13 MARCH 2016

Ø Air passengers will get higher compensation in case of death, injury, lost baggage or inordinate delay in flights as the Carriage by Air (Amendment) Bill was passed by the Parliament on Friday. The compensation in case of death in an air accident or injury will go up to around Rs. 1.05 crore, up from the present Rs. 93 lakh. This amount will be computed on the basis of SDR (Special Drawing Rights). The currency value of the SDR is based on market exchange rates of a basket of major currencies – U.S. dollar, euro, Japanese yen and pound sterling. One SDR is equivalent to Rs. 93. The liability for flight delays will increase to Rs. 4.36 lakh from Rs. 3.86 lakh. In case of destruction, loss or inordinate delays in case of cargo carriage, the liability amount has been raised from Rs. 1,581 to Rs. 1,767. For destruction, loss, damage or delay of baggage, the domestic airlines will have to pay Rs. 1.05 lakh from the present Rs. 93,000. This will be in line with the Montreal Convention, which was acceded to by India in May 2009. The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) will increase the liability limit once every five years.

Ø A day after a rupture in the coolant system in one of the reactors at the Kakrapar atomic power station in Gujarat, experts of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) launched an inquiry to identify the cause and nature of the leakage which forced the authorities to shut down the reactor on Friday morning.

India and Japan are in talks to collaborate on upgrading civilian infrastructure in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, an Indian archipelago seen as a critical asset to counter China’s efforts to expand its maritime reach into the Indian Ocean. The first project being discussed is a modest one — a 15-megawatt diesel power plant on South Andaman Island, as described in a proposal submitted late last month to the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. But the collaboration signals a significant policy shift for India, which has not previously accepted offers of foreign investment on the archipelago. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are northwest of the Strait of Malacca, offering control of a so-called choke point that is one of China’s greatest marine vulnerabilities. It is also testimony to the unfolding relationship between India and Japan, which is also funding a $744 million road building project in the northeastern Indian border regions of Mizoram, Assam and Meghalaya. Like the Andaman and Nicobar chain, the northeastern region is a strategic area that has remained relatively undeveloped because of its separation from the mainland. Japan’s marshalling of official development assistance in the region has drawn less attention than the effort that China calls “One Belt, One Road,” a network of roads, railways and ports intended to link China to the rest of Asia and to Europe. But it fits logically into the web of strategic projects taking shape as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi enters into closer relationships with Japan, Australia and the United States, as well as regional powers like Vietnam, to counter China’s growing influence.

Ø  Boosting the nation’s rapid airlift capability for forward operations and troop deployment, the Indian Air Force re-activated two upgraded Advanced Landing Grounds (ALG) at Ziro and Along in Arunachal Pradesh on Saturday. The ALGs will further enhance our existing operational capabilities in Eastern Air Command. He later inaugurated the ALG at Along. Further underscoring the significance he said that “the capacity build-up will enable operations by some of our new inductions including the C-130J Super Hercules transport aircraft”. This will give the ability to rapidly airlift troops in case of hostilities or a standoff. India has belatedly embarked on a major drive to operationalise the ALGs which have not been in use for decades. In the mid-eighties Vayudoot Airlines had operated from Ziro airfield and the IAF too had operated a flying detachment from for air maintenance. Subsequently the airfield fell out of use. Following an approval from the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) in June 2009, the IAF began an ambitious plan to upgrade and operationalise the existing eight ALGs. The IAF took over the Ziro airfield from Airport Authority of India (AAI) in August 2010. The ALGs for upgradation include Tuting, Mechuka, Along, Tawang, Ziro, Pasighat, Walong and Vijaynagar in Arunachal Pradesh. The outlay plan for the upgradation of ALGs alone is nearly Rs. 1,000 crore. Officials said that three more ALGs — Mechuka, Pasighat, Tuting — are scheduled to be inaugurated in the next three months. The ALG at Tawang, which was taken up in 2014, is ongoing and is expected to be ready by September this year. With the inauguration of the ALGs at Ziro and Along, altogether three ALGs have since got upgraded with paved runway surfaces and other facilities such as aprons for ground manoeuvring, Air Traffic Control tower with associated infrastructure including perimeter road and a security wall, officials added.