'Missing' DGCA note said safety a worry in Kingfisher Airlines

July 21, 2012

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New Delhi, July 21: Bharat Bhushan's purported note on Kingfisher filed on July 9 — a day before he was summarily removed as director general of civil aviation — could have meant serious trouble for the beleaguered airline.

Accessed by TOI on Friday, the note reads: "The (airline's) financial condition continues to be precarious... In the course of its audit several engineering issues are emerging which have a direct bearing on safety... it is concluded that safety is likely to be compromised if the airline continues in its current functioning style."

The aviation ministry and the new director general, Prashant Sukul, vehemently deny that any such note exists, though Bhushan attached a copy of this purported note in his letter to the ministry and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) seeking a probe if the paper had indeed gone missing.

Indicating that action against the airline was being considered, the disputed note goes on to add, "a notice may be served on the airline... asking them to immediately arrange for payment of its employees and creditors... we may be constrained to suspend their operations if funds are not made available and liabilities reduced significantly within 15 days of the receipt of this notice."

DGCA: No records exist of Bhushan's Kingfisher note

Former DGCA Bharat Bhushan did not comment when asked to confirm the contents of the controversial note he had written on Kingfisher Airline's poor financial condition.

Late Friday night, new director general Prashant Sukul submitted a report to aviation secretary Nasim Zaidi after a search operation in the DGCA for the allegedly missing papers from the Kingfisher file.

"Bhushan's allegation seems to be an afterthought and no evidence has been found of the note ever having existed," a highly placed source who was privy to Sukul's report said.

"All sections of the DGCA were asked to conduct a search that did not yield anything. The report has concluded that there is no such paper and if there is one, it may only be in possession of the former DG as no records exist here."

With Sukul throwing his hands up, the ministry is set to ask Bhushan to hand over a copy of the file that he alleges has gone missing.

"A printout of a note - that could have been filed anytime - will not do. If there is an official file on which such noting was made, then the same should be given either in original or a photocopy.

An unsigned printout being shown as the note has no meaning as it could have been written anytime, anywhere, said the source. Questions on the alleged Kingfisher note arose as the timing of Bhushan's exit triggered suspicions.

The ministry maintains that Bhushan was removed in a hurry as the PM-headed appointments committee of the cabinet had given him extension till December while the ministry had sought senior IAS officer Arun Mishra to be made full-time director-general.

"The Cabinet secretariat goofed up big time. This entire issue has arisen because of their mishandling," said a source.

The ministry has steadfastly denied any link between Bhushan's removal and its stand on Kingfisher Airlines. Sources said aviation minister Ajit Singh had told Vijay Mallya clearly to shut Kingfisher if he couldn't raise funds to run the airline.

Excerpts from Bhushan's purported note

"We have been closely monitoring the operations of M/s. Kingfisher Airlines from November, 2011 onwards. During the period there has been significant reduction in fleet numbers as well as number of operational aircraft... Pilot strength has reduced to less than 50%... The financial condition continues to be precarious.. They (airline management) have promised a recovery plan every time they met us, but this has not happened even after passage of several months... In the course of its audit several engineering issues are emerging which have a direct bearing on safety... Under the circumstances, it is concluded that safety is likely to be compromised if the airline continues in its current functioning style. A notice may be served on the airline indicating the background and asking them to immediately arrange for payment of its employees and creditors, if not in full at least to a substantial part. It may be indicated that we may be constrained to suspend their operations if funds are not made available and liabilities reduced significantly within 15 days of the receipt of this notice."


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News Network
June 24,2020

New Delhi, Jun 24: In a stinging attack on the Gandhi family of the Congress, BJP president J P Nadda on Wednesday said a dynasty and its courtiers have "grand delusions" of the opposition being about itself and stated that a "rejected and ejected" family is not equal to the entire opposition.

In his tweets, Nadda said it was the time for unity and solidarity, and the "relaunch of the scion for the nth time can wait", an apparent dig at Rahul Gandhi, who has been aggressive in his attacks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his handling of the border row with China.

Nadda said India lost thousands of square kilometres of land due to the "misadventures of one dynasty" and claimed that the Siachen glacier, where the Indian Army has a strong presence, was almost gone. No wonder India has rejected them, he said.'

The BJP president posted a news report to back his assertions about Siachen.

"One 'royal' dynasty and their 'loyal' courtiers have grand delusions of the Opposition being about one dynasty. A dynast throws tantrums and his courtiers peddle that fake narrative. The latest one relates to the Opposition asking questions to the Government," Nadda said.

Though he did not directly name the Gandhi family or any of its members, the reference was clear.

He said it was the opposition's right to ask questions and added that the all-party meeting called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi saw healthy deliberations, with several opposition leaders giving their valuable inputs.

They also fully supported the Centre in determining the way ahead, Nadda said.

"One family was an exception. Any guesses who," he asked.

Targeting the Gandhis, the BJP president said, "One rejected and ejected dynasty is NOT equal to the entire Opposition. One dynasty's interests are not India's interests. Today, the nation is united and supportive of our armed forces. This is the time for unity and solidarity. Relaunch of 'the scion' for the nth time can wait."

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News Network
May 21,2020

Bengaluru, May 21: The COVID-19-induced lockdown saw a spurt in crybercrimes in India with Kerala recording the highest number during the period, according to an analysis of IT security solutions provider K7 Computing.

The report analyses various cyberattacks within India during the pandemic and reveals that threat actors targeted the States with COVID-19-themed attacks aimed at exploiting user trust.

The sudden surge in the frequency of attacks witnessed from February 2020 to mid-April 2020 indicates that scamsters across the world were exploiting the widespread panic around coronavirus at both the individual and corporate level, the company said in a statement.

These attacks aimed to compromise computers and mobile devices to gain access to users confidential data, banking details and cryptocurrency accounts.

The key threats seen during this period ranged from phishing attacks to rogue apps disguised as COVID-19 information apps that targeted users sensitive data.

Phishing attacks were noticed more in Tier-II and Tier-III cities while the metros fared better.

Smaller cities saw over 250 attacks being blocked per 10,000 users.

Users from Ghaziabad and Lucknow seem to have faced almost six and four times the number of attacks, respectively, as Bengaluru users.

In Kerala, regions like Kottayam, Kannur, Kollam, and Kochi saw the highest hits with 462, 374, 236, and 147 attacks respectively, while the state as a whole saw around 2,000 attacks during the period, the highest thus far in the country.

This was followed by Punjab with 207 attacks and Tamil Nadu at 184 attacks, the statement said.

A majority of the recorded attacks were phishing attacks with sophisticated campaigns that could easily snare even the most educated users, it said.

These attacks were aimed at heightening users fears and creating a sense of urgency to take action.

The report noted phishing attacks where scamsters posed as representatives of the United States Department of the Treasury, the World Health Organisation, and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

Users were encouraged to visit links that would automatically download malware on the host computer such as the Agent Tesla keylogger or Lokibot information-stealing malware, infamous banking Trojans such as Trickbot or Zeus Sphinx, and even disastrous ransomware.

Other attacks included infected COVID-19 Android apps like CoronaSafetyMask that scam users with promises of masks for an upfront payment; the spyware app Project Spy; and seemingly genuine apps that are infected with dangerous malware like banking Trojans such as Ginp, Anubis and Cerberus, it was stated.

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News Network
June 15,2020

New Delhi, Jun 15: A total of 1,15,519 samples of COVID-19 have been tested in the last 24 hours taking the total samples tested to 57,74,133 in the country, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said.

"Total sample tested 57,74,133 and samples tested in the last 24 hours is 1,15,519," said ICMR.

With an increase of 11,502 cases in the past 24 hours, the COVID-19 count in India reached 3,32,424 on Monday, according to the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry.

The COVID-19 count includes 1,53,106 active cases while 1,69,798 patients have been cured and discharged or migrated so far, and the toll due to COVID-19 has now reached 9,520.

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