AI gets its first Dreamliner

September 8, 2012

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New Delhi, September 8: The advanced Boeing 787 Dreamliner of Air India touched down at Delhi's IGI Airport today, ending an over four-year wait of the struggling national carrier to add this next-generation airplane in its fleet.

The plane, painted in red and yellow livery of Air India, landed at the main runway of the airport at 1705 hours and was given water-cannon salute as it taxied to the bay. After parking, a small religious ceremony was conducted to welcome the aircraft in the presence of Air India CMD Rohit Nandan and senior Civil Aviation Ministry and airline officials.

The Dreamliner took 15 hours of flying time from Boeing's Charleston factory in South Carolina in the US to Delhi, plus a 90-minute stopover at Frankfurt for re-fuelling, the commander of the aircraft, Capt A S Soman, told PTI.

"It was a very smooth flight. It has a very quite cabin and there is much less fatigue (for the pilot). It is both a pilot and passenger friendly airplane," he said. Air India, which ordered 27 Dreamliners six years ago, would get two more of these planes in the next few weeks. A total of eight of them would arrive by March next year, including five by December, while the national carrier would get six more in the 2012-13 fiscal.

The aircraft would ultimately become the mainstay of Air India's global operations and is key to its turnaround plan. For Air India, the plane has been configured to have 256 seats -- 18 full-flat Business Class seats and 238 in Economy. It features a host of sophisticated technologies, including mood-lighting inside the cabin and large LCD display screens for in-flight entertainment.

For the next two months, Air India would use the B-787s to operate on select sectors like Delhi-Dubai, Delhi-Kolkata, Delhi-Bangalore and Delhi-Amritsar for the crew to practice more landings and take-offs. So far, a total 65 pilots have been trained to fly this plane.

The mid-size plane has four variants, with the longest -range one capable of flying over 15,000 kms non-stop. By December, Air India would introduce these aircraft on new long-haul sectors like Melbourne and Sydney, apart from the older ones like Japan, Middleast and several European destinations.

A top official of its manufacturer Boeing recently described the aircraft as "the fundamentally right aircraft for Air India's turnaround plan". The plane, made of carbon composite material, is light- weight and is considered less of a fuel guzzler. Boeing claims the plane consumes 20 per cent less fuel compared with the similar-sized B-767s, thereby lowering flying costs.

The first batch was supposed to be delivered in September 2008 but design and production issues at Boeing delayed deliveries. According to Boeing, the aircraft was ready for delivery in May but it got delayed over finalisation of compensation agreement between Air India and the aircraft manufacturer. The agreement deals with the compensation to be given by the US aircraft major for almost four-year delay in deliveries.

Air India was the world's second carrier to have placed orders for this aircraft. Delays in clearing of the agreement and in the plane's deliveries to Air India, made it the fifth airline to get it.

Theairlines which have inducted and are already operating this aircraft are Japan's All Nippon Airways, Japan Airlines, Ethiopian Airways and Lan Airlines of Chile.

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News Network
July 20,2020

Aligarh, Jul 20: The son of a motor mechanic in Aligarh, who had received a scholarship, topped at his high school in the United States.

Mohammad Shadab, son of the motor mechanic, told ANI, "Last year, I received the Kennedy-Lugar youth exchange scholarship worth Rs 20 lakh from the US government. Following this, I went to the States to pursue my high school education."

Out of 800 students, Shadab was also selected Student of the Month at his school. On his achievement, he said, "It was an achievement for me to be awarded this tag."

"I have worked really hard to top the high school," Shabad said.

Shadab said, "The condition at home was not good and it is still not that good. I want to support my parents and make them feel proud."
He also thanked the Indian government. "I am thankful to the Indian government for making me the flag-bearer in another county and choosing me for this scholarship."

Shabad's father, Arshad Noor, who is working as a motor mechanic for the past 25 years, said, "We had sent him to the US for his education and I am happy that he topped at the school."
On being asked about his son, Arshad said, "I want my son to become an IAS officer and serve the country."

But Shadab expressed the desire to work at the United Nations as a human rights officer.

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News Network
March 27,2020

Mumbai, Mar 27: Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das on Friday said that Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has taken note of the global economic activity coming to a near standstill due to the coronavirus pandemic and added that large parts of the world could slip into recession in the coming days to the coronavirus crisis.
"The MPC noted that global economic activity has come to a near stand-still as COVID-19 related lockdowns and social distancing are imposed across a widening swath of affected countries. Expectations of a shallow recovery in 2020, from 2019's decade low in global growth, have been dashed," Das said.
"The outlook is now heavily contingent upon the intensity, spread and duration of the pandemic. There is a rising probability that large parts of the world will slip into recession," he added.
The RBI Governor further added that "the implied GDP growth of 4.7 per cent in Quarter 4 of 2019-20, in the second advance estimates of the National Statistics Office which was released in February 2020, within the annual estimate of 5 per cent for the year as a whole is now at risk."
As per the outlook for the year 2020-21, Das said, "Apart from continuing resilience of agriculture and allied activities most other sectors of the economy will be adversely impacted by the pandemic depending upon, its intensity, spread and duration."
Das also announced a reduction in the repo and reverse repo rates for banks.
"The repo rate has been reduced by 75 basis points to 4.4 per cent. The reserve repo rate has been reduced by 90 basis points to 4 per cent," Das said addressing the media.
The decision for "a sizeable reduction" in the policy repo rate, according to the RBI Governor was taken to "revive growth and mitigate the impact of COVID-19 and ensure financial stability." 

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Agencies
May 17,2020

New Delhi, May 17: The HRD Ministry on Saturday postponed announcement of the exam schedule for pending class 10 and 12 board exams, saying the CBSE is still considering certain technical aspects before finalising the datesheet.

The ministry had earlier announced that it would notify the schedule at 5 pm on Saturday.

"CBSE is taking into consideration some additional technical aspects before finalizing the datesheets of the board exams of classes 10th and 12th, due to which, the datesheets will now be released by Monday i.e. 18-05-2020. Inconvenience caused is sincerely regretted (sic)," Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' tweeted.

The ministry had last week announced that the pending class 10 and 12 CBSE exams, which were postponed due to the COVID-19-induced lockdown, would be conducted from July 1 to 15.

However, the schedule as well as the modalities and guidelines have not been announced yet.

While class 12 exams will be conducted across the country, the class 10 exams are only pending in North East Delhi where they were affected due to the law and order situation.

Universities and schools across the country have been closed and exams postponed since March 16 when the Centre announced a countrywide classroom shutdown as one of the measures to contain the COVID-19 outbreak.

Later, a nationwide lockdown was announced on March 24, which has now been extended till May 17.

The board was not able to conduct class 10 and 12 exams on eight examination days due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Further, due to the law and order situation in North East Delhi, the board was not able to conduct exams on four examination days, while a very small number of students from and around this district were not able to appear in exams on six days.

The board had last month announced that it will only conduct pending exams in 29 subjects which are crucial for promotion and admission to higher educational institutions.

The modalities of assessment for the subjects for which exams are not being conducted will be announced soon by the board.

The schedule has been decided in order to ensure that the board exams are completed before competitive examinations such as engineering entrance JEE-Mains, which is scheduled from July 18-23, and medical entrance exam NEET, which is scheduled on July 26.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has issued guidelines to universities that the new academic session for freshers will begin from September while for the existing students from August.

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