhi court on Saturday formally framed charges against Uphaar fire tragedy convict Sushil Ansal in a separate case for allegedly concealing criminal cases and submitting false declarations to renew a passport. In December last year, a court had ordered the framing of charges against Sushil Ansal for offences under IPC sections 420 (cheating), 177 (furnishing false information to a public servant) and 181 (making false statement on oath) and Section 12 (offences related to passports) of the Passports Act.
IndiGo vacates 717 slots
IndiGo has vacated 717 slots at various domestic airports, including Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai. The move follows a 10 per cent reduction in IndiGo’s winter flight schedule, ordered by regulatory watchdog Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), after severe operational disruptions in early December that affected thousands of passengers. A slot is a specific time period allocated to an airline for takeoff and landing. Out of the 717 slots, as many as 364 are from six key metro airports — Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. Among these cities, most of the vacated slots are from Hyderabad and Bengaluru, the sources said. Meanwhile, Airlines are unlikely to take the Government proposal to operate flights using 700 slots surrendered by IndiGo, as this offer may be only for one month.
Landslide in Java Island kills eight
A predawn landslide triggered by torrential rains on Indonesia’s main island of Java killed at least eight people on Saturday and left 82 missing as rescuers struggled through deep mud, searching for survivors. Days of torrential rains had caused rivers to burst their banks, tearing through Pasir Langu village in the West Bandung district of West Java province. Mud, rocks and trees tumbled down the mountainside, burying some 34 houses. Rescuers were searching for the 82 residents feared buried under heaps of mud and debris, while 24 people managed to escape the disaster, said spokesperson Abdul Muhari of the National Disaster Management Agency. Some eight bodies were pulled out in the worst-hit hamlet of Pasir Kuning, after the 3 am landslide swept away homes and people.
