India is 4th largest aviation market

India's record breaking aviation growth continues unabated. The International Air Transport Association said the country saw the fourth highest number of passengers taking off in 2016, up two places from the previous year overtaking UK and Brazil.

India had 13.1 crore passengers taking off -including domestic, international and connecting -last year. Globally, IATA says, 380 crore passengers took off last year (half domestic, 35% international and 15% connecting), up from 350 crore in 2015. The top three markets -US, China and Japan -remained unchanged but there was a shakeup below with India a part of this upheaval.

The big movers on this year's rankings are the key emerging markets of India and Indonesia. India has jumped up two places to the fourth ranking with 13.1 crore departures in 2016 and, with growth of 20% year-on-year, continues to close in fast on Japan. Just three years ago India held the eighth ranking. Indonesia also moved up two positions in 2016, to the sixth spot.

At this rate, India will so on be at the third spot in terms of number of passengers taking-off by overtaking Japan. In total passenger terms, India saw 15.2 crore passengers flying in 2016, with 9.9 crore flying within the country and 5.3 internationally. IATA's take-off numbers are at 13.1 crore as it include 9.9 crore domestic flyers, 2.7 crore people flying out of India and only a part of the 2.6 crore international flyers coming to India, who took off to take more flights last year.

However, the growth is coming amid an infra crunch -especially at busy metro airports -that is getting worse by the day due to the over 20% rise in traffic that India has been witnessing on a month-on-month basis for almost two years now .Air traffic congestion has made hovering common at Delhi and Mumbai. These two airports hardly have any free slots available for new flights, with Mumbai completely choked.

The Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation had recently said India had become the third largest domestic air travel market globally with more people flying here within the country last year than Japan, pushing the “land of the rising sun“ to number four spot. India's 9.9 crore domestic flyers in 2016 were more than the 9.7 crore in Japan.

LS OKs Motor Bill with hefty fines

The Lok Sabha has passed the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill which seeks to reduce crashes, deaths and injuries on roads and bring reforms in road transport sector. The proposed legislation, which will go to the Rajya Sabha for its approval, has provisions of making stringent penalties for traffic violations, checking fake driving licences and introducing measures to protect good samaritans.

The bill also has provisions of making vehicle-makers responsible for design defects, recall of faulty vehicles and also holding road owning and maintenance agencies or contractors accountable for road deaths and injuries on account of flaws on their part. Such agencies will have to cough up fines up to Rs.1 lakh as fine.

While most provisions were largely welcomed by members, there were reservations about government indirectly putting a cap on insurance compensation where victims or their kin agree to Rs.5 lakh for death and Rs.2.5 lakh for grievous injuries.In these cases, they can't pursue the case in Motor Vehicles Claims Tribunal. This has come under criticism from different quarters, though government claims in more than 70% cases the average compensation awarded by the tribunal is less than Rs.5 lakh.

Road transport minister Nitin Gadkari said those who don't accept the compensation offered by insurance companies will be free to pursue the case in MACT and in those cases the insurance companies will pay the entire award amount.

Gadkari said it would not be possible to increase the third party compensation in case of death to Rs.20 lakh as it would entail substantial hike in insurance premium.

Annually, at least 5 lakh road crashes take place claiming around 1.5 lakh lives.

Replying to the debate, the minister assured the members that his ministry would make all efforts to eliminate corruption in the transport sector.

EC nixes TN bypoll for voter bribery

The Election Commission has decided to postpone indefinitely the bypoll to the R K Nagar constituency, scheduled on April 12, attributing its late-evening decision to rampant voter bribing and corruption.

The by-election to fill the vacancy in R K Nagar “shall be held by the commission in due course when the vitiating effect created by the distribution of money and gift items to allure the electors gets removed with the passage of time and the atmosphere in the constituency becomes conducive to holding of free and fair election“, said a 29-page statement signed by chief election commissioner Nasim Zaidi and his two associates, election commissioners A K Joti and O P Rawat.

EC's sudden decision also came two days after income tax sleuths launched extensive searches and raids at the residence and several premises of state health minister C Vijayabaskar across Tamil Nadu. I-T officials told media representatives the raids helped uncover a major plot to bribe voters.The documents unearthed showed close to Rs.90 crore was distributed to voters in R K Nagar by AIADMK-Amma party, which fielded T T V Dhinakaran.

In its elaborate justification of its decision, the commission said considering its duty “of conducting free and fair elections and upholding the purity of election and after taking into account all relevant facts and circumstances of the case“, it is fully satisfied that the current electoral process in R K Nagar had been seriously vitiated.

This was on account of unlawful activities of the candidates and political parties and their workers who bribed the electors and unlawfully induced them by offering money and other gifts of consumable items to woo them in their favour.

Gujarat gets new NSG hub

A crack team of National Security Guard commandos has been permanently posted at its newest hub in Gujarat by the central government. This is the fifth hub of the counter-terrorism force in the country; other bases were created in Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, and Chennai after the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.

The new hub, operationalized recently near Gandhinagar, has been tasked with securing the entire western flank of the country from Gujarat to Rajasthan. About 100 commandos of the counter terror and counter-hijack squads of the NSG have been based at the hub. The commandos are currently operating from a Gujarat Police facility.

They were first sent to Gujarat last year in March after intelligence inputs indicated a possible terror strike in the state. The facilities at the permanent hub, on a 1.33 lakh sq m land near the Randesan village in Gandhinagar, will be enhanced soon and a proposal to equip the centre with commando training facilities, living barracks, and other logistics is in progress

The Centre, a few years ago, had proposed to create the latest hub of the elite black cat commandos force in Gujarat as it shares a 512.km land border with Pakistan and has 1,640 km coastline. It is foreseen that in case of a terror threat or attack to locations in Gujarat and Rajasthan, the commandos can be airlifted or deployed for action in quick time from here.

The nearby hub in Mumbai could supplement its efforts in case the challenge erupts at two-three different locations at once.The Gujarat government, after handing over the land to the NSG for the hub last year, had said while the market value of the plot is more than Rs.470 crore, it was giving it to the Centre at a token cost of just Rs.1. The main garrison for the commando force is in Manesar in Gurgaon, near the national capital. Creating NSG hubs in all the four corners of the country was aimed at rushing in the commandos for any counter-terror and counter-hijack operations in quick time.

The response time taken by the commando force for countering the Mumbai terror attacks in 2008 had come under criticism and therefore the government had decided to station the commandos at various locations so that crucial time was not lost in transit. The NSG was raised in 1984 as a federal contingency force to counter terrorist activities.

Of the need to increase Parliamentary Seats....

President Pranab Mukherjee has said India needs to consider increasing the number of parliamentary seats without delay. According to him, the current scenario of just 545 MPs representing 1.28 billion people is clearly anomalous. Here's a quick look at countries with the highest population-per-seat ratio...

RSS Chief Condemns Violence by Cow Vigilantes

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat condemned violence by cow protection groups, saying their activities were belittling the cause. Bhagwat, however, made it clear that he favoured a law banning cow slaughter across India. Bhagwat's comments came against the backdrop of the lynching of a Muslim man by cow vigilantes in Alwar in BJP-ruled Rajasthan, an incident that had sparked protests from opposition parties.

Speaking on the occasion of Mahavir Jayanti, Bhagwat said as a veterinary doctor he was aware of a `desi' cow's utility, including the usefulness of its urine and dung, and said these benefits were accepted by even scientific bodies now. He said non-violence was an essential part of Mahavir's teachings and that only this principle can unite the Indian society that had people of different faiths and behaviour.

Calling cow slaughter a “vice“ that needs to be removed, Bhagwat pitched for stepping up cow protection efforts across the country by making people aware of the issue and engaging them in those activities. He, however, said these activities should be in compliance with the law and Constitution. 

India & Bangladesh....

PM Narendra Modi promised an early solution to the vexed Teesta water dispute with Bangladesh. “I firmly believe that it is only my government and excellency Sheikh Hasina, your government, that can and will find an early solution to Teesta water sharing,“ he told the visiting Bangladeshi PM, who is a staunch ally against terrorism.

Given that Hasina faces polls in 2018, Modi's statement has been interpreted to mean that a Teesta pact may be a reality within months. Mamata Banerjee, prime opposition to the pact, was present and had a quiet dinner with Hasina and President Pranab Mukherjee raising hopes of a breakthrough. A joint statement said the two sides would start negotiations on sharing waters of the Feni, Manu, Muhuri, Khowai, Gumti, Dharla and Dudhkumar rivers.

However, within hours, Mamata flagged her concern, saying a water-sharing pact would lead to water crisis in north Bengal.

India has positioned itself as Bangladesh's premier development partner, investing in the country's development and prosperity .

The two nations signed 22 pacts and India extended a $ 4.5 bn line of credit. They also reaffirmed an old alliance--one that had helped liberate Bangladesh. As Hasina honoured seven Indian soldiers who lay down their lives in 1971, the significance of the gesture was not lost on anyone. In his statement, Modi said, “Every Indian takes pride in the knowledge that Indian soldiers and `vir muktijodha' fought together to liberate Bangladesh from the reign of terror.“ India openly celebrated its role in Bangladesh's war of liberation, as well as much closer relations with Bangladesh, described as “exceptional ... fraternal relationship“ by foreign secretary S Jaishankar.

The two countries signed five defence cooperation agreements, including a $500 million line of credit for defence purchases from India. The defence framework agreement is an enabling pact for all others. India and Bangladesh also signed a civil nuclear agreement. India will play a supporting role in training and supplying components when Bangladesh buys its first nuclear reactor from Russia.

Connectivity was one of the main themes of the summit. India also announced a $4.5 billion line of credit, for which both countries have already identified 17 new projects, including development of three ports (Payra, Mongla and Chittagong), railway and roads.The other key MoUs inked were on passenger and cruise services on the coastal and protocol route, cooperation on cyber security and cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space.

India and Bangladesh came out strongly against terrorism. A joint statement issued reiterated the “strong commitment to combat terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, and stressed that there can be no justification whatsoever for any act of terror. ... the fight against terrorism should not only seek to disrupt and eliminate terrorists, terror organisations and networks, but should also identify, hold accountable and take strong measures against states and entities which encourage, support and finance terrorism, provide sanctuary to terrorists and terror groups, and falsely extol their virtues“.

“We in India rejoice in our ties with Bangladesh.Ties that have been forged in blood and generations of kinship. Ties that seek a better and secure future for our people,“ Modi said at the joint media event with Hasina. The two countries also agreed to confront challenges of terrorism with deeper security and defence cooperation with Modi terming spread of radicalism as a “grave threat“, not only to the two countries but to the entire region.