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Govt move to privatise 6 airports: AAI employees begin strike

October 22, 2013
New Delhi, Oct 22: Thousands of employees of Airports Authority of India (AAI) today started a relay hunger strike across the country to protest against the government's move to privatise six airports.

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The employees associated with various unions of AAI have formed a joint forum and started the three-day-long strike in front of the Civil Aviation Ministry at Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan here and at AAI offices across the country.

"We are protesting against the Civil Aviation Ministry's move to privatise six airports of Chennai, Kolkata, Guwahati, Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Lucknow. These were being after the AAI invested crores into modernisation of these airports," said B S Ahlawat, General Secretary of Airports Authority Employees' Union, which is leading the agitation.

The government in early September had decided to allow private parties to pick up 100 per cent equity stake in operation and management of the six airports through the public-private partnership (PPP) mode.

The successful bidder is supposed to enter into partnership with the state-run airport operator AAI on a 30-year lease to operate, manage and develop facilities at these airports. The scope of the project includes the entire airport, including the airside and city side facilities.

Ahlawat said Civil Aviation Ministry's move is unwarranted as employees at the Delhi and Mumbai airports are still to be deployed after both the airports were privatised.

"And the government is again trying to destabilise the employees of these six airports," he said, adding "if they fail to listen to us, then we would be forced to intensify our action by going on strike or gherao of AAI officials."

These six airports have already been modernised by state- run AAI at a high cost to the exchequer. The modernisation of Kolkata and Chennai airports alone has cost the AAI Rs 2,325 crore and Rs 2,015 crore respectively.

The government's move has come under severe criticism from several quarters, including airlines and their global representative body, International Air Transport Association, primarily on the grounds that it would lead to massive hike in airport costs and charges.

Ahlawat said AAI took up the project based on the government's assurance that Chennai and Kolkata terminal won't be privatised and would be managed by AAI.

Chennai and Kolkata are the only two metro airports that are being run by the AAI and has been a major revenue earner.

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Agencies
August 8,2020

New Delhi, Aug 8: Former Union Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy on Saturday said that it is unfair and unfortunate to blame the pilots or the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for the Kerala place crash which took place on Friday evening.

"It is very unfortunate and unfair when experts come under television channel and they try to put blame on the Airports Authority of India or the pilots. Airport authority in an institution which has had survived various tests of time for the last 65 to 70 years, or pre-independence, so it is unfair to blame them," he said.

While speaking to news agency, Rajiv Pratap Rudy said that the 737 Boeing aircraft is reliable and the pilots were experienced, and it was wrong to blame them.

He further said that there are many possibilities on what could have happened, and said, "It is an accident and we need to find the facts."
Rajiv Pratap Rudy also expressed his deepest condolences to the family members of those who lost their lives in the plane crash. "This accident is terrible and heart-rending. 

I offer my deepest condolences to the family members of the captain and first officer, and the families of passengers who died and were injured," he said.

At least 18 people died when a plane carrying 190 passengers came from Dubai met with an accident at Karipur airport in Kozhikode on Friday evening, as per the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

"Eighteen people, including two pilots, have lost their lives. It is unfortunate. 127 people are at hospitals, others have been released," said Puri on the Air India Express flight that crash-landed on Friday evening.

Air India Express Dubai-Kozhikode IX-1344 flight, carrying 190 people on board from Dubai under the Vande Bharat Mission, skidded off the runway at Karipur Airport in Kozhikode at 7.41 pm on Friday in which several people sustained injuries.

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Agencies
July 8,2020

New Delhi, Jul 8: India has reported a spike of 22,752 COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the country's coronavirus tally to 7,42,417 on Wednesday, informed the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Out of the total cases reported, 4,56,830 patients have been cured/discharged from the disease while one patient has been migrated, the Health Ministry informed.

It added that there are 2,64,944 active cases in the country.

482 deaths reported in the last 24 hours due to COVID-19 in the country, taking India's death toll to 20,642.

According to the Union Health Ministry, Maharashtra continues to be the worst affected state reporting 2,17,121 coronavirus cases and 9,250 fatalities.

Tamil Nadu -- the second worst-affected state from COVID-19 -- has a total of 1,18,594 cases and 1,636 deaths due to coronavirus.

While Delhi has a total of 1,02,831 COVID-19 cases including 3,165 deaths.

The Indian Council of Medical Research on Wednesday informed that a total of 1,04,73,771 samples tested for COVID-19 up to July 7. Of these, 2,62,679 samples were tested on Tuesday.

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News Network
March 12,2020

Bhopal, Mar 12: The Madhya Pradesh Congress on Thursday took a dig at Jyotiraditya Scindia, who broke ranks with the party and joined BJP on Wednesday, by pointing out that neither Prime Minister Narendra Modi nor Amit Shah had not even put out as much a tweet to welcome him in the party, and construed it as "humiliation" for the "maharaja".

"Not even a tweet by Narendra Modi-ji or Amit Shah-ji to welcome Scindia-ji! Modi-ji, Shah-ji, at least do not do it so soon. It has not even been 24 hours yet and you guys have already started humiliating him...!" Madya Pradesh Congress tweeted in Hindi.

Taking a jibe at Mr Scindia, a member of the erstwhile royal family of Gwalior who ended his 18-year-long association with the Congress party on a bitter note, the state Congress said: "He is a maharaja, the one whose history is often mentioned by Shivraj-ji (former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan)."

On Wednesday, Jyotiraditya  Scindia joined BJP in New Delhi in the presence of party president JP Nadda. He had resigned from Congress a day earlier after meeting Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Mr Scindia will file his nomination for the Rajya Sabha elections on March 13. He is expected to go to Bhopal today.

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