NEWS

Air India pilots have threatened to stop working if the entire crew is not vaccinated on a priority basis.

The pilots threatened to stop operations after some of the crew members tested Covid positive. The employees further alleged that some of the workers, who tested positive, are finding it hard to arrange oxygen cylinders.

A letter to the director (operations) of Air India stated: "Many crew have been diagnosed COVID positive and are struggling to get oxygen cylinders. We are left to fend for ourselves for hospitalization. The management continues to do what it does best, providing lip service and playing to the gallery by issuing circulars and

letters with no outcome."

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Monday warned people against laxity in adherence to the curbs imposed in the state, saying that he will be forced to consider a total lockdown if the situation did not improve.

Singh had earlier made it clear that he was not in favour of a complete lockdown.

The Chief Minister said he had so far refrained from ordering a sweeping lockdown in the state because it will hurt the poor the most and would lead to the exodus of migrant labourers, plunging industries into chaos again.

Nearly all of Trinamool Congress (TMC) turncoats lost the West Bengal assembly election Sunday, save a couple of big names — Suvendu Adhikari, who is a former close aide of caretaker Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, and Mukul Roy, former TMC general secretary — who managed to scrape through.

In the months preceding the March-April election, 25 MLAs and many senior TMC leaders defected to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). According to BJP insiders, 148 defectors from TMC, including over a dozen sitting MLAs, got tickets. But only six (4 per cent) have won.

Former minister Rajib Banerjee, ex-Howrah mayor Rathindranath Chakraborty and former International Cricket Council (ICC) chief Jagmohan Dalmiya’s daughter Baishali Dalmiya are among those who have been unsuccessful in the switch.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is contemplating deployment of Army in Delhi to tackle the ongoing Covid crisis.

Centre on Monday confirmed to HC that the Chief of Defence Staff, Bipin Rawat, has confirmed that the matter is being looked into by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

A petition was filed in the Delhi High Court seeking directions for handing over the management of oxygen in the national capital to the Army to ensure uninterrupted supply to Covid-19 hospitals and facilities.