Cabinet clears way for Delhi-Meerut rapid transit corridor

The Union Cabinet cleared the way for construction of the first rapid rail corridor in NCR connecting Delhi’s Sarai Kale Khan with Meerut by mid-2025. The government is likely to lay the foundation stone for the 82.15 km project before the poll code of conduct kicks in.

Once this Rapid Rail Transit System becomes operational, trains on the dedicated corridor can cover the entire stretch in less than an hour. The agency responsible for construction of this corridor and train operations, NCR Transport Corporation, has reworked the cost and brought it down to Rs.30,274 crore from the earlier estimate of Rs.31,902 crore project.

Joining city centre to city centre, RRTS trains will reduce pollution and road congestion taking more than one lakh private vehicles off the road. The trains will be equipped with modern features like CCTV surveillance, mobile/laptop charging points, luggage space etc. All station and trains will have universal accessibility for the specially-abled. Each train will have a business class and a ladies coach.

While the Centre will provide financial assistance of Rs.5,634 crores in the form of grant and sub-ordinate debt, both Delhi and Uttar Pradesh governments will put their share and a substantial portion of the investment will come from ADB, one of the major funding agencies for infrastructure projects.

The RRTS is a first-of-its-kind, rail-based, high-speed regional transit system to be implemented in India. The project involves integration with other urban transport systems.

The project was held up due to a tussle between the urban affairs ministry and AAP government over the issue of Delhi government’s refusal to pay its share and taking any liability in case of operational loss. As per the revised cost, Delhi needs to pay less than Rs.1,000 crore and that too in instalments.

Though the Delhi government had maintained that it won’t be able to pay the amount at a recently held inter-ministerial meeting, the project was approved. Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had asked the Centre to bear the city government’s share. Sources said the Centre could cut down the grant it gives to Delhi to pay for its share in the project.

Sources said the project has been approved with the condition that the participating states in the project will bear the operational losses, if any, and they will also have the liability of paying the loan in case of default by the company that has been set up to build and run the trains.

2 jets crash during air show rehearsal

Two aircraft of IAF’s aerobatic team Surya Kiran crashed after grazing each other mid-air, killing a pilot and injuring two who ejected to safety during a rehearsal for the Aero India show.

Video clips of the incident showed the two jets crashing to the ground and bursting into flames near Yelahanka airbase after brushing against each other mid-air, a day ahead of the five day event. Thick black plumes of smoke were seen billowing from the site moments later.

The Hawk jets were performing a manoeuvre when one was flying inverted carrying a pilot and the other below it with two pilots, moments before they hit each other and spun out of control, according to police and eyewitnesses. Both aircraft then came crashing down in a bushy area in a residential layout, but none of the local population was injured.

The incident occurred at around 11.50 hours during the rehearsal for the air show, the defence PRO office said in a statement. One of the three crew members of the aircraft, Wg Cdr VT Shelke and Sqn Ldr TJ Singh ejected. However Wg Cdr Sahil Gandhi sustained fatal injuries, it said. A court of inquiry will investigate the cause of the accident, the statement said.

Sitharaman is slated to inaugurate the five-day biennial event organised by the ministry of defence at the Yalahanka air base, north of Bengaluru.

Soon after the mishap, Bengaluru Commissioner of Police T Suneel Kumar said a house nearby that had no occupants suffered minor damage.

The tragedy comes about three weeks after a Mirage-2000 trainer aircraft of the IAF crashed at HAL Airport, killing both pilots

112 gets going

Sixteen states and Union territories joined a pan-India network of single emergency helpline number ‘112’ on which immediate assistance can be sought by anyone in distress.

The 112 helpline is an integration of police (100), fire (101) and women (1090) helpline numbers. The health helpline (108) will be integrated with it soon.

Launching the ‘112’ helpline, under the Emergency Response Support System, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said the central government is committed to the safety of citizens, particularly women, for whom laws were changed to ensure the guilty is punished in a time-bound manner.

The helpline number ‘112’ will be activated across the country by next year and anyone in distress can reach the helpline by pressing a single key of phones which will be pre-programmed,” he said.

The 16 states and UTs include Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Puducherry, Lakshadweep, Andaman among others. The’ helpline has already been launched in Himachal Pradesh and Nagaland.

To access emergency services, a person can dial ‘112’ on a phone or press the power button of a smart phone three times quickly to send a panic call to the Emergency Response Centre. The single number for emergency services is similar to ‘911’ in the United States.

India, Argentina sign MoU for nuclear energy cooperation

India and Argentina inked a Memorandum of Understanding to boost cooperation in the sector of nuclear energy.

Argentina minister for foreign affairs Jorge Faurie said his country has expertise in building small-capacity reactors and was looking to work with India in some third country in tripartite projects. “They (PM Narendra and Argentine President Mauricio Macri) also noted that the MoU signed on the occasion between the Department of Atomic Energy, India, and National Atomic Energy Commission, Argentina, for cooperation within the framework of Global Center for Nuclear Energy Partnership would bolster institutional linkages in civil nuclear research, development and capacity building,” a joint statement said.

The two countries also wished to enhance and explore cooperative ventures in the area of nuclear power and its societal uses in the fields of health, agriculture, industrial application, training and capacity building, the joint statement added.

India and Argentina had signed an agreement in 2010 for cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

Argentine company INVAP is working on the Fission Molly Project to build a molybdenum plant in Mumbai. Faurie said the plant focuses on creating isotopes. Argentina also manufactures some components used in Indian power reactors, Faurie said.

During the talks, Modi and Macri expressed satisfaction at the ongoing talks in the area of space.

Government withdraws security cover of six separatist leaders

Three days after 44 CRPF jawans were killed in the deadliest terror attack in the Valley, the Centre on withdrew the security cover of six separatist leaders, including Mirwaiz Umar Farooq.

Besides Mirwaiz, the security cover of Abdul Gani Bhat, Bilal Lone, Hashim Qureshi, Fazal Haq Qureshi and Shabir Shah has also been withdrawn.

While there was no categorisation of security for these leaders, the state government in consultation with the Centre had provided them ad hoc security, keeping in mind the threat to their lives from some militant groups.

Militants of Hizbul Mujahideen had killed Umar’s father, Mirwaiz Farooq, in 1990 and Abdul Gani Lone in 2002.

No security was provided to pro-Pakistan separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani and JKLF chief Yaseen Malik.

According to the order, all security and vehicles provided to the separatists will stand withdrawn by Sunday evening. No security forces or cover will be provided, under any pretext, to them or any other separatists. If they have any other facilities provided by the government, they are to be withdrawn forthwith.

Police will review if there are any other separatists who have security or facilities and they will be withdrawn immediately, the officials said.

Forty four CRPF personnel were killed and five were injured in one of the deadliest terror strikes in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish-e-Mohammad suicide bomber blew up an explosive-laden vehicle near their bus in Pulwama district.

The bus was part of a convoy of 78 vehicles carrying CRPF personnel from Jammu to Srinagar.

Hurriyat spokesman termed the government order a propaganda and said it has no bearing on the Kashmir dispute or the situation on ground and it can in no way change the reality.

“With or without these police personnel at the Hurriyat residence, everything remains the same,” the spokesman said in a statement, adding, the whenever an issue was made, the Mirwaiz announced from the pulpit of the Jamia Masjid that the government can withdraw the security cover.

The Mirwaiz is one of the religious heads in Kashmir valley.

The spokesman said the Hurriyat leaders had never asked for security. “In fact, it was the government that insisted on keeping the personnel based on what they said was their assessment of threat perception. It was the government’s decision at that time, today it’s their decision to remove it. It’s not an issue for us,” the statement said

Jet Airways: PSBs, govt fund to own 51%

The restructured Jet Airways will effectively be 51% government fund and PSU banks-owned. Sources say SBI-led lenders will convert a Rs.600 crore loan into equity at Re.1, which will take their stake to 32%. National Investment and Infrastructure Fund, an investor-owned fund manager anchored by the government of India, will pick up 19.5% and invest Rs.1,400 crore, they add. Collectively, this will mean 51.5% control with PSU banks and NIIF.

It is learnt Abu Dhabi-based Etihad, which currently has 24% stake in Jet, will invest another Rs.1,400 crore, limiting its stake at 24.9% and avoiding an open offer. Etihad is expected to pick up the additional equity at Rs.150 per share. Incidentally, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority is one of the investors in NIIF, which was set up for building infrastructure but is now bailing out the airline.

Jet’s remaining debt of Rs.6,000 crore will be restructured and converted into long term 10-year debt. After this restructuring, Naresh Goyal’s stake will fall to 20% from 51%. While he will remain promoter, Goyal will lose the board seat and managerial control. Comments from Jet were sought and awaited at the time of filing this story.

The Jet board had last Thursday cleared a “bank-led provisional resolution plan” , which will see the SBI-led lender banks becoming its largest stakeholder after debt restructuring. Under this plan, Jet will see restructuring to meet a funding gap of nearly Rs.8,500 crore, including proposed repayment of Rs.1,700-crore aircraft debt, through steps like conversion of debt to equity, equity infusion and asset monetisation.

Lenders have proposed to convert debt to equity at Re 1 and provide emergency funding.

Dell Technologies Digital Transformation Index

India is the most digitally mature country in the world, according to the Dell Technologies Digital Transformation Index. However, businesses in India still have a lot of work to do. Leaders in India are more aware of the need to prioritize digital transformation throughout their organization: 91% of the business leaders believe that digital transformation should be more widespread, compared to 78% globally. Dell Technologies, in collaboration with Intel and Vanson Bourne, surveyed 4,600 business leaders (director to C-suite) from mid- to large-sized companies across the globe to score their organizations’ transformation efforts.The study revealed that emerging markets are the most digitally mature, with India, Brazil and Thailand topping the global ranking. In contrast, developed markets are slipping behind: Japan, Denmark and France received the lowest digital maturity scores.