ClassNotFoundException: org.apache.flink.streaming.api.checkpoint.CheckpointNotifier while consuming a kafka topic

You are mixing versions. A Kafka consumer for Flink 0.10.2 will not work with Flink 1.1.2.

You should use the Kafka connector provided with Flink 1.1.2 and include the following Maven dependency:

<dependency>
  <groupId>org.apache.flink</groupId>
  <artifactId>flink-connector-kafka-0.8_2.10</artifactId>
  <version>1.1.2</version>
</dependency>

Please check out the documentation for details.