India News

A crisis that wasn’t for Indians in Doha

Published

9 years ago

June 23, 2017

A crisis that wasn’t for Indians in Doha

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]A ‘panic’ reported widely in Indian media did not exist, according to the feedback from the ground.

Government of India’s announcement of additional flights from Doha to meet the rush of Indian passengers was interpreted as a move to airlift Indians out of Qatar. Some Gulf countries severed relations with it and Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Bahrain closed their borders, prohibiting traffic to and from Qatar, giving rise to speculation about a crisis and shortage of essential supplies.

It so happened that the additional flights were meant only to meet the holiday rush.

The Government of India announced on Wednesday, June 21, that Air India Express would operate an additional flight on Thiruvananthapuram-Doha and Doha-Cochin sectors from 25th June to 8th July 2017. Earlier, Jet Airways, has announced two additional flights to Mumbai, India on June 22 and 23.

The announcement of additional flights came from Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju who tweeted: “We’ll operate addl. flights b/w Doha & Thiruvananthapuram, Cochin and Mumbai for our citizens not able to get tickets at Doha @SushmaSwaraj.”

He added: “All steps necessary for timely movement of our citizens from Doha will be ensured. I and @SushmaSwaraj ji are in touch on this issue.”

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had earlier asked AG Raju to operate additional flights “to Doha for Indian nationals who were not able to get bookings but needed to reach the country back from Doha”.

These statements and decisions were preceded by media reports of shortage of commodities and steep rise in flight fares following the blockading of Qatar.

It all added up, to some in the media here. Only, it didn’t. A newspaper in Qatar, The Peninsula said some “leading Indian newspapers went overboard claiming that India is airlifting or evacuating its citizens from Qatar, when in reality these were just additional flights to address the holiday rush”.

These reports came as a surprise and shock to many Indians in Qatar who took to social media to slam the irresponsible reporting by the media houses, The Peninsula said.

“Very irresponsible of the media to write such misleading reports. Sitting in Delhi, they don’t know the ground reality. Without talking to people in Qatar they write something,” The Peninsula, quoted Indian Ambassador P Kumaran as saying.

“These extra flights are to address the holiday rush as all Indian schools closed this week for summer holidays and it coincides with Eid holidays. Jet Airways is operating two flights and Air India Express another two, so there will be four extra flights to address the holiday rush,” he added.

Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Indian Minister of Civil Aviation also clarified saying, “The additional flights to Qatar are to cater to Eid / school vacation traffic. It shouldn’t be seen as evacuation as reported at some places.”

The Times of India had run a story saying “India to airlift its citizens stuck in blockade-hit Qatar from next week.” There were many comments by Indians in Qatar saying there is no problem in Qatar and the story is “completely fake”.

Some international Media organisations like BBC also got the news wrong and started reporting that “India to operate extra flights to Qatar for ‘stranded’ nationals”.

Indian Embassy in Qatar also took to twitter to clarify and reply to various queries from Indians that there is no evacuation from Qatar. The embassy also requested Indians to follow its social media channels for official communications and not to be misled by rumours. The officials also added that they will counter this fake news in Delhi today.

Executive Director at Qatar Stars League Khalifa Saleh Al Haroon, also popular as Mr Q, took to Facebook inviting Indian community to respond to fake media reports.

Meanwhile, producer cum announcer at FM 107 Qatar Obaid Tahir put up a video on Facebook. In the video he told Indians in Qatar that there is no panic situation and the additional flight service is being introduced temporarily to help those travelling during summer and Eid holidays to India. He concluded the video by wishing everyone a happy journey and Eid Mubarak.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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Delhi-NCR experienced another spell of rain and thunderstorms on March 18, with IMD forecasting more showers over the next few days.

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11 hours ago

March 18, 2026

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Delhi and parts of the National Capital Region witnessed another spell of rain, thunderstorms, and strong winds on Wednesday evening, marking the second such weather event in the past four days.

The sudden change brought relief from unusually high temperatures recorded earlier this month. According to officials, the temperature at Safdarjung — the city’s base weather station — was recorded at 24 degrees Celsius at 7 pm.

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India News

Centre pushes states to cut levies to boost PNG adoption

The Centre has asked states to reduce local levies and streamline approvals to accelerate PNG adoption and city gas infrastructure growth.

Published

13 hours ago

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The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has urged states and Union Territories to ease local levies and procedural barriers affecting City Gas Distribution (CGD) projects, in a bid to accelerate the adoption of piped natural gas (PNG) as a cleaner fuel alternative.

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High costs slowing expansion

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It noted that these financial and procedural hurdles are slowing down infrastructure expansion and affecting the broader adoption of natural gas.

Gap between connections and usage

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Officials believe that rationalising levies may initially reduce local revenues but could lead to higher long-term gains through increased gas consumption and economic activity.

LPG shortage adds urgency

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Reform-linked incentives for states

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Introducing single-window clearance with deemed approvals within 24 hours
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Eliminating annual rental or lease charges for CGD infrastructure

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Industry support measures

The communication also noted that GAIL and its subsidiaries have already allocated full gas supply to the commercial PNG segment to support businesses affected by reduced LPG availability.

The government reiterated that expanding natural gas usage aligns with its broader push for cleaner and domestically sourced energy.

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BJP seals Assam seat-sharing pact, Modi to hold 3 rallies in April

BJP has finalised its Assam seat-sharing plan with allies and is gearing up for an intense campaign led by PM Modi and Amit Shah.

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The Bharatiya Janata Party has finalised its seat-sharing arrangement for the upcoming Assam Assembly elections, firming up its strategy alongside National Democratic Alliance partners as campaigning gathers pace in the state.

Under the agreement, the BJP will contest 89 seats, while its allies — Asom Gana Parishad and Bodoland People’s Front — will field candidates in 26 and 11 constituencies respectively. The distribution has been decided after internal deliberations, with the focus now shifting to candidate announcements and campaign execution.

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Union Home Minister Amit Shah is also set to spearhead an extensive campaign across the state through March, aiming to energise party workers and strengthen voter outreach.

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