Bangalore airport turns into a ‘Playport’ for travellers
Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL) has announced the commencement of ‘Playport’, a fun customer engagement activity, designed specifically for the holiday passengers who pass through the airport in larger numbers during this time of the year. The concept revolves around turning Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru (KIAB) into a playground where children have fun and experience the airport in a whole new way. Based on the theme of ‘Then & Now’, Playport strives to enhance the experience of travellers through a series of fun activities and visuals that showcase the games of yesteryears combined with the latest digital gadgets. Passengers can enjoy a life-size Hopscotch, Snakes & Ladders alongside PSP and Xbox games and even send a post card to their loved ones right at the airport. Additionally, magic shows, balloon sculpturing, tattoo artists, upcycled goods workshop and other exciting activities will be a part of Playport. This on-ground activity will be on till 15th May. Tom Seaver Womens Jersey
Airlines have hiked ticket cancellation charges, says Mahesh Sharma
An analysis has showed that there has been an increase in cancellation charges for air tickets, Union Minister Mahesh Sharma said on while emphasising that airfares are not regulated by the government. In a written reply to Lok Sabha, he said cancellation charges are not fixed and varies from Rs 1,500 to 100 per cent fare of the ticket depending upon the class, price level and time before departure. “Analysis on the increase of the cancellation charge was carried out and it was found that there was increase in cancellation charges. Cancellation charges are not fixed,” Sharma said. The Minister of State for Civil Aviation was responding to a query on whether the ministry has taken note of steep hike in cancellation charges by airlines. However, he did not provide details on whether aviation regulator DGCA has taken any action on the matter. “Airfares are not regulated by the government. With the repeal of Air Corporation Act in March 1994, the provision of fare approval was dispensed with by the government, including charges for cancellation,” Sharma said. In recent times, many local carriers have increased the charges for cancellation of air tickets. Last month, taking note of domestic airlines increasing ticket cancellation fees by a significant amount, aviation regulator DGCA last month sought an “explanation” from the carriers on the rationale for such a steep hike. Jamar Taylor Authentic Jersey
India’s domestic air passenger traffic grew by 27% in March: IATA
India’s domestic air passenger traffic grew more than six times of the US’ domestic travel demand in March, according to International Air Transport Association (IATA). The IATA passenger traffic data, released today, for the month of March 2016 shows a growth of 27.4 per cent in India which is over six times more than the growth of the second highest market–the US at 4.1 per cent. Globally, the overall domestic demand rose 3.7 per cent in March this year compared to March 2015, driven primarily by performance in the two largest markets, the US–which accounts for two of every five domestic passengers–and China, it said. However, India accounted for only 1.2 per cent in the over all global domestic traffic. According to IATA, March performance shows a moderate slowdown on the year-on-year growth rates recorded in January (7.2 per cent) and February (8.6 per cent) even after adjusting for the leap-year impact in February. Demand for international traffic grew significantly more quickly (6.2 per cent) than that for domestic travel, it said. “While in line with long-term trends, demand growth in March represented a slow-down compared to January and February. It is premature to say whether this marks the end of the recent very strong results,” IATA Director General and Chief Executive Officer Tony Tyler said. IATA expects further stimulus in the form of network expansion and declines in travel costs, he said, adding however, the wider economic backdrop remains subdued. Although India has been growing constantly, the difference between the two markets is significantly vast for the month of March 2016. Growth in the India’s domestic market is being propelled by the comparatively strong economic backdrop as well as sizable increase in services, it said. According to IATA, the average flight frequencies within India are expected to go up by 11.5 per cent year-on-year in this year. IATA also said India’s annual domestic revenue passenger kilometers (RPK) growth rate has now been in double digits for 19 consecutive months. The combination of such rapid growth in India and slower (even negative) growth in other similarly-sized domestic markets has seen India overtake the others in terms of seasonally adjusted domestic RPKs over the past year or so, most recently Brazil, which it surpassed in March, it said. Riley Dixon Authentic Jersey
Air India scandal: Officials, ex-minister Praful Patel were paid bribes
Even as the scandal of AugustaWestland VVIP chopper involving bribery and corruption by high-level officials for purchasing a new fleet of helicopters continues to rock Parliament, new details have emerged in a similar scandal involving a Union minister under the UPA rule who was let off by the office of then Prime Minister on flimsy grounds. An investigation by Zee News (sister concern of dna) has thrown new light into the bribe and bid rigging scandal involving former civil aviation minister Praful Patel and a contract for Air India’s facial recognition software with Canadian firm Cryptometrics. The Ontario court in Canada in 2014 convicted India-born Candian businessman Nazir Karagir for offering bribes to Air India officials and Patel to win the contract worth US$ 100 million. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2012 cleared Patel’s name after examining the matter at the minister’s behest. According to the letter written by Patel to the PM, the tender remained “inconclusive and was scrapped virtually at the inception and no follow-up action was taken in this regards”. Documents obtained by Zee News reveal that the deal with the Canadian firm was taken forward in meetings and communication, almost a year after the tender in question was allegedly scrapped, and that money was paid from foreign shores to Air India officials to influence the contract in favor of the Canadian firm. The case dates back to 2006, when Air India floated tenders for Biometrics Passenger Indetification System for Air India flights. M/s Cryptometrics, Canada was one of the two parties who qualified in the technical bid and even called for price negotiation discussions with Air India officials. Contrary to Patel’s defence that the project was scrapped and never followed up, Zee News has found that the tender in question was recommended by Air India Tender Committee in September 2006 to award the contract to Cryptometrics Canada at the cost of US $105,000,000. A copy of the tender available with Zee News shows that the Cryptometrics was to recover the cost of the $100 million project from flight passengers (approximately 50,000,000 for period of five years) at no extra cost to Air India. Even before the tender was floated in February 2006, Karigar approached officials from Cryptometrics posing as a businessman whose firm has done business in India, and discussed the passenger identification solution for Air India using the company’s technology. Karigar indicated that he and his associates had the necessary connections with Air India management and politicians to win the contract, the judgment by Ontario court notes. The judgment also points out that after convincing officials at Cryptometrics of the deal, Karigar played his role as an agent between the Candian firm and Air India officials as well as the miniser of civil Aviation to help the firm win the contract. Email communication between Karigar and Mario Berini, the chief operating officer for Cryptometrics Canada, reveals that as a part of the deal $200,000 were transferred from Cryptometrics USA to the bank account of Deputy Director of Security, Air India Captain Mascarenhas who was also the co-chair of the selection committee for the project in Mumbai on 21 June 2006. After Cryptometrics was shortlisted in August 2006, Karigar sought another $5000 for the Chairman and Managing Director, Air India who was to be in New York. Vasudevan Thulasidas who was the CMD at the time, told Zee News that he never asked or received any money in New York or elsewhere from Karigar or his representatives. “After a detailed examination (of the biometric proposal), it was I who decided to not go in for such a system,’’ he said in an email reply. The project it seems was, however, not dropped. The court judgment further details events in 2007 where Karigar sent an email to the Berini saying that he had `met with PP’ (Praful Patel) and they discussed the ìncrements’ that the project would be cleared right away. Around May, Karigar admitted to have paid Minister Patel a bribe through an agent in order to clear the process and obtain the Air India contract for Cryptometrics. Although the amount or the identity of the agent is not known, Karigar has said that government figures would get “up to 8 per cent of the value of a contract as a bribe payment.’’ When the file did not move forward, on July 12,2007, in an email sent by Karigar to Berini, he wrote: “After PP took the money, I thought all was done and went ahead… I guess by now you know why Patel has the Cryptometrics project on hold.’’ Finally in August, Karigar decided to report the case annonymously to the Fraud Section (FCPA) of the US department of Justice informing them about US citizens paying bribes to foreign officers. Karigar was sentenced to three years in prison for arranging bribes to public officials in India by the Ontario court in 2014. When contacted by Zee News for his response that contrary to the information given by him that the bio metric project was scrapped and the evidence by the judgment of the Candian court that bribes were paid to win the contract, Patel dismissed the allegation as “bogus.’’ Once again reinforcing that the tender was “scrapped’’, Patel said that such tenders are dealt by Air India and never come to the ministry. “This gentleman (Karigar) has misused my name and may be of others to cheat his company and court verdict says it could not be proved or verified about my involvement.’’ Patel added that when the matter first came to light in media had written to the PM and asked him to investigate the matter with any agency including the CBI. “The PM wrote back to me after due examination that he was satisfied there was no wrongdoing on my part.’’ Kyler Fackrell Jersey
More than 31 lakh households connected with piped natural gas, says government
Besides the households, 29,993 industrial and commercial units are also currently given piped natural gas across the country. Over 3.1 million households are connected with piped natural gas across the country and efforts are on to expand the city gas distribution networks (CGD), Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Monday. “Government has prioritised domestic gas allocation for CGD entities and has issued guidelines wherein the entire requirement of CGD entities for PNG (domestic) segment is being met through domestic gas,” Sitharaman, replying on behalf of Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, said in Lok Sabha during Question Hour. Ivan Provorov Authentic Jersey
Auction of 67 small oil and gas fields to kick off on May 25
India will kick off an auction of 67 small oil and gas fields on May 25 that will test the response of investors to recent policy measures such as the revenue-sharing model and gas pricing freedom. The Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH), the technical arm of the oil ministry, has announced on its website that oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan will launch the discovered small fields bid round on May 25 in Delhi. “A total of 67 discovered small fields will be offered in 46 contract areas through the new revenue sharing model,” the DGH said in its notice inviting interested parties to register for the launch. Separately, the DGH has sought bids from consultants for promoting the auction at international roadshows meant to showcase fields to potential investors. It has also sought event managers for the roadshows. The auction, the first in about five years in the country, comes after months of delay due to low oil prices, which officials feared may curb interest among potential bidders. Oil prices have dropped about two-thirds in two years, forcing many oil companies to shelve projects and cut jobs. Crude oil prices have increased about 50 per cent in the past three months to trade at about $46 a barrel on May 9 afternoon. Last year, the government unveiled a new policy for 69 small fields that had remained undeveloped for years due to their limited reserves, high development cost and technological constraints. These fields were owned by Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and Oil India Ltd, before being taken away by the government for auction under the new policy. Two fields in the Northeast will not be part of the auction while the balance have been organised into 46 clusters to make them financially attractive as potential investors can build common infrastructure for these fields, keeping costs low. The auction will test some of the key policy changes introduced by the government in the exploration and development sector such as marketing freedom for gas and revenue-sharing, instead of profit sharing, between the operator and the government.