AERA hikes Bangalore airport charges; IATA opposes the move

June 16, 2014

New Delhi, Jun 16: Airport tariff regulator AERA has fixed Rs 1,368 and Rs 342 per international and domestic passenger as user development fee (UDF) and other charges for Bangalore's Kempegowda airport but the airlines have opposed the ''over 100 per cent'' hike in tariff.Bangalore airport

In a latest order, the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) also fixed charges for aircraft landing, parking, housing and other charges from July 1 till March 31 next year and higher tariff rates from April 1, 2015 till March end 2016.

While only UDF levels were lowered for 2015-16 to Rs1,226 for embarking international passengers and Rs 306 for domestic passengers, all the other tariffs were hiked for this period.

Terming the move as "a double whammy to Indian aviation", IATA's Regional Vice President (Asia Pacific) Conrad Clifford said in a statement that international airlines operating to Bangalore would now face "a steep increase in their operating costs with a 145 per cent increase in landing charges and a 105 per cent increase in parking charges".

The official of the global airlines body said it was also "disappointing" that AERA "deviated from the single till approach" in the case of Kempegowda International Airport which was "contrary to what AERA had previously opined that the single till approach was most appropriate for India".

"This deviation in policy can increase costs for airlines and passengers, thus negatively impacting traffic. This will hurt an already fragile Indian aviation industry," Clifford said, adding that funding airport development was "not a valid justification to deviate from the single till approach."

Under the 'single till' principle, airport activities, both aeronautical and commercial, are taken into consideration to determine the level of airport charges. By contrast, only aeronautical activities are taken into consideration under the dual till principle.

Maintaining that funding of the airport could be done through other means like equity, loans and bonds, Clifford said: "Instead, airport users are being penalised by being a convenient source of funding. They are unfairly made to pay for facilities that have yet to be built."

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has been stressing that aviation should be treated as a strategic national asset that would pay dividends to the Indian economy.

Aviation supports 8.8 million Indian jobs and underpins 1.5 per cent of GDP, as per IATA figures.

"This could be a lot more. And the more globally connected that India is, the more opportunities will be created for jobs, trade and inward investment. AERA's decision is a step backwards for Indian aviation," the IATA officer said from Singapore.

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News Network
June 23,2020

New Delhi, Jun 23: The meeting between Indian Army's 14 Corps Commander Lt Gen Harinder Singh and his Chinese counterpart got over after around 11 hours, sources said.

"Today's meeting between the Corps Commander-level officers of India and China is over. The meeting which started at 11:30 am went on for around 11 hours. More details awaited," sources said.

The meeting started at around 11:30 am at Moldo on the Chinese side of Line of Actual Control (LAC) opposite Chushul to defuse the tensions in Eastern Ladakh sector due to Chinese military build-up, the sources said.

This is the second meeting between the two corps commanders. They had met on June 6 and had agreed to disengage at multiple locations. India had asked the Chinese side to go back to pre-May 4 military positions along the LAC.

The Chinese side had not given any response to the Indian proposal and not even shown intent on the ground to withdraw troops from rear positions where they have amassed over 10,000 troops.

India is also likely to discuss the change in rules of engagement on the LAC where the forces have been empowered to use firearms in extraordinary circumstances, sources had said.

They said India will also ask China to honour the commitment given during June 6 talks to disengage in the Galwan valley completely and other places.

The build-up of Chinese air assets including strategic bombers by the PLA Air Force in fields near Indian territory close to Ladakh is also likely to figure in discussions.

India and China have been involved in talks to ease the ongoing border tensions since last month.

However, last week as many as 20 Indian soldiers lost their lives in the face-off in the Galwan Valley after an attempt by the Chinese troops to unilaterally change the status quo during the de-escalation in eastern Ladakh.

The Indian intercepts have revealed that the Chinese side suffered 43 casualties including dead and seriously injured in the violent clash.

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Agencies
February 6,2020

Bijnor, Feb 6: Apprehensions over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) are now so strong that a team of economic enumerators were allegedly manhandled in Uttar Pradesh's Bijnor district and faced stiff resistance from the people.

A team of the economic census enumerators in Bijnor, on Wednesday, sent a letter to the District Magistrate narrating the difficulties they are facing in some parts "due to misinformation".

District magistrate Ramakant Pandey, when contacted, said that he had asked the department concerned to complete the work on time. "If teams are facing any problems, we will sort it out at once. No hurdle in economic census will be tolerated," he said.

According to District Economic and Statistics Officer, Harendra Malik: "Our teams are facing protests in minority-dominated areas as people are linking it to the NRC. Some team members were manhandled.

"We have now asked village heads and municipality chairmen to help our teams in the survey and convince the people. Our teams are trying to convince them that it is a routine work which is being carried out for years. It has nothing to do with the NRC or CAA."

He further said that they plan to hold a series of meetings with people's representatives, including village heads and chairmen, so that they could put an end to this confusion.

The seventh economic census was flagged off in Bijnor by District Magistrate Ramakant Pandey on January 6. There are around 3,000 enumerators and 569 supervisors engaged in the census being carried out under the supervision of economic and statistics department. It is expected to be completed by March 31.

The economic census is aimed at collecting data about the financial status of people engaged in unorganised sector.

Meanwhile, the areas where the enumerators are facing stiff resistance include Kalhari village in Najibabad block, Amipur Narain village in Mohammadpur Devmal block, Anisa Nangli village in Dwarka block and the Mirzapur Bella village in Jalilpur block.

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News Network
June 29,2020

New Delhi, Jun 29: A disturbing video of a Covid-19 patient, speaking his last words, after his oxygen supply was allegedly cut off, has surfaced on social media. The patient reportedly died after indicating that the oxygen supply to him was cut off despite his requests.

The video has a 35-year-old Covid-19 patient bidding good-bye to his family, from a government hospital bed in Hyderabad. The patient Ravi Kumar can be seen speaking out against the negligence of of the medical staff in providing ventilator support to him when he needed it the most.

The video has led to social media outrage as it attracted public attention towards plight of patients in government hospitals

"I am not able to breathe, I pleaded but they did not continue oxygen for the last three hours. I am not able to breathe anymore daddy, it's like my heart has stopped, Bye daddy. Bye to all, daddy," these were apparently the final words of the man, who spoke in his local dialect, and shared on social media.

Several reports have claimed that the man had been admitted to government Chest hospital, after several private hospitals refused to admit him. His ventilator support was allegedly taken off in the hospital, after which he recorded the video message.

The victim’s family shared the video message for the public to know of the negligence.

Reports have it that Ravi’s covid-19 report, which testes positive, was given to family a day after his death, when 30 of his family members performed the final rites, thus making all of them vulnerable to the virus. Ravi’s father has alleged that the test was done on June 24 and Ravi died on June 26, while the report was given to them on June 27.

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