Aussie-Indian man pleads guilty to unruly behaviour on Air Canada flight
Darpan News Desk IANS, 01 Mar, 2023 01:03 PM
Melbourne, March 1 (IANS) An Australian-Indian man pleaded guilty to one count of behaving in an offensive and disorderly manner in an aircraft, and was fined AUS$750 by a local court this week.
Hardik Patel, 46, from Rooty Hill in western Sydney, became aggressive and abusive onboard a 15-hour Air Canada flight from Vancouver due to heavy drinking, and was arrested upon his arrival at Sydney Airport earlier this month, the Daily Mail reported.
The Air Canada crew found one litre bottle of Bacardi and a water bottle containing a liquid smelling strongly of alcohol with Patel. The crew confiscated the bottles as according to the Civil Aviation and Safety Authority, airline passengers can only consume alcohol provided by cabin crew during a flight.
The crew reported that Patel had then become aggressive shortly before AC33 from Vancouver touched down.
The Australian Federal Police officers, who arrested Patel, observed he had a "flushed face and a strong alcohol odour".
According to a statement of facts submitted in the court, Patel "had poor ability to understand instructions and indifferent demeanour, which escalated to being abusive towards police".
When the police told him that it is an offence to consume one's own alcohol in an aircraft, Patel's responses were "largely aggressive and incoherent", the Daily Mail reported.
He continued to ask police why he was arrested and "became more verbally aggressive and argumentative towards police officers, yelling and screaming and trying to engage with members of the public," the report said.
The police then decided to take Patel into custody "for his own safety and welfare and the welfare and safety of those around him", the statement submitted to the court said.
The Downing Centre Local Court on Monday convicted Patel and fined him AUS$750.
While Biden has previously blamed Afghans for the U.S. failure to get out more allies ahead of this month's sudden Taliban takeover, U.S. officials told The Associated Press that American diplomats had formally urged weeks ago that the administration ramp up evacuation efforts.
In a statement on Friday, the U.N. health agency said the new scientific group would provide the WHO with an independent analysis of the work done to date to pinpoint the origins of COVID-19 and to advise the agency on necessary next steps. The experts will also provide guidance on critical issues regarding the potential emergence of other viruses capable of triggering outbreaks, such as MERS and Ebola.
During their first press conference on Tuesday the Taliban pressed the right button-backing women's rights. But their promise of protecting women's rights had an important nuance: Women will enjoy freedoms but within the ambit of "Islamic law" .
A contingent of persons from the Hindu and Sikh communities who are stranded in Afghanistan were provided reassurance of safety by the Taliban, media reports said. Over 300 Hindus and Sikhs are reportedly taking shelter at the Karte Parwan Gurudwara in Kabul.
We need humanitarian supplies. The refugee situation we updated you with last week and the week before has only deteriorated. We have 300,000 internal refugees and 80,000 children who are without shelter and food. Where we were short of supplies, now we are out.
Nikita Ishchenko, a spokesman for the Russian Embassy in Kabul, was quoted as saying by RIA: "Four cars were full of money, they tried to stuff another part of the money into a helicopter, but not all of it fit. And some of the money was left lying on the tarmac."
