Briefly State

Man in critical state after bid at suicide; ex-mayor booked
The Amritsar police have booked a senior Congress leader and former mayor,Sunil Datti,after a youth attempted to commit suicide by burning himself on Wednesday. The condition of 22-year-old Ravi Saini is stated to be critical. He had been admitted in the local civil hospital with serious burns. In his statement to the magistrate,Saini alleged that he was being harassed by Datti,who wanted to grab a piece of land where he had a house. Datti,however,said his name was unnecessarily being dragged into the FIR. “There seems a political vendetta,” he said. The police said they were investigating the factors that led Saini to attempt suicide.

AVM ask Air India to clear stand on Amritsar-London-Toronto flight
Even as Air India’s Amritsar-London-Toronto flight stands re-scheduled from October 31,despite the protests,the Amritsar Vikas Manch (AVM),a local NGO,has asked the airlines to come clear on the actual reasons behind the move. AI officials at Rajasansi International Airport,meanwhile,confirmed that passengers from Amritsar would be flown to Delhi by a smaller aircraft from where they can board their onward flight to London or Toronto. In a memorandum addressed to UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi,Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Minister for Civil Aviation Praful Patel,AVM patron Dr Charanjit Singh Gumtala said this was one of the most profit-making routes served by Air India,according to statistics,adding that rerouting it to Delhi would adversely affect the passengers and cargo business from Amritsar.