'Just look at China: They have five or six major airlines and some smaller ones.'
In what could come as a piece of good news, hunger in India - as measured by the Prevalence of Undernourishment (PoU) by the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) - has come down from 16.6 per cent of the population in the 2020-2022 to 13.7 per cent in 2021-23, the latest report on the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI 2024) showed. This means that around 39.3 million people have come out of undernourishment between the two periods, NITI Aayog member Ramesh Chand said on Tuesday.
Indian carrier Vistara on Monday announced voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) and voluntary separation scheme (VSS) for its permanent ground staff ahead of its merger with Air India, which had announced similar plans for its non-flying permanent staff two weeks ago.
Several BJP-backed state governments have unveiled schemes targeting the poor, women, farmers and students, following the party's setback in the Lok Sabha polls.
Alloting more funds for MNREGA and PM-KISAN could wipe out the entire additional money that the Centre may have for FY25.
Milk supplies could improve with the monsoon, provided the rains are not excessive.
As a panel of senior ministers deliberates on the need to review curbs on exports of some rice varieties, data shows that since outbound shipments saw restrictions in July-August last year, the non-basmati segment has suffered more than basmati exports. Sources said the panel is expected to soon deliberate on a few suggestions to ease the export curbs on some rice varieties due to higher-than-required stocks in the central pool. The panel, some observers feel, may also postpone the decision to ease the export curbs till a firm picture emerges on the latest kharif paddy sowing.
Government officials believe that central bridge projects perform better than state projects due to stricter checks and balances.
'Two would be premium products and three would be mainstream products.'
Being touted as a competitor to the country's busiest Delhi airport -- which handles approximately 1,200 flights a day -- the Noida airport was expected to start flight operations by the end of this year. But supply-chain disruption, caused by pandemic and subsequent global upheaval, has hit the pace of construction at the airport which is coming up in the Jewar area of UP's Gautam Budh Nagar, some 75-km from the Delhi airport.
Bengaluru outpaced Mumbai, Delhi, and Pune in 2023 to become India's leading city for electric car registrations. The city's tech-savvy workforce, increased acceptability, zero road tax, subsidised electricity for EV charging, and a wide charging station network contributed to this surge. Electric car registrations in Karnataka's capital surged more than threefold in 2023 to 8,690 units, overtaking the growth witnessed in the other three cities, according to data from Jato Dynamics
Increased production of pulses, oilseeds, and cereals will help boost domestic supplies and contribute to keeping inflation low in the coming months.
'The expeditious enactment of labour codes and strategic measures to bridge the skills jobs gap are critical.'
Air India (AI)'s rise could be at the expense of three "super-connector" hubs - Doha in Qatar, and Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the UAE - as the Indian passenger would any day prefer direct flights of their national airline that is providing excellent on-time service, Arved von zur Muehlen, chief commercial officer of Saudia Airlines, said on Thursday.
The Met department blamed the malfunctioning of sensors kept at the Automated Weather Station for the gaffe.
The rains after arriving over Kerala will quickly cover Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, but then might slacken a bit, which could delay its arrival over Northwest India.
Notwithstanding the sweltering heat engulfing major cities, travellers can find solace in the steady airfares to popular summer destinations like Srinagar, Bagdogra, and Kochi. According to airline executives, capacity increases and moderate demand have kept spot airfares from scorching cities like Delhi on a par with the same period last year.
High vegetable prices are expected to keep food inflation firm in the months to come.
The number of domestic air travelers in India grew 2.42 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) in April, reaching 13.2 million, according to data by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Tuesday.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances