Tamil Nadu BJP chief among new Governors appointed in 5 states

Washington, Jan 2: The number of people killed in large commercial airplane crashes fell by more than 50% in 2019 despite a high-profile Boeing 737 MAX crash in Ethiopia in March, a Dutch consulting firm said on Wednesday. Aviation consulting firm To70 said there were 86 accidents involving large commercial planes - including eight fatal incidents - resulting in 257 fatalities last year. In 2018, there were 160 accidents, including 13 fatal ones, resulting in 534 deaths, the firm said.

To70 said the fatal accident rate for large airplanes in commercial passenger air transport was just 0.18 fatal accident per million flights in 2019, or an average one fatal accident every 5.58 million flights, a significant improvement over 2018. The fatality numbers include passengers, air crew such as flight attendants and any people on the ground killed in a plane accident

Large passenger airplanes in the study are aircraft used by nearly all travelers on airlines worldwide but excludes small commuter airplanes in service, including the Cessna Caravan and some smaller turboprop airplanes, according to To70.

On Dec. 23, Boeing's board said it had fired Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg after a pair of fatal crashes involving the 737 MAX forced it to announce it was halting output of its best-selling jetliner. The 737 MAX has been grounded since March after an October 2018 crash in Indonesia and the crash of a MAX in Ethiopia in March killed a total of 346 people.

To70 said the aviation industry spent significant effort in 2019 "focusing on so-called 'future threats' such as drones." But the MAX crashes "are a reminder that we need to retain our focus on the basics that make civil aviation so safe: well-designed and well-built aircraft flown by fully informed and well-trained crews."

The Aviation Safety Network said on Wednesday that, despite the MAX crash, 2019 "was one of the safest years ever for commercial aviation." The 157 people killed in March on Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 accounted for more than half of all deaths last year worldwide in passenger airline crashes.

Over the last two decades, aviation deaths around the world have been falling dramatically even as travel has increased. As recently as 2005, there were 1,015 deaths aboard commercial passenger flights worldwide, the Aviation Safety Network said.

Last week, 12 people were killed when a Fokker 100 operated by Kazakh carrier Bek Air crashed near Almaty after takeoff. In May, a Russian Sukhoi Superjet 100 aircraft caught fire as it made an emergency landing at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport, killing 41 people.

The figures do not include accidents involving military flights, training flights, private flights, cargo operations and helicopters.

New Delhi, May 26: The in-fighting among the residents of housing societies over feeding of stray dogs is nowhere near ending, with yet another attack on a pregnant Russian woman again in the national capital region this time in Noida.

The Russian woman residing in a condominium in Noida's Sector 71 was allegedly attacked by two men for feeding foundling canines inside the complex.

"We have initiated an inquiry and a case has been registered against the men for voluntarily causing hurt and criminal intimidation," Amit Kumar Singh, Station House Officer of Phase 3 police station told IANS.

The police said that the victim is married to an Indian man and they live in that society.

The issue was raked up on social media by one of the residents of the society. Her post had even solicited a response and help from the Noida Police Commissioner.

Kaveri Rana Bharadwaj wrote, "Mob led by Vikas Sharma, and Mr. Chauhan beat up a pregnant woman in Jagriti Apartment, Sector 71 Noida. Request you to immediately arrest these men and provide security to the scared woman!"

When contacted, a member of the Resident Welfare Association (RWA) of the society said that the allegations levied by her are false and that he, along with a handful of other people, had only asked her not to feed the dogs.

Vikas Sharma divulged, "The woman was called at the society gate by the members of the RWA. When she was asked not to feed the street dogs, she became aggressive, started fighting with the residents of the society and even pushed a 70-year-old woman. The complaint that she registered against us is false. We did not even touch her."

He added that there are 70-80 street dogs in the society who have lately become extremely aggressive. "The lady was asked not to feed them as people feared stepping out of their houses and getting bitten."

In another incident on Tuesday, a Greater Noida man beat up a Chinese woman for allegedly fostering a stray dog which bit his canine.

Greater Noida District Commissioner of Police Rajesh Kumar Singh told IANS that the man named Amar Pratap Singh of ATS Paradiso misbehaved with the woman after his dog was bit by another dog who she used to feed every day.

The incident happened in the wee hours of the day when the accused took his dog out for a walk. "After his dog was bitten, in a fit of rage, he misbehaved with the Chinese woman." A Non-Cognizable Report (NCR) has been registered and no arrests have been made so far, the police said.

Jun 19: Ten Indian Army soldiers including four officers were released by the China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) on Friday capping three days of hard negotiations that followed the bloody battle at the eastern Ladakh’s Galwan valley on Monday.

The 10 jawans returned around 5.30 PM on Friday to Patrol Point 14 (PP-14) after Indian team leader Major Gen. Abhijit Bapat, the commanding officer of the Third Div made it clear to the Chinese that there couldn’t be any progress in the disengagement talks unless the soldiers were returned safely.

Asked to comment on the release of Indian soldiers, the Indian Army maintained silence. The force released a brief statement on Thursday stating that all its men were accounted for.

However, the extent of the brutal clash can be gauged from the fact that 76 Indian Army soldiers are still in the hospital out of which 58 soldiers have “minor injuries” and “should be back on duty within a week”, according to Army sources.

Return of the Indian soldiers has been the main point of negotiations for the last two days. The situation is now calmer at areas near PP-14 in the Galwan valley after the return of Indian soldiers even though large numbers of troops from both sides are still present in the area.

Meanwhile analysis of satellite images has revealed a large presence of Chinese troops in the northern banks of Pangong Tso, a disputed territory for years.

“In the past month, Chinese forces have become an overwhelming majority in the disputed areas (on the north bank of the 135 km long lake). Significant positions have been constructed between Fingers 4 and 5, including around 500 structures, fortified trenches and a new boat shed over 20 km further forward than previously. More structures appear to be under construction,” says a report published in the Strategist, the journal of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.

“The scale and provocative nature of these new Chinese outposts is hard to overstate: 53 different forward positions have been built, including 19 that sit exactly on the ridge line separating Indian and Chinese patrols,” says the report, accompanied by satellite images showing overwhelming PLA presence.

The June 6 Corps Commander level meeting between the Indian and PLA armies did not result in a solution to the contentious muscle flexing by the Chinese on the shores of the Pangong lake. The meeting ended with the conclusion that more Lt Gen level talks between the two armies were needed to resolve such issues.