Bursts of volcanic lightning and lava lit up the night sky in southern Chile after the Calbuco volcano erupted twice after nearly half a century of inactivity, forcing over 5,000 people to evacuate.
The C295 is known to be a superior aircraft used for tactical transport of up to 71 troops or 50 paratroopers, and for logistic operations to locations that are not accessible to current heavier aircraft.
Exhausted but elated, around 600 Indian students, who waged a tough battle for survival before being pulled out of war-battered Ukrainian city of Sumy, are now on way to Poland on a train from where they will be flown back home likely on Thursday.
The large scale diversion on the night of January 5-6 was mainly because of these aircraft being operated by pilots not trained on Category-III Instrument Landing System, DGCA sources said.
It is not yet clear if the threat was real or a prank.
Fifty-six passengers and seven crew members onboard Flight IC-809 were evacuated as emergency services stood by.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday directed officials to ensure safe evacuation of all Indian citizens from Afghanistan and to provide refuge to Sikhs and Hindus wanting to come to India from there, as he chaired a crucial high-level meeting in the backdrop of the Taliban takeover of the war-torn country, sources said.
While Air India and Jet Airways flights to Kathmandu were grounded at Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi, no-frills airline AirAsia's Goa flight from Bengaluru also failed to take off on scheduled time due to similar reasons.
The medical supplies were sent on a return flight that had brought 10 Indians and 94 Afghans to Delhi from Kabul on Friday.
About 16,000 Indians, mostly students, are stranded in Ukraine as Russia's invasion of the east European country entered its second day on Friday. Of the students, many studying medicine in Kharkiv and Kyiv, about 2,500 are from Gujarat and 2,320 from Kerala.
The central government said the railways and civil aviation ministry must suspend all concessional travel on trains and flights, except for students, patients and disabled people.
'An ambassador may not be sure whether there would be a war next month, but prudence requires him to take action to see to it that people leave early.' 'Because once the war starts, it will be very difficult to move out.'
With the war in Ukraine entering its 12th day on Monday and tensions between Kyiv and Moscow showing no signs of easing, the students said there is panic in Belarus and their families in India too are concerned about their wellbeing.
The Boeing 737-800 Air India Express flight LX536, which was scheduled to leave at 12.10 pm (local time) on Tuesday, was delayed by nine hours after the 'tyre glitch' forced the pilot to abort the take-off.
"A student from Kyiv was reported to have been shot and was immediately admitted to the hospital in Kyiv," MoS General V K Singh (retd) said.
As many as seven passengers aboard the Boeing 777 Pakistan International Airlines flight PK-743 (Karachi-Madina) on January 20 were forced to stand throughout the over three-hour flight after the airline boarded excess passengers, Dawn newspaper reported.
Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said all Indian nationals left Kyiv on Tuesday after the Indian embassy issued an advisory, asking them to get out of the Ukrainian capital urgently.
A total of 168 people, including 107 Indians and 23 Afghan Sikhs and Hindus, were flown from Kabul to the Hindon airbase in a C-17 heavy-lift military transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF).
None of the 55 passengers or five crew members was injured, they said, adding the DGCA has started an investigation.
A video of Tamil Nadu students holed up in some kind of a facility showed a number of youth cramped with their belongings, making the appeal to the government to ensure their safety and take all steps for their early return home.
If your flight is cancelled or delayed or you miss one, a travel insurance policy can cover the costs at such times and help you book a new one.
The embassy, however, said certain disruptions in Russian banking services, as well as direct flight connectivity to India, have been reported and Indian students may consider returning home if they have concerns over these aspects.
The Indian embassy issued a fresh advisory as Russia carries out a military operation in Ukraine, triggering a major confrontation between the two sides.
The ministry of external affairs urged Indian students to avoid taking unnecessary risks.
Reddy directed the officials to treat the storm as a major challenge to avoid loss of life and property as the winds are expected to blow gales reaching speeds of up to 110 kilometres per hour.
'Please get us home': An Indian family stranded in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
The Tibet-bound plane was carrying 113 passengers and nine crew members, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Hakki Pikkis are a semi-nomadic tribe, traditionally of bird catchers and hunters, from Karnataka. Their knowledge of the forest and traditional medicine is extensive and is prized by the Sudanese community.
The United States is going to retain a laser focus on its counterterrorism mission in Afghanistan, President Joe Biden said on Friday, and warned the Taliban of a forceful response to any attack on American forces or disruption of its operations at the Kabul airport.
The group of about 100 students managed to reach the station but no one could board a train.
It is learnt that the camp office in Lviv would be able to coordinate the evacuation of Indians to Poland and Hungary while the one at Chernivtsi would facilitate exit to Romania.
Congress leaders have supported the Union government's stand of abstaining from voting in the anti-Russia resolution in the United Nations General Assembly, informed sources on Thursday.
China said on Thursday that "progress" has been made in facilitating the return of thousands of Indian students stranded back home due to Beijing's COVID visa bans and efforts were on for "early return" of the first batch.
Selectors have overlooked Boult as a replacement because he opted out of his national contract last year.
A ferry flight will soon reach the national capital from Tehran with around 300 swab samples of Indians suspected of having coronavirus infection.
United States President Joe Biden was rushed to a safe house in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware after a plane violated the airspace above the vacation home he owns in the small seaside town.
A special Air India flight carrying 46 Indian nurses set free by Sunni militants ISIS in strife-torn Iraq and 137 others arrived in Mumbai on Saturday. The flight carrying 183 Indian nationals from Erbil landed in Mumbai at 8:43 am.
The country's largest software company Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) on Wednesday said its net profit increased 8.7 per cent year-on-year to Rs 11,342 crore in the September 2023 quarter. The Tata Group flagship had reported a net profit of Rs 10,431 crore in the year-ago period.
The curfew imposed under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) will be relaxed from 7 am to 10 am, it said.
Indian airlines on Wednesday began evacuating stranded people from flood-ravaged Jammu and Kashmir with Air India flying back 270 passengers free, as DGCA asked them to cap total fares including taxes on Srinagar-Delhi and Leh-Delhi sectors at Rs 2,800 and Rs 3,000 respectively.
