My Scribles

Regional Connectivity Scheme -This scheme will come into effect in the second quarter of 2016-17 - Airfare of about Rs 2500 per passenger for a one-hour flight -This will be implemented by way of: Revival of airstrips/airports as No-Frills Airports at an indicative cost of Rs 50 crore to Rs 100 crore Demand driven selection of Airports/airstrips for revival in consultation with State Govts and airlines Viability Gap Funding(VGF)to airline operators RCS only in those states which reduce VAT on ATF to 1% or less, provide other support services and 20% of VGF - Concessions by Stakeholders There will be no airport charges Reduced Service tax on tickets (on 10% of the taxable value) for 1 year initially Reduced Excise duty at 2% on ATF picked at RCS airports State government will provide police and fire services free of cost. Power, water and other utilities at concessional rates -Creation of Regional Connectivity fund for VGF through a small levy per dep...

Many Indian expatriates in the UAE whose passports were issued by a different Indian passport authority in the UAE or outside have a reason to cheer. They had to wait for 40 working days to renew their passports and it was even applicable to Abu Dhabi residents whose passports were issued from Dubai and vice versa. Now the Indian diplomatic missions in the UAE have managed to reduce the time taken for renewal of such passports to just five working days, a top Indian diplomat told Gulf News in an interview. “We started renewing all passports within five working days [if applicants fulfil all legal requirements] from the beginning of this month,” T.P. Seetharam, the Indian Ambassador to the UAE, said. He said this is applicable to passports issued by all other Indian passport authorities in India and abroad, including the Indian Consulate in Dubai. Many Indian residents were delighted to hear this news. Haneefa Sulaiman, 47, who runs a travel agency in the capital, said he waited m...

The death of Muhammad Ali, the former heavyweight champion known as much for his political activism as his boxing brilliance, triggered a worldwide outpouring of affection and admiration for one of the best-known figures of the 20th century. Ali, who had long suffered from Parkinson's syndrome which impaired his speech and made the once-graceful athlete almost a prisoner in his own body, died on Friday at age 74. The cause of death was septic shock due to unspecified natural causes, a family spokesman said on Saturday. Ali was admitted to a Phoenix-area hospital, HonorHealth, with a respiratory ailment on Monday. "He'll be remembered as a man of the world who spoke his mind and wasn't afraid to take a chance and went out of his way to be a kind, benevolent individual that really changed the world," the family spokesman, Bob Gunnell, said at a press conference in Scottsdale, Arizona. Despite Ali's failing health, his youthful proclamation that he was ...

Planned to irrigate 75,000 hectares of land and generate 42 MW of power, the Afghan-India Friendship Dam is a landmark infrastructure project undertaken by India in this strategically-important province in Afghanistan. Built on River Harirud at Chist-e-Sharif in western Herat neighbouring Iran, the Rs. 1,700-crore dam has been executed and implemented by WAPCOS Ltd, a government of India undertaking under the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation. The construction of the multipurpose project involved more than 1,500 Indian and Afghan engineers for several years in difficult condition. Located 165 kilometres east of Herat town, the project is connected with earthen road. Due to security reasons, all Indians working on the project had to reach the site once a month in a helicopter provided by the Afghan government. Many of the hydro-mechanical equipment used for its construction have been dispatched by India via Iran as the dam sits in the strat...