LIVE! AirAsia QZ8501: Singapore frigate, missile corvette join search and locate efforts

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Sun, 28 December 2014

AirAsia QZ8501: Singapore frigate, missile corvette join search and locate efforts

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23:18 AirAsia QZ8501: Singapore frigate, missile corvette join search and locate efforts

Singapore has deployed two more vessels to help in the search and locate efforts of missing AirAsia Indonesia flight QZ8501.

At 11.55 pm on Sunday, Second Minister for Defence Chan Chun Sing sent off the Formidable-class frigate (RSS Supreme) and Missile corvette (RSS Valour) to assist in the mission, the Ministry of Defence said in a statement.

A landing ship tank and submarine support and rescue vessel are also on standby for deployment.

Chan said the close relationship that both countries shared would facilitate the operation.

"I believe that with the strong relationship that Indonesia and Singapore have built up over many years, which transcends all levels from the highest political level to the military commanders, we will be able to work closely and execute the search and locate operation effectively."

The US National Transportation Safety Board is monitoring the situation with missing AirAsia Flight QZ8501 and is prepared to assist Indonesian authorities if needed, a spokesman for the agency, which investigates major transportation accidents, said on Sunday.

The Indonesia AirAsia plane, an Airbus 320-200 carrying 155 passengers and seven crew, lost contact with air traffic control in Jakarta at 6.17 a.m. on Sunday after pilots asked to change course to avoid bad weather during a flight from Indonesia's Surabaya city to Singapore.

The BJP leaders in New Delhi are alleging that IIT Delhi director Raghunath K Shevgaonkar who has quit much before his scheduled retirement date is keen to join the Aam Admi Party.

Rediff.com is unable to double-check the allegations since director is keeping silent, so far.

The morning daily had reported that the director was under pressure from the government to pay dues of Rs 70 lakhs to Subramanian Swamy, BJP leader.

But Swamy denied it saying that it's matter between him and the government.

Also, the court has directed the government to pay Swamy.

Another reason behind his resignation, quoted in daily, was that director was under pressure to allot space to Sachin Tendulkar's proposed cricket academy.

Tendulkar has stoutly denied it. BJP leaders in New Delhi are now claiming that an agreement to start research institute was signed between ministry of HRD and University of Mauritius. It was very limited in nature.

But, the director was, BJP alleges, took more than required interest in the matter and had got permission to go to Mauritius from the UPA government which current regime cancelled.

The view of the ministry is that director is facing allegations of more than required involvement in the said contract.

This was the crux of the problem so, he has resigned.

Police Commissioner M N Reddi said that the IED explosion is a solitary incident and that the public should not panic. He added that the IED was packed with shrapnel which has seriously injured a 32 year old woman.

"The woman was identified as Bhavani and her condition was described as 'critical' by Mallya Hospital," Reddi added.

"The city had received a general alert ahead of the New Year's Eve. The city has been place on alert. We have summoned additional forces and KSRP platoons for additional security," he said.

Dog and forensic squads rushed to the spot and conducted preliminary investigation.

"It was a crowded Sunday and many people were walking towards Brigade Road when the explosion occurred," Reddi said.

"I would like to inform the public that is an isolated incident. No one has been fatally injured," he said.

22:23

Karnataka DGP L Pachau has arrived at Church street where the low intensity blast took place to direct the investigation.

Union Law Minister Sadananda Gowda has also arrived at the spot. Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah is also expected to arrive soon.

In the wake of the blast, Minister of Home Affairs Rajnath Singh has spoken to CM Siddaramaiah.

"Spoke to K'taka CM regarding the Bangalore blast.He apprised me of the situation. Centre ready to provide all help," the HM has tweeted.

The city, which has been on the terror watch for a while, has been put on high alert on account of the blast.

22:23 Cops cordon off area after minor IED blast injures two in Bengaluru

Police Commissioner M N Reddi is on the spot taking stock of the situation after a minor blast shook Bengaluru's Church Street area leaving two injured in its wake.

"We have asked for additional reinforcements from the Karnataka Reserve Force. Due to the proximity of New Year's festivities there have been threat perceptions in general and we have been on alert," Commissioner MN Reddi said.

One of the victims is reportedly an elderly woman who has been critically injured. The other person, a man, is said to be out of danger.The police are yet to say anything on the nature of the blast. Sources said it was a low-intensity blast from an Improvised Explosive Device.

The forensics team has been rushed to the spot.

Additional police forces have been mobilised in the city, where the threat perception had been high in view of the year-end festivities. The area has been cordoned off.

A minor explosion occured at around 8.30 pm outside Coconut Grove restaurant at Church Street in Bengaluru. Two people were injured in the explosion.

Police Commissioner MN Reddi has confirmed that the blast was generated by an improvised device.

He added that the entire police force has been deployed in the area.

Picture for representation only.

After the announcement of awarding Bharat Ratna to former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee the Modi government is likely to award Padma Vibhushan to Lal Krishna Advani, 87, former president of Bhartiya Janta party.

Advani was deputy prime minister in the Vajpayee government in 2002-04.

He has been credited with Ram Janmbhoomi rath yatra, the game-changer event of contemporary politics of India.

The second highest civilian award was instituted in 1954.

Since then only 294 people have got it. Vajpayee had got the Padma Vibhushan award in 1992.

It is "standard practice" for commercial planes to fly around bad weather instead of above it, as it seems to have been in the case of AirAsia flight QZ8501, an aviation expert has said.

Should the plane enter a cumulonimbus cloud, a dense towering cloud associated w thunderstorms, several problems may arise, said Mark D Martin of United States-based firm Martin Consulting.

These include heavy updrafts and downdrafts, and a dramatic loss in altitude, he said.

Read full story here.

AirAsia chief executive Tony Fernandes described the disappearance of QZ8501 from Surabaya to Singapore on Sunday as his worst nightmare.

"I am touched by the massive show of support especially from my fellow airlines. This is my worse (sic) nightmare. But there is no stopping," he said on tweeter @tonyfernandes.

"Our priority is looking after all the next of kin for my staff and passengers. We will do whatever we can," he added.

The Indonesia AirAsia flight with 162 people on board remains missing after losing contact with ground control early on Sunday morning after takeoff from Surabaya on the way to Singapore.

Hot on the heels of the Sunday morning communications failure and subsequent disappearance of the AirAsia flight QZ8501, an AirAsia flight en route to Pulau Langkawi had to turn back due to "technical issues" some 10 minutes after taking off from Penang on Sunday afternoon.

Flight AK6242, with more than 150 people on board, had departed at 4.30 pm from the Penang International Airport Sunday.

Sources said the flight eventually took off again at 6.15 pm and reached its destination at 6.47 pm.

NATO formally ended its war in Afghanistan today, holding a low-key ceremony in Kabul after 13 years of conflict that have left the country in the grip of worsening insurgent violence.

The event was arranged in secret due to the threat of Taliban strikes in the Afghan capital, which has been hit by repeated suicide bombings and gun attacks over recent years.

"Together... we have lifted the Afghan people out of the darkness of despair and given them hope for the future," NATO commander US General John Campbell told assembled soldiers.

"You've made Afghanistan stronger and our countries safer."

An employee was killed and 12 others were injured in an explosion at Anjaneya Alloys inside AP SEZ near Atchuthapuram in the district early this morning.

Excessive gas eruption in a furnace caused the explosion, according to the preliminary probe.

The plant manufactures ferro manganese.

A worker had died at the plant a few months ago after an overhead crane fell on him.

Blaming the management for lack of safety measures, relatives of the injured and some workers staged a protest in front of the factory today.

Forty-seven relatives and friends of 57 passengers on board AirAsia Indonesia flight QZ8501 have registered at Changi Airport's relatives' holding area at Terminal 2.

Arrangements have been made for next-of-kin to travel to Indonesia, said the Changi Airport Group in a statement.

Three Indonesia Air Asia flights were retimed on Sunday because of the incident, it added.

Rescuers searching the Java Sea for the missing AirAsia Indonesia flight QZ8501 with 162 aboard halted their search at nightfall on Sunday and will resume on Monday, Indonesia's transport ministry said.

"We ended at 5.30 pm because it was getting dark. The weather was also not too good as it was getting really cloudy," transport ministry official Hadi Mustofa said.

"Tomorrow we will begin at 7 am, or even earlier than that if the weather is good,' he added.Flight QZ8501, which was travelling from Surabaya to Singapore on Sunday morning, had 155 passengers and seven crew members on board.

There were 155 Indonesians, one Singaporean, one Malaysian, one French, one British and three South Koreans.

Pakistan has rejected calls by UN and EU to revive moratorium on execution of convicts, saying "capital punishment for terrorists does not violate international law".

"Pakistan respects the international community, but the country is passing through extraordinary circumstances, which demand extraordinary measures to be taken," a government spokesman was quoted as saying by Dawn news.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had called Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on December 25 and asked for halting the executions.

"Peaceful Pakistan is in the best interest of the world. Pakistan is cognisant of its obligations under UN Human Rights Conventions/Covenants. Execution of terrorists violates no international law," Foreign Office Spokesperson Tasnim Aslam said on her twitter account.

The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan released a new video accusing the Pakistani Army of attacking the 'Mujahideens' even after using them for "blood game" and "proxy war" in Jammu and Kashmir in the name of "so-called freedom" and in Afghanistan.

The video purportedly of its senior Commander Adnan Rashid, a former Pakistan Air Force official who was involved in an attack on ex-dictator Gen Pervez Musharraf, calls upon the soldiers of Pakistani Army to join the TTP listing the atrocities committed by the force including "killing of millions" and "raping of own sisters" during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971.

In his little over 15-minute long video released before Christmas, Rashid accuses Pakistan Army officers, the "Brahmins" of the force, of treating their juniors as "Shudras".

He also announced a "general amnesty" for all those Pakistani soldiers wanting to join the TTP.

The AirAsia plane that lost contact with Indonesian air traffic control while flying from Surabaya to Singapore on Sunday morning was a six-year-old A320-200 that had carried out some 13,600 flights or a total of about 23,000 flight hours.

The Airbus A320-200 is a twin-engine, single-aisle aircraft that can seat up to 180 passengers in a single-class configuration. the manufacturer said in a statement.

"In line with the ICAO Annex 13 international convention, Airbus will provide full assistance to the French safety investigation authority, BEA, and to the authorities in charge of the investigation,'' said Airbus.

"The thoughts of the Airbus management and staff are with all those affected by Flight QZ8501,'' it added.

During the last 72 hours, 12 farmers from Vidarbha region in Maharashtra committed suicide due to crop losses, Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samittee Chief Kishore Tiwari announced here today.

According to press release issued by Kishore Tiwari, 12 farmers took their lives.

All the farmers belong to the cotton-producing belt of western Vidarbha.

An Indonesian flight attendant, who is listed as working on board the missing AirAsia flight, tweeted a chilling message to the victims of the MH17 disaster, months before his plane disappeared en route to Changi, Singapore.

Oscar Desano from Jakarta, is thought to be one of the seven crew members on board flight QZ8501 which went missing at 7.24 am on Sunday.

'I feel truly sorry for the lost of MH17 by Malaysia Airlines. It's been 2 big catastrophe event for MAS in 1 year. My deep condolences also for the pax's family, may all the casualties rest in peace... Hope everything will be OK also for the internal company of Malaysia Airlines... Amiiinnn...' Desano posted on July 17 this year.

'The four flight attendants on flight QZ8501 are listed as Wanti Setiawati, Khairunisa Haidar Fauzi, Oscar Desano and Wismoyo Ari Prambudi, along with technician Saiful Rakhmad.

Read full story here.

15:28 Bajrang Dal protests against PK

The Bajrang Dal took out protests against the movie PK in Mumbai claiming that the movie insults Hindu gods and goddesses.

The protesters also carried placards stating that Aamir Khan was in collusion with terror groups.

These protests are one of several that have sprung up across the nation after the release of the movie, with right wing groups taking offence to the film.

Yoga guru Baba Ramdev has also voiced his opposition to the movie.

14:38 AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes heads to Surabaya

AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes is heading to Surabaya to lend support for the search and rescue operation for the missing Indonesia AirAsia flight QZ8501.

In his Twitter post, Fernandes confirmed he was going to Surabaya.

"On my way to Surabaya where most of the passengers are from as with my Indonesian management.

"Providing information as we get it," he tweeted.

Read full story here.

Indian Navy has kept three ships and one fixed-wing aircraft (Boeing P8-I) on standby in order to assist the search and rescue operations for missing AirAsia flight QZ8501, sources say.

US President Barack Obama was also briefed earlier on the disappearance of AirAsia flight 8501 on Saturday, said White House spokesman Eric Schultz who added that the US would continue to monitor the situation.

The flight lost contact with air traffic control in Indonesia.

A passenger list from missing AirAsia Indonesia flight QZ8501 has been circulating on the internet, reports straitstimes.com.

The list or manifest, recorded at 9.39 am Indonesia time on Sunday showed that 155 passengers were checked in on the flight -- 68 women and 70 men, 16 children and one infant.

There were several families travelling together on the plane, according to the list.

There were 23 no-shows. Of the no shows, four are children, eight are women, and 11 are men. There were also three infants who did not check in.

Singapore's military planes and vessels are on standby to help with the search-and-rescue operation for the missing AirAsia Indonesia flight QZ8501.

Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen wrote on his Facebook page on Sunday that the Air Force's C130s and Navy ships are on standby.

Read full story here.

Air Asia Indonesia has changed its red logo to grey on its Twitter and Facebook pages, after QZ8501 lost contact with air traffic control on Sunday on its way from Surabaya to Singapore.

There were 155 passengers on board - 138 adults, 16 children and 1 infant - as well as two pilots and five cabin crew, according to the airline. Of the passengers and crew members, 156 are from Indonesia, three from South Korea, and one each from Singapore, Malaysia and France.

Read full story here.

12:29 Malaysia to help in search of AirAsia flight

Malaysia today offered help in the search of missing AirAsia flight which lost contact with air traffic controllers between Singapore and Indonesia this morning.

Prime Minister Datuk Najib Razak said he had not been fully briefed on the aircraft's disappearance, but acknowledged that the country may be facing its third aviation disaster in the year, after the loss of two Malaysia Airlines aircraft in March and July.

"I don't have much detail yet on what happened, but there is a very big possibility that a tragedy has occurred. We will do all we can to help find out what happened," Strait Times quoted Razak as saying.

Flight QZ8501, carrying 162 people, lost contact with Jakarta air traffic control just after 07:24am local time, a transport official told local media. Contact with the plane was lost 42 minutes after takeoff.

There were no Indian nationals on board.

Dense fog in New Delhi today forced Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah to cancel their visit to Jharkhand to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Chief Minister-designate Raghuvar Das.

"Was to travel to Jharkhand to attend the oath taking ceremony of Shri Raghubar Das but am unable to do so due to weather conditions," the Prime Minister tweeted.

"I would like to congratulate Shri Raghubar Das on taking over as Jharkhand CM & convey my best wishes to him," he said.

BJP chief Amit Shah was also to travel but could not travel to Ranchi for the swearing-in ceremony due to dense fog in Delhi.

12:13 Raghubar Das sworn in as the CM of Jharkhand

BJP leader Raghubar Das has been sworn in as the Chief Minister of Jharkhand in Ranchi.

Das is the first non-Adivasi CM of the state.

Along with Das, Nilkanth Singh Munda, Chandreswar Prasad Singh, Chandraprakash Choudhary and Louis Marandi were sworn-in as cabinet ministers.

Senior party leader Venkaiah Naidu was in attendance at the ceremony as well. Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis, Union minister Nitin Gadkari, and Raman Singh were also present.

The BJP emerged as the largest party in the state in the recently conducted assembly elections.

A 34-year-old man was nabbed by Rajasthan's Anti-Terrorism Squad for allegedly circulating emails to 16 ministers threatening terror strikes within the state, a senior police official said today.

The accused identified as Sushil Chaudhary was held for circulating hoax messages impending terror strikes in the state and issuing threat mails to the ministers, officials added.

AirAsia officials have stated that a search rescue operation for the missing flight under the guidance of the Civil Aviation Authority of Indonesia.

Sources say that the last communication with the flight indicated that pilot asked for a diversion, alternate route.

The AirAsia flight QZ8501 lost contact with Jakarta air traffic control just after 07.24 am on Sunday.

Uber taxi services, which has been banned in Delhi after one of its drivers was arrested for allegedly raping a woman passenger, has come up with an 'India specific security narrative', reports CNN-IBN.

They are introducing police and document verification, background checks, incident response team and in-app safety features.

Following is Uber's blog post on the new safety policies and online petition: We appreciate your patience and support over these last few weeks. It's been a difficult time for all involved, including the rider and driver communities in Delhi but we're committed to bringing Uber back stronger and better in order to provide you with the safe, reliable and convenient transportation option that you deserve.

00:12 8 skulls found at school compound in Imphal

NDTV reports: At least eight human skulls and other skeletal remains have been found in the last 48 hours at the construction site of a new market complex in Manipur's capital Imphal.

The site previously housed a government-run school before it was occupied by the central paramilitary forces.

Image: Representation pic

BBC reports: The Turkish man who shot and injured former Pope John Paul II in 1981 has laid flowers on the late pontiff's tomb in the Vatican.

Mehmet Ali Agca told the police he felt he needed to make the gesture, Italian media report. It comes 31 years to the day that the Pope visited Agca in prison and forgave him for the attempt on his life.

Agca served 19 years in an Italian jail for shooting the Pope twice at close range. His motive remains a mystery.

00:07 Jharkhand: JVM rejects BJP's merger offer

The Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajatantrik claimed that it rejected the BJP's offer to merge with the saffron party.

"Our leader Babulal Marandiji went to Delhi after the BJP called him for talks. Around 4 pm, he met BJP President Amit Shah, who proposed him to merge our party with the BJP but Marandiji rejected the offer," JVM-P legislature party leader Pradip Yadav told PTI.

Yadav denied when asked whether there was any talks on JVM providing outside support or joining the BJP-led government, which would be sworn in tomorrow under the leadership of Raghuvar Das. No BJP leader was available for comments.

00:04 Top headlines in last 24 hours

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55 militants killed in airstrikes, gun battle in Pakistan

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