Meet Air Commodore Hilal Ahmad Kashmiri, the first Indian pilot to fly Rafale

Agencies
July 30, 2020

New Delhi, Jul 29: Air Commodore Hilal Ahmad Rather has become a buzz name in Kashmir overnight. Hilal saw off the first batch of Rafale jets which took off from France to India on Monday. Among other things, he has also been associated with the weaponisation of the Rafale aircraft for acclimatisation to Indian requirements.

Hilal is presently India's Air Attache in France.

The career details of this officer of the Indian Air Force (IAF) read like the decoration scroll of the best flying officer anywhere in the world.

Born in the south Kashmir's Anantnag district to middle-class parents, Hilal's father, late Mohammad Abdullah Rather retired as a deputy superintendent of police (Dy SP) in J&K police department. He has three sisters and is the only son of his parents. Hilal studied in Sainik School in Nagrota town of Jammu district.

He was commissioned in IAF as a fighter pilot on December 17, 1988, became flight lieutenant in 1993, wing commander in 2004, group captain in 2016 and air commodore in 2019.

He graduated from defence services staff college (DSSC). He also graduated from air war college (USA) with distinction. He won the sword of honour in NDA. Hilal is also the recipient of Vayu Sena Medal and Vishisht Seva medal.

With an impeccable record of 3,000 accident-free flying hours on mirage-2000, MIG-21 and Kiran aircraft, Hilal's name will now forever be associated with Rafale in India.

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News Network
January 5,2020

Dharwad, Jan 5: Hameed Khan, a noted sitar exponent and descendant of renowned sitarist Ustad Rahimat Khan, passed away at his residence here on Saturday night.

He was 69 and survived by wife Fareeda, son Mohsin Khan (a musician) and daughter Arma Khan (an artist).

Hameed Khan taught sitar at Karnatak University’s college of music and also at the family-run music school ‘Bharateeya Sangeeta Vidyalaya’. Several of his disciples who were foreign nationals helped him establish ‘Kalakeri Sangeet Vidyalaya’ at Kalakeri village near Dharwad, which provides music lessons to the deprived.

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News Network
March 10,2020

Mangaluru, Mar 10: Four airports which are run by the Airport Authority of India (AAI), including Mangaluru International airport, have been adjudged among the best aerodromes in the world, winning 10 awards in four different categories at the 2019 ASQ awards.

ASQ is a globally established programme that measures passengers’ satisfaction while traveling through an airport. Airports Council International (ACI), which is an independent agency of airport operators, carries out international benchmarking of aerodromes.

“Four AAI airports — Chandigarh, Mangaluru, Trivandrum and Lucknow — have been adjudged the best in the world in recently announced 2019 ASQ awards. These airports won 10 awards in four categories,” Airports Authority of India (AAI) said in a release here on Tuesday.

The survey measures passengers’ satisfaction across 34 key performance indicators that include eight major categories such as access, check-in, security, airport facilities, food and beverage, retail, airport environment and arrival services.

The four categories in which these airports bagged the best airport awards were size and region, environment and ambiance, customer service and infrastructure and facilitation, as per the AAI.

The survey was carried out at across 356 airports across North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

The survey results are monitored by airport tariff regulator AERA, NITI Aayog, and civil aviation Ministry, the release added.

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coastaldigest.com web desk
January 26,2020

Mangaluru, Jan 26: The Azizuddin Road of Mangaluru’s Bunder area, which had witnessed the brutal killing of two innocent passersby over a month ago, today witnessed the unfurling of Indian national flag by the kin of the police firing victim. 

49-year-old Abdul Jaleel Kandak, a father of two, and 23-year-old Nausheen Kudroli, were killed in an arbitrary and unwarranted police firing during a disturbance occurred due to police baton charge in the city on December 2019. 

A mixed feeling of patriotism and pain prevailed when a group of people gathered on the police firing spot to celebrate the 71st Republic Day of India. Family members of the victims were part of it.

It was Shifani, the daughter of Abdul Jaleel, who unfurled the flag and read out the preamble of the Indian constitution. 

“This is the spot where the constitution of the country was murdered,” said social activist Vidya Dinker, recalling the police firing. “The constitution is being murdered everyday in many states of India. We must regain the constitution and implement it everyday,” she added. 

Journalist Shahnaz M, DYFI leader Imtiyaz BK, SIO leader Talha, NWF leader Shahida Aslam and social activist Shabbir Ahmed were present among others.

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