CAG submits report on DND Flyway to SC
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has submitted its report on the Delhi-Noida-Delhi Flyway, the road that connects Noida to south Delhi, to the Supreme Court which will decide whether the Rs 25 per entry charge on cars and Rs 12 on two-wheelers should continue. A senior CAG official said the report was submitted to the SC before the extended deadline ended late last month, but refused to divulge details. In October last year, the Allahabad High Court had scrapped toll on the DND Flyway, observing that the private company had recovered the construction and maintenance costs besides 20% operating profit long ago. The court found no merit in the private operator’s argument of “under-recovery” of an escalated cost that increased substantially each year as per its “agreement” with the authority. The SC refused to stay Allahabad HC’s order but asked the CAG to conduct detailed scrutiny of the company’s accounts and review its agreements with the Noida authority that guided the cost and revenue determination. The auditor has looked into the agreements signed by the private operator and the Noida authority towards construction and maintenance of the toll road. The CAG, besides its analysis on revenue collection, has looked into other aspects of the project such as long-term maintenance of the flyway to prevent accidents when it becomes a toll-free expressway. According to the financial statements submitted before the Allahabad HC, the toll bridge company had claimed that it had “recovered Rs 810.18 crore from toll income from the date of commencement of the project till March 31, 2014”. After deduction of operating and maintenance expenses and income tax, the private operator generated a surplus income of Rs 578.80 crore, according to an affidavit submitted by the company. The HC, before rejecting the plea of the company to continue toll, noted that the operator had earned an additional revenue of Rs 300 crore from toll fee between April 2014 and September 2016. This was in addition to Rs 810 crore toll fee it had earned till 2014. “We are, therefore, more than satisfied that the concessionaire cannot now recover user fees from commuters of the Noida toll bridge i.e. DND Flyway,” the HC had observed in its judgment of October 26, 2016. LaDainian Tomlinson Authentic Jersey
UP to repair 85,943 kms of highways in next two months time
Uttar Pradesh Government today announced that by June 15 next, around 85,943 kilometers of roads including national Highways, state highways and others would be repaired at a war footing. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has instructed the state PWD department that the officials would be punished if it was found damaged after repair again during the monsoon. The issue was taken up in the state cabinet meeting here today chaired by the CM. “Against the total 2,25,825 kilometers of highways in the state, around 85,943 kms of road are in bad shape”, said a survey done by the PWD department for which funds would be allotted by the government soon. In another decision, the government allowed relaxation to those who appear for the Provincial Civil Services (PCS) of 2013 batch and they could now twice in the exams. It will benefit around 40,000 youths in the state, said government spokesperson and UP minister Sidharthnath Singh. The government has also approved the state’s share of 40 per cent in the development works in 7 districts on the Indo-Nepal government as per the changed norms. In order to prevent the deadly Japanese Encephalitis (JE) and Acute Encephalitis syndrome (AES) prevailing in 37 districts of the state, the government has prepared a strategy to counter it in this monsoon season. “Already the officials had held video-conferencing with all the CMOs and SMSs while the doctors of all the Primary Health centres and Community Health Centres would go for a training at the BRD Medical college hospital in Gorakhpur to aware them about the killer disease,” Mr Singh, who is also the state health minister said. He said that already fogging has started in the affected areas during the past one week, while 10 beds have been increased in all the district hospitals for the JE and AES patients besides ministers and officials have been asked to visit the disease prone areas to monitor the preventive measures. Meanwhile, the CM also instructed the concerned department to monitor drinking water facilities during the summer season. State minister Mahendra Singh has been asked to visit Bundelkhand region to review the supply of drinking water to human being and animals while state urban development minister Suresh Kumar Khanna has been asked to monitor the drinking water supply in the urban areas. Jon Casey Womens Jersey
Govt sets up inter-ministerial panel to monitor UDAN
The government has set up an inter-ministerial committee to monitor the regional air connectivity scheme UDAN which seeks to make flying affordable by connecting unserved and under-served airports. Besides, the panel would be responsible for coordination among stakeholders, including state governments, for “time bound” implementation of the scheme. The Civil Aviation Ministry has already awarded 128 routes connecting 70 airports to five airlines, including SpiceJet and an Air India subsidiary, under the scheme UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik). Chaired by Civil Aviation Secretary, the ‘Inter-Ministerial Monitoring-cum-Coordination Committee’ would have representations from the ministries of finance, defence, home as well as petroleum and natural gas, as per a notification. Airports Authority of India (AAI) Chairman, representatives from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), BCAS (Bureau of Civil Aviation Security) apart from officials of airlines and states concerned would also be part of the panel. If required, the panel’s chairperson can co-opt any officer or expert, according to the notification issued by the Civil Aviation Ministry. The committee would be responsible for “overall monitoring of the schemes of promotion of regional connectivity by way of revival of unserved and under-served airports/airstrips and RCS-UDAN”, it added. In the flights operated under RCS, around 50 per cent of the seats would have a fare cap Rs 2,500 per seat/hour. In the flights operated under RCS, around 50 per cent of the seats would have a fare cap Rs. 2,500 per seat/hour. Apart from various incentives, the operators of such flights would be extended viability gap funding — for which money is partly raised through a levy of up to Rs. 8,500 on flights operating in major routes like Delhi and Mumbai. The viability gap funding would be in place for three years for the airlines concerned from the date of starting operations in a particular UDAN route. Other benefits include zero airport charges for the operators and three—year exclusivity on the routes. Delano Hill Jersey
Govt sets up inter-ministerial panel to monitor UDAN
The government has set up an inter-ministerial committee to monitor the regional air connectivity scheme UDAN which seeks to make flying affordable by connecting unserved and under-served airports. Besides, the panel would be responsible for coordination among stakeholders, including state governments, for “time bound” implementation of the scheme. The Civil Aviation Ministry has already awarded 128 routes connecting 70 airports to five airlines, including SpiceJet and an Air India subsidiary, under the scheme UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik). Chaired by Civil Aviation Secretary, the ‘Inter-Ministerial Monitoring-cum-Coordination Committee’ would have representations from the ministries of finance, defence, home as well as petroleum and natural gas, as per a notification. Airports Authority of India (AAI) Chairman, representatives from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), BCAS (Bureau of Civil Aviation Security) apart from officials of airlines and states concerned would also be part of the panel. If required, the panel’s chairperson can co-opt any officer or expert, according to the notification issued by the Civil Aviation Ministry. The committee would be responsible for “overall monitoring of the schemes of promotion of regional connectivity by way of revival of unserved and under-served airports/airstrips and RCS-UDAN”, it added. In the flights operated under RCS, around 50 per cent of the seats would have a fare cap Rs. 2,500 per seat/hour. Apart from various incentives, the operators of such flights would be extended viability gap funding — for which money is partly raised through a levy of up to Rs. 8,500 on flights operating in major routes like Delhi and Mumbai. The viability gap funding would be in place for three years for the airlines concerned from the date of starting operations in a particular UDAN route. Other benefits include zero airport charges for the operators and three—year exclusivity on the routes. Ted Ginn Jr Jersey
Dubai seeks open sky policy for North East
Dubai has requested India to give unrestricted access to airports in the Northeast for its airlines, Emirates and flyDubai. This is the first time that any country has sought an open sky policy for only a specific part of India. “We are keen to have our airlines operating to the North East region (NER) of India. We request you to extend an open sky to NE airports such as Guwahati, Dibrugarh, Tezpur, Jorhat, Bagdogra, Aizwal, Imphal, Silchar, Agartala and the new airport coming up in Gangtok besides any other,” Dubai Civil Aviation Authority head Mohammed Ahil wrote to aviation secretary R N Choubey recently”. Union minister of state for civil aviation Jayant Sinha confirmed having received the request and the government is yet to take a view on it. Dubai, which has the highest flying rights to India, has been trying for some time to get more bilaterals. However given the adverse comments made by CAG for the UPA regime due to the liberal flying rights to Dubai, the NDA is treading the issue with caution. The Modi government, in fact, tied up granting more flying rights to Dubai to Indian carriers getting prime slots at the Dubai airport. Bob Gibson Authentic Jersey
Petrol, diesel prices to change daily from May 1
Come May 1, petrol and diesel prices will change every day in sync with international rates, much like what happens in most advanced markets. State-owned fuel retailers Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL), which own over 95 per cent of nearly 58,000 petrol pumps in the country, will launch a pilot for daily price revision in five select cities from May 1 and gradually extend it to all over the country. “Ultimately, we will be driving towards market linked rates on a daily basis at all pumps across the country,” IOC Chairman B Ashok told PTI. A pilot for daily revision of petrol and diesel price will be first implemented in Puducherry, Vizag in Andhra Pradesh, Udaipur in Rajasthan, Jamshedpur in Jharkhand and Chandigarh, he said. State fuel retailers currently revise rates on 1st and 16th of every month based on average international price of the fuel in the preceding fortnight and currency exchange rate. Instead of using fortnightly average, pump rates will reflect daily movement in international oil prices and rupee— US dollar fluctuations. “It is technically possible to change rates daily but we have to first do a pilot. Once pilot is done and its implications studied, we will extend it to other parts of the country,” he said. While Ashok said the pilot is to be “launched within one month” and did not give a specific date, industry sources said the pilot is planned to be launched on May 1. Daily price change will remove the big leaps in rates that need to be effected at the end of the fortnight and consumer will be more aligned to market dynamics. While petrol price was freed from government control in June 2010, diesel rates were deregulated in October 2014. Technically, oil companies have freedom to revise rates but often they have been guided by political considerations. Rates differ by only a few paise between pumps of the three state fuel retailers. Unbranded petrol at IOC pumps in Delhi costs Rs. 66.29 per litre, while the same at BPCL pumps in the city is priced at Rs. 66.37 a litre. HPCL pumps sell for Rs. 66.48 per litre. Unbranded diesel at IOC pumps in Delhi costs Rs. 55.61, Rs. 55.66 at BPCL outlets and Rs. 55.69 a litre at HPCL pumps. With daily changes, which are unlikely to be more than few paise per litre, the political pressures for not revising rates particularly when they are to be hiked will go, sources said. Petrol price was last revised downward by Rs. 3.77 a litre on April and diesel rates were cut by Rs. 2.91. This was the first revision in two—and—half—months as oil firms did not change prices during assembly elections in five states, including Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. Ashok said prices of petrol and diesel in a particular market (city or town) will be the same. “By and large, in a particular market it should be same. Though, there might be marginal difference from pump to pump,” he said. Jeff Heuerman Womens Jersey
Air Pegasus seeks DGCA and civil aviation ministry’s nod to resume operation
Bengaluru-based Air Pegasus, which ceased operations in July last year, plans to take flight again with a plane that once flew for the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines. In a proposal submitted to the civil aviation ministry and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the regional carrier has said that it wants to restart operations with an ATR-72 aircraft, which was once operated by Kingfisher Airlines under VT-DKJ registration. The aircraft was first imported by Deccan Airways in 2006. Deccan Airways was later acquired by Kingfisher Airlines, which continued operating this aircraft till it shut operations in 2012. Air Pegasus has also sought approvals from the DGCA to import the aircraft, which is currently at maintenance, repair and overhaul centre in Malaysia. “We have asked permissions for import of aircraft. We will start operations as and when we get the approvals to import the aircraft, as we have the required staff to start operations,” Shyson Thomas, managing director at Air Pegasus told ET. The airline, which had started operations in April 2015, ceased operations due to cash shortage.Its flying licence was suspended in March 2016. The airline has invested Rs 33 crore in restarting operations. Of this, the promoters have infused Rs 13 crore while Rs 20 crore has come from a 30% stake sale. “The new investor is a Bengaluru-based investor. We would not like to name the investor right now,” said Thomas. Mike Remmers Womens Jersey
New rules ensure no United Airlines like situation arises in India
The customer-treatment standards followed by Indian carriers and a new set of rules governing them are likely to ensure that the recent incident of security personnel brutally manhandling a United Airlines passenger in the US isn’t replicated here, said airline executives and industry experts. United Airlines on Monday handled an overbooking situation by brutally off loading a passenger with a security personnel dragging him down the aisle even as he screamed and protested. A video of the assault went viral and led to a massive furore on social media apart from an investigation by the authorities. Such situations do arise in India, but airlines haven’t been known to manhandle passengers even in dire situations. A Jet Airways Mumbai-Bhopal flight last year was delayed by 90 minutes on Friday as a group of 80 passengers — a marriage party — refused to let the aircraft fly as some of them were not allowed to board the overbooked flight. The guests refused to accept the airline’s offer of compensation or re-accommodation on alternative flights and proceeded to hold the flight. But the authorities called the law enforcement officials only as a last resort to intervene to bring the situation under control and let the flight take off. All the offloaded guests were compensated, the airline said. When asked, a Jet spokesman said the airline strictly follows the aviation regulator’s rules in such situations. Last year, the aviation regulator –Directorate General of Civil Aviation — enforced rules that stipulate that an airline has to provide an alternative flight within two hours of the passenger’s earlier flight in case of boarding being denied or flight is cancelled due to the airline’s fault. Otherwise, the airline will have to pay a penalty, which will be three times the base fare charged on the ticket, plus the refund. Senior executives at IndiGo and Vistara said that as a practice they try not to overbook. “However, if we were to run into an overbooked situation due to unplanned schedule disruption, etc., we would accommodate customers in order of check-in. ” As the DGCA reports indicate, we have the lowest denied boarding rate in India, which is predominantly zero. “We would not, under any circumstances, offload a boarded passenger against his will to accommodate anyone,” said a Vistara spokesperson. Adam Thielen Jersey
AAI rejected AI’s proposal to convert dues into equity: Govt
Air India had proposed to convert a part of its total dues towards the AAI into equity besides offering the airport operator a position on its board, the government said today. The proposal was “considered” but not “accepted” by Airports Authority of India, Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Jayant Sinha said in Rajya Sabha. “Air India has proposed to convert Rs 1,000 crore of outstanding dues payable to Airports Authority of India into equity, thereby offering AAI a stake in Air India as well as a position on its board,” Sinha said. The proposal of the national carrier was considered but not accepted by the AAI, he said. “As per the audited annual accounts of AAI, the total outstanding dues of Air India is Rs 1883.73 crore as on March 31, 2016,” the Minister said in reply to another question. Air India, which is staying afloat on taxpayers’ money, owes around Rs 2,300 crore to AAI, a senior official had said last month. These dues are towards landing and parking charges as well as route navigation charges. On earlier occasions, too, the airports operator had rejected similar proposals from the government-owned airline. Air India has been making various efforts to revive its fortunes amid stiff competition. The carrier is surviving on a Rs 30,000 crore bailout package extended by the central government. Matthew Dellavedova Womens Jersey
Railways step up efforts to electrify more routes to save energy cost
Railways have stepped up efforts to electrify 4000 km route in the current fiscal, a quantum jump from the last year’s target of 2000 km. Pace of electrification has gained traction as the railways has rolled an action plan to drastically decrease the use of diesel in order to reduce energy cost and greenhouse gas emission. Currently, only 42 per cent of total track network is electrified, rest section is operating on fossil fuel. Railways energy bill is touching about Rs 32,000 crore a year out of which diesel is about Rs 20,000 crore. With electrification of major rail routes, the energy bill is likely to come down by Rs 10,000 crore. During the last three years (2014-2017) and for 2017-18, total number of 93 railway electrification projects consisting 16,815 route kilometer at an estimated cost of Rs 17,165 crore have been included in the Budget. The pace of electrification has been increased from present average of 1700 km route per annum to 4000 km in 2017-18, a senior Railway Ministry official said. According to the action plan, about 22,000 km route has to be electrified by 2021. Further, to expedite electrification of railway lines in the country, various steps have been taken, which include award of turn-key contracts and better project monitoring mechanism, he said. Railways has also enhanced power of field units for award of contracts including sanction of estimates while increasing the number of executing agencies from existing three to six by entrusting electrification works to new agencies such as Indian Railway Construction Company, Rail India Technical and Economic Services and Power Grid Corporation of India Limited. In order to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, railways has planned to source about 1000 MW solar power as a part of the Solar Mission of Railways and about 200 MW of power from wind mill power plants based on techno commercial assessments. Darnell Nurse Womens Jersey