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General Amnesty declared for Tri-Forces absentees

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The Ministry of Defence has declared a month long General Amnesty from April 20 – May 20, 2024 to Tri-Forces absentees, enabling them to receive an official discharge from their respective services.
Accordingly, Tri-Forces absentees will be able to receive their discharge from military service and any financial obligations or amount due should be settled prior to their discharge, the Defence Ministry states, adding that this General Amnesty is applicable to absentees who have been Absent without Leave (AWOL) prior to 02 April 2024.

Absentees who are presently abroad can also obtain discharge without reporting to their respective regiments conforming to following requirements:
          a.    Those seeking discharge should have no pending disciplinary actions taken against them apart from that of being AWOL.
          b.    Should have clearance from the Department of Immigration and Emigration confirming their travel abroad was done with legal documents and not on forged documents or by illegal means.

          c.    It should be noted that this amnesty does not apply to those who had gone AWOL and failed to return to the country after attending foreign courses funded by the government or courses offered to Tri Forces by foreign institutes, and those who had proceeded on diplomatic missions or any other requirements.

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Liquor shops to be closed on Nov. 14 and 15

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The Excise Commission has announced that all liquor shops and wine stores islandwide will be closed on Nov. 14 and 15 for the upcoming general elections.

Officials have been instructed to enforce regulations strictly and address any illegal operations during this period.

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India’s luxury airline Vistara ends operations

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Indian full-service carrier Vistara will operate its last flight on Monday, after nine years in existence.

A joint venture between Singapore Airlines and the Tata Sons, Vistara will merge with Tata-owned Air India to form a single entity with an expanded network and broader fleet.

This means that all Vistara operations will be transferred to and managed by Air India, including helpdesk kiosks and ticketing offices. The process of migrating passengers with existing Vistara bookings and loyalty programmes to Air India has been under way over the past few months.

“As part of the merger process, meals, service ware and other soft elements have been upgraded and incorporates aspects of both Vistara and Air India,” an Air India spokesperson said in an email response.

Amid concerns that the merger could impact service standards, the Tatas have assured that Vistara’s in-flight experience will remain unchanged.

Known for its high ratings in food, service, and cabin quality, Vistara has built a loyal customer base and the decision to retire the Vistara brand has been criticised by fans, branding experts, and aviation analysts.

The consolidation was effectively done to clean up Vistara’s books and wipe out its losses, said Mark Martin, an aviation analyst.

Air India has essentially been “suckered into taking a loss-making airline” in a desperate move, he added.

“Mergers are meant to make airlines powerful. Never to wipe out losses or cover them.”

To be sure, both Air India and Vistara’s annual losses have reduced by more than half over the past year, and other operating metrics have improved too. But the merger process so far has been turbulent.

The exercise has been riddled with problems – from pilot shortages that have led to massive flight cancellations, to Vistara crew going on mass sick leave over plans to align their salary structures with Air India.

There have also been repeated complaints about poor service standards on Air India, including viral videos of broken seats and non-functioning inflight entertainment systems.

(BBC News)

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Special unit to provide updates on SriLankan flight delays

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Minister Vijitha Herath has made a visit to the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in Colombo to look into the complaints received with regards to the delays in SriLankan flights.

During the visit, the minister had visited various sections of the airport while engaging in cordial discussions with the staff.

Minister Herath has emphasized the need to create a special unit representing the airport and SriLankan Airlines at the airport premises to provide passengers with immediate updates on flight delays while operating 24 hours a day and to provide maximum facilities to passengers during the delays.

Also, authorities have been instructed to take measures to minimize these delays.

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