Mumbai airport authorities seize seven Kingfisher planes

December 11, 2012

kingfisher_copy

Mumbai, December 11: Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) has seized seven Kingfisher Airlines (KFA) aircraft for non-payment of airport dues, an official source said Tuesday.

 

MIAL has already served two notices to Kingfisher demanding clearance of dues totalling Rs.53 crore.

 

"Until the long-pending dues are cleared, we shall not let them fly these aircraft, which are in our control," an official told IANS on the condition of anonymity.

 

The dues pertain to parking charges, navigation and other services offered by MIAL in the normal course of airlines operations.

 

Despite repeated attempts by IANS over the past four days, KFA officials failed to give their comments in the matter. The details of the type of aircraft that have been seized were not immediately available.

 

Owned by liquor-king and MP Vijay Mallya, KFA has been grounded since Oct 1 due to financial and labour problems. Later that month, its flying licence was also suspended by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.

 

In view of the resource crunch, KFA has failed to clear its airport dues for the past few months.

 

MIAL has sent at least two notices with specific deadlines to clear the dues, specifiying that it would not permit KFA aircraft to operate from Mumbai airport otherwise, the official said.

 

"Since they have not responded to the dues notice, we have taken control of their aircraft. They will not be permitted to fly till the full dues are cleared," he said.

 

He said the huge space occupied by KFA aircraft could have been better and productively utilised, especially since Mumbai airport was severely short of open space.

 

Discussions are already under way with other private carriers to allocate them the space but a final decision on the matter is pending till KFA clears the dues.

 

KFA problems escalated with the Oct 1 strike call by a section of its pilots and aircraft maintenance engineers over non-payment of salaries and other dues since March.

 

The strike was called off Oct 24 after KFA agreed to clear all the pending dues in a phased manner.

 

According to estimates, KFA has accumulated losses of over Rs.10,000 crore since May 2005.

 

A consortium of 17 lenders, led by the State Bank of India, had set a deadline of Nov 30 for KFA to organise a minimum Rs.5,000 crore working capital before its plea for additional working capital loans could be considered.

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News Network
June 17,2020

New Delhi, Jun 17: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday called for an all-party meeting to be held on June 19 to discuss the situation at the border areas with China.

The virtual conference meeting, presided by PM Modi, will be attended by presidents of various political parties in the country.

"In order to discuss the situation in the India-China border areas, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called for an all-party meeting at 5 PM on 19th June. Presidents of various political parties would take part in this virtual meeting," a tweet by the PMO India read.

At least 20 Indian Army personnel, including a Colonel rank officer, had lost their lives in the violent face-off in the Galwan valley area of Ladakh on June 15.

The violent face-off happened on late evening and the night of June 15 in Ladakh's Galwan Valley as a result of an attempt by the Chinese troops to "unilaterally change" the status quo during de-escalation in Eastern Ladakh and the situation could have been avoided if the agreement at the higher level been scrupulously followed by the Chinese side, India said on June 16.

The Chinese side also suffered casualties, including the death of the commanding officer of the Chinese Unit involved in the violent face-off with Indian troops, sources confirmed to news agency.

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Agencies
July 13,2020

New Delhi, Jul 13: The Land & Development Office, which comes under the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, has sent a notice to news agency PTI, demanding it to cough up more than Rs 84 crore as penalty. The notice dated July 7 says that the penalty has been imposed due to "breaches" at its office in Delhi.

The notice that sought Rs 84,48,23,281 argues that "the less will be pleased to regularise the breaches in the premises temporarily up to 14.07.2020 and withdraw the right of re-entry of the premises subject to the following conditions being fulfilled by you within 30 days from the date of issue of this letter."

The notice also stipulates that the news agency needs to give an undertaking on non-judicial stamp paper stating that it will pay the difference of "misuse/damage charges" if the land rates are revised with effect from 01.04.2016 by the government and will also remove the "breaches" by 14.07.2020 or get them regularised by paying charges.

The notice also warns that further action to execute the deed has to be subject to complete payment and putting the premise to use according to the masterplan.

The Land & Development Office so warned that an additional 10 per cent interest may need to be coughed out by PTI if it fails to furnish the concerned amount within the stipulated time period.

Additionally, if the news agency fails to comply with the terms within the said period, the concession will be withdrawn. In other words, they will have to pay the penalty up to the actual date of payment then and will also be subject to actions.

This stern notice for alleged violations by PTI comes closely on the heels of national broadcaster Prasar Bharati locking horns with PTI over its reportage that it called "anti national".

Prasar Bharti had recently sent a letter threatening to end its "relationship" with PTI after it carried an interview of Chinese Ambassador Sun Weidong, where he blamed India for the India-China violent standoff that saw 20 Indian bravehearts getting martyred.

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News Network
July 21,2020

Lucknow, Jul 21: Madhya Pradesh Governor Lalji Tandon, a veteran political figure in Uttar Pradesh where he had served as a cabinet minister, died at a hospital here early Tuesday.

The 85-year-old was admitted to the hospital on June 11 with breathing problems, fever and difficulty in urination.

He died at 5:35 am in Medanata Hospital, according to his son Ashutosh Tandon, a UP cabinet minister.

Lalji Tandon is survived by wife and three sons.

His body will be kept at his official residence in Hazratganj and later at his Sindhi Tola residence in Chowk to enable people to pay their last respects.

The last journey will start at 4 in the evening for the Gulala Ghat where his last rites will be performed later in the day, Ashutosh Tandon said in a statement.

The UP government has announced three days mourning as a mark of respect to Lalji Tandon, a former cabinet minister, a government spokesman said.

Belonging to the Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L K Advani era of BJP leaders, Lalji Tandon proved himself as an able administrator during his decades-long political career in Uttar Pradesh.

A former Lok Sabha MP, he was later given gubernatorial responsibility.

He took oath as Madhya Pradesh governor on July 29, 2019, when the Congress was in power in the state, after serving in the same post in Bihar for nearly 11 months. 

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