Lucknow/ New Delhi: , Mar 31: Union Minister and Congress leader Beni Prasad Verma kicked up another controversy on Saturday by saying that the next general election will witness the “Samajwadi Party’s (SP) funeral procession”.
Verma’s comment comes close on the heels of his remarks linking SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav with terrorists.
Understandably, the SP was not amused and renewed its demand for Verma’s removal from the Union Cabinet, saying he had lost his “mental balance.”
New Delhi, Jan 1: In the backdrop of huge losses borne by airlines, Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has said the government is concerned that more airlines will shut down if predatory pricing continues. "Some predatory pricing is taking place" in airfares, the minister told reporters on Tuesday. Mr Puri however ruled out any plan by the government to regulate airfares. The remarks come amid high competition in the country's aviation sector, struggling against high fuel prices and other operating costs.
"The interesting thing that we have observed is that on Delhi-Mumbai route 20 years ago, the average fare was Rs 5,100. Today, the average fare is Rs 4,600. Some predatory pricing is taking place. It means people are selling tickets below their cost," he said.
"One of our concerns is that if there is predatory pricing, then the airlines will stop functioning. This is not Air India's problem only. Jet Airways got shut down. Before that, it was Kingfisher airline," he said.
IndiGo and SpiceJet - two of the country's biggest airlines - reported losses of Rs 1,062 crore and Rs 463 crore respectively in the second quarter of 2019-20. Other airlines have also reported losses in the quarter that ended on September 30, 2019.
Asked if predatory pricing is the reason for the ill health of the airlines, the minister said, "No, there are many reasons... Predatory pricing is one of the factors. But the profitability of an airline is dependent on (a) number of things."
Asked if the trend of predatory pricing has come down after regular discussion with the airlines, he said, "Yes, absolutely."
"It is (a) constant battle. An ideal situation from an airline's point of view is that they grow and they are also able to charge more fares. What fares they charge is their business. Our advice to them is to charge realistic fares," he added. "It should not be too high. And it is not in your business interests if you are imposing predatory fares."
The minister also said that the government is not planning to regulate fares. "No regulation. It has to be done within deregulation system.... If I put a cap on fare, the airline will start charging that cap only... that cap will become the normal fare... So, within a deregulated structure, we have to bring about an equilibrium," the minister said.
"Government, periodically, at my level or at secretary''s level, we sit down with the main aircraft operators and tell them it is in your interest not to allow such practices which undermine the civil aviation sector."
Bengaluru, Feb 27: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday said that the situation is moving towards normalcy in Delhi after recent incidents of violence.
"Situation is moving towards normalcy," Rajnath told media here.
Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Narendra Singh Bundela on Thursday said that the law and order and traffic situation in violence-affected parts of Delhi is normal.
"The situation is quite normal and peaceful as far as security and traffic are concerned. We have held talks and conducted patrols with people of all communities. Services such as road cleaning have resumed and traffic flow is normal," Bundela told ANI here.
"People can go out to get their daily needs from the market but we are advising them not to come out in groups," he added.
Meanwhile, the death toll in the incidents of violence in North-East Delhi has risen to 34.
Delhi Police has registered 18 FIRs and 106 people have been arrested in connection with the violence.
New Delhi, Jun 8: India on Monday reported the highest single-day spike of 9,983 more COVID-19 cases and 206 deaths in the last 24 hours.
With this, the country's coronavirus count has reached 2,56,611, including 1,25,381 active cases, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
1,24,094 patients have been cured/discharged so far and 7,135 succumbed to the deadly virus. While one patient has migrated.
With 85,975 cases, Maharashtra is the worst-affected state in the country followed by Tamil Nadu at 31,667 cases.
A total of 1,08,048 samples were tested for coronavirus in the last 24 hours and overall 47,74,434 samples have been tested till now.
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