Maharashtra & Gujarat

Yeh sab kya ho raha hai?

The world's largest democracy at it's worst ! The futility of a fractured mandate....

Airbus on Indian aviation

Despite the turmoil faced by the Indian aviation industry, aircraft manufacturer Airbus says India could be the fourth biggest market for passenger aircraft over the next 20 years.It even expects the country to be the fastest growing market for air travel over the coming decade.
According to Airbus forecast, over the next 20 years, the demand for aircraft in India could be pegged at 1,043 new passenger and freight aircraft. Of this, 1,020 will be passenger aircraft and 23 cargo. The demand pegged at $145 billion could be split among 646 single aisle pax aircraft, 308 twin aisle pax aircraft, 66 very large pax aircraft and 23 freighter aircraft.“Of the requirement for 1,020 new passenger aircraft, some 860 will be for growth and 160 to replace the eldest aircraft in the existing fleet of 327. By 2030, this means that India's passenger fleet will more than triple to some 1,180 aircraft,“ Joost Ven Der Heid jen, head marketing (India), Airbus said .
Indian annual passenger traffic growth rates of 7.2 per cent are well above the regional Asia Pacific average rate of 5.9 per cent and the world average 4.8 per cent, he said Indian market for new aircraft is the world’s fourth largest in both number of units and value, according to Heidjen.This makes India one of the world's top five countries with aircraft business volume, after the US, China and Germany. While UAE could have a demand for 813 aircraft, US and China could be the largest markets with aircraft demand expected at around 5,389, and 4041units respectively. Germany and UK are expected to buy 1,038 and 938 aircraft.
The domestic travel in India is expected to grow by 10 per cent and other markets such as China, North America and rest of Asia too will. Not just this, according to Joost Van Der Heijden, head of airline marketing, (Africa, India, South East Asia and Japan) Asia Pacific will lead the world in the traffic by 2030 and the growth will mainly driven by the global middle class.

Tondulkar

At last something cheerful.....Sachin Tendulkar finally scores his 100th 100 against Bangladesh in Dhaka.

Will it be Modi v/s Rahul ?

2014.....possible PMs in waiting or some other dark horse?

Kerala's economy

Kerala’s gross state domestic product grew 9.13% in the financial year 2010-11, up from 8.95% recorded in the previous fiscal, the Economic Survey released on Saturday revealed. The revenue deficit showed a downward trend in 2010-11, dipping to 1.4% from the previous year’s 2.18%. The government is targeting zero deficit by 2013-14.Releasing the Economic Survey, finance minister K M Mani, however, said the deficit has increased during the current fiscal. “This was because the UDF government had to bear an additional Rs 4,825 crore through salary and pension revisions which the previous LDF government had announced but not allotted,” he said. The primary sector registered a negative growth of 0.78 in 2010-11, the survey said. Paddy production also slid to 5, 22, 000 metric tones, compared to 5, 98,000 the previous year. The tourism sector remained buoyant, which registered an increase of 18.31% in 2010-11. After setting a role model for primary health care and human development index, the state has now raised its bar, moving ahead of the national per capita income. Kerala’s per capita income stands at Rs 56,107 as compared to the national average of Rs 54,527, state economic review of 2011 showed.

Noori

In a first in the world, scientists at the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology in Kashmir have successfully cloned a rare Himalayan Pashmina goat, hoping to help increase the number of animals famed for Pashmina wool, or cashmere. Named Noori, the animal was born on March 9 and is doing well so far, said Doctor Riaz Ahmad Shah, who heads the cloning project at SKUAST. Pashmina goats, which grow a thick warm fleece, survive on grass in Ladakh where temperatures plunge to as low as minus 20 degrees Celsius. Experts say their numbers are dwindling. In recent years, Kashmir has started importing cashmere from neighbouring China to keep up with orders for the region’s hand-woven shawls. Shah and six other scientists took two years to clone Noori, using the relatively new ‘handmade’ cloning technique involving only a microscope and a steady hand. “We’ve standardized the procedure. Now it will take us half a year to produce another,” said Dr Maajid Hassan, who worked on the project, partly funded by the World Bank.