Avoid emergency landings in Pakistan: Indian airlines issue advisory
Indian carriers have asked their pilots operating flights that overfly Pakistan to avoid landing there in an emergency situation. Unless there is an “extreme emergency”, like fire on board, airlines have ‘informally’ told pilots to opt for Muscat or UAE flight information region on westbound flights, or head to Delhi, Mumbai or Ahmedabad on India-bound flights. “Flight despatchers are asking that Pakistani airports be avoided for emergency landings if possible. These instructions have not come in writing but verbally. Making an emergency landing in Pakistan is the last resort for us in an extreme emergency,” said a senior pilot with a leading Indian carrier who regularly operates international flights. Confirming this, a senior commander of another big Indian airline said that such ‘informal’ instructions have been issued in the past too whenever relations with Pakistan have deteriorated, like after the Kandahar hijacking, 9/11 and 26/11. Sources said that for west-bound flights, the closest ‘preferable’ emergency landing airports are in Muscat and UAE, like Dubai, Sharjah or Abu Dhabi. “Iran and Afghanistan, though the immediate neighbours of Pakistan, are considered ‘less of an alternative’,” said a route planner with a leading Indian carrier. In case of the common occurrence of pressurisation failure, for instance, overhead oxygen masks drop.These have oxygen to allow passengers to breathe for 1015 minutes. That is sufficient time for aircraft to descend from their cruising altitude, which is about 30,000ft, to 10,000ft, where oxygen is available and can be pumped into the plane through the AC ducts and “Ram air”. Such planes can then keep flying at the lower altitude to make their way to an alternative airport. Almost all flights from northcentral and east India to and from Gulf, Europe and America fly over Pakistan. While even in aviation ties, the Narendra Modi government has been showing utmost restraint, Pakistan has been constantly imposing restrictions on its airspace and increasing the scope of the same, which has now required Indian carriers overflying it to make changes on some of their international flights. Peter Budaj Womens Jersey
Andhra Pradesh government to ink MoU for improving regional connectivity with AAI
After securing nod for setting up three new airports in Andhra Pradesh, the state government will soon sign an agreement with the Centre and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for enhancing air connectivity under the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) envisaged in National Civil Aviation Policy 2016. The Union Civil Aviation Ministry recently accorded in principle approval to the state government for setting up a greenfield international airport at Bhogapuram, 40-km from Visakhapatnam, and two low-cost domestic airports at Dagadarti in SPS Nellore district and Orvakallu in Kurnool district. The Andhra Pradesh government has floated Bhogapuram International Airport Company Limited (BIACL) as a special purpose vehicle for development of these airports. “The BIACL will enter into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Government of India and the Airports Authority of India for enhancing regional connectivity through fiscal support, infrastructure development and also for establishing an integrated eco-system that will lead to significant growth of civil aviation sector,” Principal Secretary (Energy, Infrastructure and Investment) Ajay Jain has said. He said these developments, in turn, will promote tourism, increase employment and lead to a balanced regional growth. “The primary objective of the RCS is to facilitate and stimulate regional air connectivity by making it affordable through concessions from both central and state governments to reduce the cost of airline operations on regional routes. “Besides, financial support will also be extended by means of Viability Gap Funding to meet the gap, if any, between the cost of airline operations and expected revenues on such routes,” Jain said. While the international airport at Bhogapuram would be developed on a 5311-acre site in public-private partnership mode, those in SPS Nellore and Kurnool districts would be developed as low-cost airports by BIACL. “Tenders have been floated for selection of developers of these three airports and will be finalised soon,” the Principal Secretary added. Y.A. Tittle Authentic Jersey
DGCA studying proposal on providing Wi-Fi in flights: Jayant Sinha
The Civil aviation regulator DGCA is examining a proposal to introduce Wi-Fi service onboard flights to adequately address all the related issues, Union Minister Jayant Sinha said today. Civil Aviation Ministry, in August, had said that security issues were being sorted out for allowing use of Wi-Fi facility in the Indian airspace. “The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is studying the matter to make sure that all considerations are adequately addressed and as soon as that is done, we will issue a statement,” the Minister of State for Civil Aviation said on the sidelines of e India Economic Summit here. Asked about the possible timeline, he said “I don’t have a timeline. The matter is under consideration”. Once approved, the Wi-Fi facility would be available for domestic as well as foreign carriers flying in Indian skies. Currently, Wi-Fi services and phone calls are not allowed on flights flying over the Indian airspace. Globally, many airlines are already offering Wi-Fi for passengers, but they currently have to switch off the facility when they enter the Indian airspace. The Ministry has been pursuing the proposal of permitting use of Wi-Fi in flights on-board for quite some time and various security issues were holding up a final decision on the matter. On August 24, Civil Aviation Secretary R N Choubey had said the ministries of Civil Aviation, Telecommunications and Home Affairs have been working on allowing Wi-Fi use in flights. Generally, Wi-Fi facility for fliers can be provided either through air-to-ground technology or satellite connectivity and the latter will be expensive. Availability of Wi-Fi is also expected to provide local airlines with an additional source of revenues amid stiff competition in the Indian aviation market, which has been witnessing one of the highest passenger traffic growth rates in the world. Jeff Driskel Womens Jersey
Long overdue road projects cleared
The Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways today cleared the long overdue project of four laning of 31.5 km Itanagar to Banderdewa NH-415. Union Road Transport and Highway Minister Nitin Gadkari cleared the project when state Chief Minister Pema Khandu called on him at New Delhi. Gadkari instructed the National Highway authorities to immediately start the work, an official release said here. On the request of the chief minister for maintenance of the roads, Gadkari issued directives to the authorities to repair capital roads on timely manner and make it motorable round the year. The National Highway authorities would repair and maintain the capital roads till the much awaited Itanagar-Banderdewa four lane highway comes up, the release said. In another important development, the ministry agreed for declaration of four roads as National Highways. The roads are Akajan-Likabali-Bame (106 km) in West Siang, Margherita-Changlang road (37 km) in Changlang, Daporijo to Dollungmukh via Dumporijo along the left bank of Subansiri River (125 Km), and Tezu to Chapakhowa via Sunpura. During an hour long discussion, Khandu suggested the ministry to try use of geo-textile technology to tackle landslides issues of hilly roads. The union minister appreciated the suggestion and assured him that such technology would be planned for projects in Arunachal Pradesh on an experimental basis, the release said. Gale Sayers Jersey
‘Rs 5,763 crore project to decongest Delhi to become India’s first green road’
The Rs 5,763 crore Eastern Peripheral Expressway project to decongest Delhi is on fast-track to completion in about “400 days” to become India’s first 135 km green road to be lit entirely by solar panels and have advanced traffic system. The project, which commenced in May, will consume a million tonnes of flyash from NTPC’s various thermal plants to utilise waste and minimise pollution. On completion, the greenfield project that had hit several road blocks and saw laying of its foundation by Prime Minster Narendra Modi in November last year, will divert around 2 lakh vehicles passing through the national capital daily to this bypass, curtailing pollution. “I expect this project to be completed by August next year. Apart from being access-controlled, this will have the best automatic traffic management system, land-scaping, way side amenities etc. This is going to be a boon for Delhi. This will set the pace and the path for many such expressway projects which are greenfield in nature all across the country,” NHAI Chairman Raghav Chandra told PTI. Chandra, who inspected the project sites in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, said all 5 contractors on 6 packages of the project are working day and night giving confidence to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) that the project will be completed much ahead of the Supreme Court deadline that is July 2018. “However, we hope to complete the project in about 400 days,” he said. The expressway passes through Sonipat, Bagpat, Ghaziabad, Gautam Budh Nagar, Faridabad and Palwal in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, and the proposed alignment crosses river Yamuna at Khurrampur/Khata in UP and Faizpur Khadar in Haryana and crosses the river Hindon. Chandra further said: “We require huge quantity of flyash and were lifting the same from NTPC’s Dadri, Badarpur and Panipat thermal plants. Earlier we were permitted to take flyash only between 10 am to 5 pm but given the massive requirement, I had a talk with NTPC Chairman and now we are lifting flyash day and night.” The NHAI Chief said earlier there was resistance from farmers over land and other issues which have been solved and they are being given higher compensation. The Supreme Court has directed police chiefs of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana to provide security for expeditious completion of the project in light of attempts by miscreants and vested interests obstructing the work. “Director Generals of Police, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana have been extending full cooperation and our work is in full swing,” Chandra said. The project work has been divided into six packages – 21-km stretch in Sonepat-Baghpat, 24.5 km stretch in Baghpat- Ghaziabad, 24.5-km stretch in Ghaziabad-GB Nagar, 22-km stretch in GN Nagar, 21-km stretch in GN Nagar-Faridabad and 22-km stretch in Faridabad-Palwal. “There are a total of 390 structures in this project out of which two major bridges are on river Yamuna and one major bridge on river Hindon and Agra Canal,” Chandra said. “There are 8 interchanges, 4 flyovers, 71 vehicle underpasses, 6 RoBs etc. The work has been started on 209 structures including all the four major bridges. There is substantial progress on these,” the NHAI Chief said. There has been a very healthy competition among all the developers — Gayatri Projects, Oriental Structural, Sadbhav Engineering, Jaiprakash Associates and Ashoka Buildcon. Watering for the project will be carried out through dip irrigation to save water, Chandra said, adding, “the entire lighting on the expressway shall be with solar power. There is a close tolling system. The user will have to pay for the distance travelled by him on the expressway. “The advanced electronic toll system will be used for collection. The overloaded vehicles will not be allowed to travel on expressway”. According to data available, NHAI has already transferred Rs 1,530 crore for land compensation. Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has earlier said, “The government is committed to decongesting Delhi. We have set an ambitious target. This is to complete the Eastern and Western Peripheral Expressway in 400 days.” Earlier, the deadline for the project was set as two-and-a-half years. Alexandre Burrows Womens Jersey
NHAI looks to award highway projects of Rs 1 lakh cr in FY’17
The National Highways Authority of India expects to award projects worth Rs 1 lakh crore for constructing about 6,500 km of highways in the current fiscal. “We should be able to award projects for about 6,500 km and costing overall package size for about rupees one hundred thousand crore (in current fiscal),” National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) Chairman Raghav Chandra told reporters here. The government is focussing on accelerating road construction and has taken a number of steps to double the pace at which highways are built in the country. As part of the measures, the road ministry last month asked all its wings to act quickly to resolve disputes ailing the industry, which includes a call for developers to transfer cases under the new Arbitration Act. When asked about arbitration payment norms, Chandra further said that NHAI has requisite funds for it. “The government has assured us full support on that count. NHAI will be making payments for arbitral awards and likewise all other organisations for their respective place and we have certain operating procedures so that these can go through seamlessly and expeditiously,” he added. The Union Cabinet in August allowed contractors to move to the new speedier arbitration process, approved release of 75 per cent of the amount in dispute against bank guarantee and provided for a conciliation board comprising independent domain experts in new contracts. The NHAI Chairman further said that NHAI has not received the formal detailing from the contractors who have these arbitral awards in their favour. “They need to submit bank guarantees and other such papers. So once they come in we will bring it on case by case basis,” he said. Replying to another question, he said that “for next year we are already ensuring that we have enough DPRs (Detailed Project Reports) ready.” There is a lot of work to be done but increasingly these projects are more complex and they require more of complex detailing before could be bid out, he said. “So it is more time consuming but we are certainly moving towards that. We are very positive about action on this front,” he said. When asked how many projects NHAI will award through hybrid annuity model in this fiscal, he said, “We have already awarded about 18 or 19 projects and we intend to bring more.” NHAI has also chalked out a pilot project to end daily traffic snarls on the Delhi-Gurgaon National highway with use of latest digital technologies, including Intelligent Traffic Management system (ITMS), surveillance cameras and other digital devices. “The pilot project of decongesting traffic flow on Delhi-Gurgaon highway will soon be initiated and following its success will be implemented in other parts of the country. To decongest traffic on this stretch of National Highway 8 latest traffic management will be adopted including automatic vehicle, stop line violation detection and sensors that gauge traffic and communicate with stop lights,” Chandra said. Larry Andersen Authentic Jersey
IEX average spot power rate hits 5-mth high in Sept
The average spot power price at Indian Energy Exchange touched a five-month high of Rs 2.43 in September due to higher demand, particularly from industrial units, indicating buoyancy in the manufacturing sector. “The spot price of electricity has been on a slightly higher side in September due to high demand, particularly from industrial units,” an IEX official told . An expert said this is an indication that there is buoyancy in the manufacturing sector, which will eventually push the economic growth this fiscal. Yesterday, the the International Monetary Fund (IMF) projected India’s growth rate in 2016 and 2017 at 7.6 per cent, up from its earlier projection of 7.4 per cent. The average power price was recorded at Rs 2.91 per unit in April this year. It was on the lower side at Rs 2.32, Rs 2.31, Rs 2.16 and Rs 2.17 in May, June, July and August, respectively. The figure went up again to Rs 2.43 per unit in September this year, the highest in the last five months. IEX, in a statement, said the IEX Day-Ahead Market traded 3,630 million units (MUs) in September, the highest ever monthly trade since its inception in 2008. On a daily average basis, 121 MUs were traded, 9 per cent increase over 111 MUs traded last month (August). The open access consumers accounted for about 60 per cent of volume traded while the rest was on account of distribution companies. With average daily sell bids at 8,719 MW and purchase bids at 6,109 MW, the market remained buyer-friendly. The Market Clearing Price (MCP) for the month was very competitive at Rs 2.43 per unit even though overall demand for power was high, IEX said. On September 8, 2016, the highest ever peak demand of 156 GW was recorded in the country. The average Area Clearing Prices (ACP) on the exchange varied to Rs 2.73 per unit from Rs 2.35 across regions. Overall, nearly three MUs were lost due to congestion on a daily average basis. Import of power, especially in the northern region, remained affected due to constraints on the inter-state transmission network. The uniform rate prevailed on four days – September 1, 3, 4 and 12, in line with the One Nation, One Grid and One Price motto of the government. KKS ARD Tomas Nosek Womens Jersey
Dubai airport sets new record
Dubai International Airport has set a record of 7.7 million passengers in August, with India being the top destination country accounting for over 9 lakh travellers, according to a monthly traffic report. It has surpassed the previous record achieved in July. India remained the top destination country (9,24,256 passengers), followed by the UK (584,508 passengers) and Saudi Arabia (535,280 passengers). Passenger traffic at Dubai International Airport (DXB) reached 7,727,105 compared to 7,282,256 in the corresponding month last year, an increase of 6.1 per cent. The year to date traffic totalled 55,850,353 passengers, up 6.9 per cent compared to 52,264,223 in first eight months of 2015. Nick Castellanos Jersey
‘PM vision is to make air travel affordable for all’
Union minister of state for civil aviation Jayant Sinha said the government wants to make air travel affordable for all by introducing a low-fare regime. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a vision: ‘Hawai chappal pahanne wale hawai yatra karenge’ (even people wearing hawai chappal [slippers] could travel by air),” said Sinha while inaugurating the SpiceJet direct daily flight to Kolkata and New Delhi from Gorakhpur here on Tuesday. “Low cost air travel will hasten the pace of development in the region. The vision of the Prime Minister is to enhance air connectivity in the country and make it affordable for common man,” said the minister. “Modi government believes in ‘sabka sath, sabka vikas’. Inclusive growth is the key to real development and air connectivity will enhance the chances of development and prosperity in the region,” Sinha added. He also thanked SpiceJet CMD Ajay Singh for providing low cost air fare to the people. Pat Lafontaine Authentic Jersey
Qualifying norms to bid for Nagpur airport eased
As bids under request for qualification (RFQ) to rope in a private partner for developing Nagpur airport are expected to be received on October 6, a number of conditions have now been eased. The bidders now need not attach a certificate issued by concerned authorities like directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA), statutory auditors, or other concerned agencies certifying their claim on prior experience, which is a key criterion. The airport is currently run by Mihan India Limited (MIL), a joint venture between state government and Airports Authority of India (AAI). Under the RFQ, bidders are shortlisted for further taking part in the tender. Originally, the bids were to be invited on the basis of an upfront amount payable by the private company as well as a percentage share of revenue. Now the bids will be solely on the basis of percentage of revenue to be shared with MIL. The sharing will continue for 30 years. Moreover, the period is extendable. The other amendments mainly relate to the applicants’ experience in operations and maintenance of international airport, cross holding among bidders and assurance of credit line-up. Under the original document, the applicant needed to have a background of running an international airport as per the meaning provided by International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The condition has been done away with. An official in MIL said earlier the RFQ document was drawn on the basis of Navi Mumbai airport. The interested parties had requested that the standard format issued by the planning commission should be adopted, especially for the experience clause. The plea was accepted. Alex Okafor Womens Jersey