Visakhapatnam, Aug 1: Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Alluri Sitarama Raju International Airport at Bhogapuram in Vizianagaram district, near here, on Saturday.

After landing at the runway of the Greenfield Airport, the Prime Minister inaugurated the passenger terminal building and undertook a walk-through along with Governor S. Abdul Nazeer, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan and Civil Aviation Minister K. Ram Mohan Naidu.

The top leadership of GMR Group and the Civil Aviation Minister explained the special features of the airport to the Prime Minister.

The terminal was decorated to showcase the culture, traditions, and arts of Andhra Pradesh.

PM Modi had a close look at large-scale Etikoppaka artwork displayed at the airport’s welcome gate.

When the PM stepped out of the airport and headed towards the venue of the public meeting on a special vehicle along with Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister and others, tribal women performed the traditional ‘Dhimsa’ dance to welcome him.

According to officials, the ‘Dhimsa’ dance by 13,500 tribal women created a Guinness World Record.

The Prime Minister was seen clapping to appreciate the colourful and impressive dance performance by tribal women.

At the public meeting venue, PM Modi will lay the foundation stone, inaugurate and dedicate to the nation multiple development projects worth over ₹17,900 crore in Bhogapuram and address the gathering on the occasion.

Developed under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode at a cost of over ₹5,640 crore, the Greenfield airport has been designed to handle 6 million passengers annually.

The airport is expected to provide a significant boost to tourism, trade, investment and employment generation in Andhra Pradesh while strengthening air connectivity in the region.

The passenger terminal building has been designed to provide a modern, seamless and efficient travel experience.

The airport incorporates advanced infrastructure, cutting-edge technologies and sustainable features to enhance operational efficiency and meet future aviation requirements.

The airport has been equipped with advanced technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Building Information Modelling (BIM), Airside 4.0 technologies, Airport Predictive Operations Centre (APOC), biometric passenger processing, automated baggage handling systems and intelligent operational monitoring solutions. These systems are expected to enhance operational efficiency, improve passenger convenience and safety, and optimise resource utilisation.

New Delhi, July 31: The Supreme Court has ruled that a married daughter cannot be denied consideration for compassionate appointment merely because a state government policy allows such appointments only to divorced or deserted daughters, holding that such a classification is unconstitutional and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution.

A Bench of Justices M.M. Sundresh and Prasanna B. Varale allowed an appeal filed by Sayara Khatoon and her daughter against a Patna High Court order, which had upheld the rejection of the daughter’s claim for compassionate appointment following the death of her father.

The appellants had questioned the Bihar government’s December 10, 2014 policy, under which only a divorced or deserted daughter is eligible for compassionate appointment.

The state government had also rejected the claim on the ground that the deceased employee’s brother had objected to the appointment.

However, the Supreme Court recorded that the brother had earlier furnished a no-objection certificate, observing that “the said ground for rejection no longer survives”.

On the policy restricting compassionate appointment to divorced or deserted daughters, the Justice Sundresh-led Bench held that any distinction between sons and daughters in such matters is constitutionally impermissible.

“This Court has repeatedly held that any classification differentiating a daughter from a son is, per se, unconstitutional,” the apex court said.

It added that “classification restricting eligibility only to a divorced or deserted daughter cannot be sustained in the eye of law”.

Rejecting the presumption underlying the Bihar government’s policy, the Supreme Court observed: “There cannot be a presumption in law that, after marriage, a daughter severs her ties with her parental family and resides with her husband in her matrimonial home.”

The order noted that the appellant had specifically stated that although her divorce had not been formally recognised in law, she had been living with her parental family and enjoyed the support of her mother and brother.

“In any event, adopting a hyper-technical approach cannot be a ground to deny consideration of her claim for compassionate appointment,” the bench said.

Setting aside the Patna High Court’s order as well as the rejection of the compassionate appointment claim, the apex court directed the Bihar authorities to reconsider the appellant’s case on merits.

“The respondent (Bihar government) is directed to consider the case of the appellant for compassionate appointment on merits within a period of eight weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order,” it ordered.

New Delhi, July 31: Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, on Friday responded to a question regarding the plight of families of Delhi Police personnel injured during the July 20 student march from Jantar Mantar to Parliament with a remark, “Are you from the BJP?”

Many families of Delhi Police personnel who sustained injuries during the clashes with protesting students on July 20 held a press conference earlier in the day, recounting their ordeal and personal hardships they underwent during the troubling hours.

They also demanded answers from those politicising the violence in favour of the protesting groups and sought justice for their family.

When a scribe questioned Rahul Gandhi on the Parliament premises, seeking his response to the press conference where the cops’ families shared their complaints and travails, the LoP snapped at him, asking, “Bhaiya, are you from the BJP?”

Rahul Gandhi’s response, seen as insensitive and indifferent to Delhi police personnel, comes after the families shared personal accounts of their sufferings, in the wake of violence inflicted on the injured personnel and questioned why their agony was being overlooked at the cost of protesters, many of whom have a ‘criminal past’.

According to reports, more than 200 police personnel were injured, some of them grievously, when the ‘Sansad Chalo’ march helmed by Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) turned violent, leading to stone-pelting and violence against the police by the protesting groups, which, as reports, were infiltrated by miscreants and those with criminal antecedents.

As the families of Delhi Police personnel injured in violent clashes during the July 20 students’ stir demanded justice in the press conference, the issue also snowballed into a political controversy with Congress and BJP firing salvos at each other.

A noted Opposition leader accused the government of hatching a plot to pit cops against the students to deflect attention from the brutality inflicted on them, while BJP’s Ravi Shankar Prasad questioned the former’s sensitivity regarding police and their families.

Speaking to the media, Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “The attack on police personnel and the injuries they sustained is a matter where we should show sensitivity. They also have families, they also have children, and they also have human rights.”

“We respect the youth, but if criminals are involved behind such protests and are involved in attacking police personnel, then it raises serious questions,” he stated.