Rats on a plane force Air India to ground aircraft

August 6, 2014

Rats on a planeNew Delhi, Aug 6: An Air India aircraft had to be grounded on Monday evening due to the presence of a large number of unwelcome guests who posed a serious threat to the plane — scores of rats.

Rats were observed when the Airbus A-321, flying as AI 021, landed at IGI airport from Kolkata. The crew observed many rats running around in the rear half of the aircraft cabin. As soon as all the passengers alighted, the aircraft was taken out of service. Instead of being prepared for the next flight, this bigger version of the A-320 family of planes was taken to a remote bay for fumigation by central warehousing corporation personnel to eliminate all the rats on board.

Once even a single rat is observed on an aircraft, the plane has to be fumigated. "Rats on board an aircraft can lead to a catastrophe if they start chewing up electric wires of a fly by wire plane. If that happens, pilots will have no control on any system on board leading to a disaster," a senior commander said. What usually prevents such a situation is that passengers inadvertently drop a lot of food on the cabin floor, which keeps rats busy.

The most common way for rats to get on board an aircraft is through catering vans. "This is a universal phenomenon. Rats follow the large storage cases in which food trays are kept. The catering vans are like a home for them as food keeps getting dropped. Rats get on the high lifts that take those storage cases to aircraft and then remain there. This happens across the world," said an official.

Monday's incident, however, has led to concern in airlines as a large number of rats were present in the aircraft. "In-flight caterers must take all precautions in keeping their vans rat-free. All airlines will take up this issue with them," said the official.

The "rat flight" was not the only grounding AI faced on Monday. One of its oldest A-320s was released under minimum equipment list (which means a flight operates with a certain piece of equipment not functional and that has to be replaced within a certain timeframe) from Delhi to Dammam. The aircraft took off but it had to return as the snag persisted. The old generation A-320s are riddled with problems and AI is planning to replace them with brand new A-320s with all economy seating.

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News Network
July 12,2020

Hyderabad, Jul 12: Hyderabad MP and All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Saturday condemned the demolition of a mosque and a temple inside the Secretariat building. He demanded the arrest of the contractor for demolition.
"During the process of demolition of the Secretariat building in Telangana, the mosque and temple were also demolished. The contractor must be booked and should be arrested. The public should know that we condemn this," he said while speaking to news agency.
Pointing out that his party MLAs Akbaruddin Owaisi and Moazam Khan have urged the state Assembly to look into the matter, he added, "We are not against the building of a new Secretariat, but what we asked for is not to destroy these structures during the process."
He welcomed the Chief Minister's announcement regarding the rebuilding of these structures.
"We expect the mosque to be built in the exact same place where it once stood. We expect the Chief Minister to speak to the representatives and meet our expectations and emotions about the mosque," he added.

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News Network
July 10,2020

United Nations, Jul 10: India is a "good example" as solar auctions have seen popularity amidst the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, UN chief Antonio Guterres said on Thursday, underlining that renewable energy is the only energy source expected to grow in 2020 and offers more jobs than the fossil fuel industry.

In his remarks to the International Energy Agency "Clean Energy Transition Summit'', UN Secretary-General Guterres urged the international community to commit to further usage of coal and to end all external financing of coal in the developing world.

"Coal has no place in COVID-19 recovery plans. Nations must commit to net-zero emissions by 2050 and submit more ambitious national climate plans before COP-26 next year," he said.

"The seeds of change are there. Renewable energy is the only energy source expected to grow in 2020. Solar auctions have seen popularity amidst the height of the pandemic. India serves as a good example. Renewables offer three times more jobs than the fossil fuel industry," Mr Guterres said.

Last month, Adani Green Energy said it has bagged the first of its kind manufacturing-linked solar contract worth Rs 45,000 crore from the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) to develop 8 GW electricity generation capacity and 2 GW equipment manufacturing facility in the country.

Mr Guterres said he has asked all countries to consider six climate positive actions as they rescue, rebuild and reset their economies.

"We need to make our societies more resilient. We need green jobs and sustainable growth," he said, adding that bailout support to sectors such as industry, aviation and shipping should be conditioned on alignment with the goals of the Paris Agreement.

Countries also need to stop wasting money on fossil fuel subsidies and place a price on carbon, he said, noting that countries need to consider climate risk in their decision making.

"Every financial decision must take account of environmental and social impacts. Overall, we need to work together," he said.

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Agencies
March 22,2020

New Delhi, Mar 22: The central government on Sunday decided to suspend all metro train services across the country till March 31 in view of coronavirus outbreak.

In a message to managing directors of all metro train corporations, Union Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary Durga Shanker Mishra said this is being done in continuation of suspending metro services during 'Janta Curfew'.

"In view of the current global pandemic of this Corona Virus & for containing its further spread through inter-personal proximity, it has been decided to close down metro rail services on all operational networks across the country till 31 March 2020," Mishra tweeted.

In another tweet, he said by the act of social distancing, people can protect themselves and their dear ones, and win the fight against COVID-19.

India reported three more coronavirus deaths on Sunday, including the first casualty from Bihar, taking the toll to seven and the number of COVID-19 cases rose to 341, officials said.

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