Civil aviation minister Praful Patel has directed Bangalore International Airport Limited, the Siemens-led private consortium developing the new greenfield airport, to increase its capacity to handle passengers.
Patel discusses the airline's problems and defends his record.
The visual control tower at 95 metre would provide all-round view of the airport. The complex will also have meteorological facilities, search and rescue and anti-hijacking measures.
GAGAN or the GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation to be launched by Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel would not only help the civil aviation sector but also help in marine navigation, search and rescue operations, rail and road transport, survey and mapping as well as precision farming.
Virtually ruling out any bail-out, the government on Saturday asked private airlines to withdraw their call for suspending flights on August 18 and warned them of "appropriate action" if flight schedules are disrupted.
The Union government is planning to appoint advisors for kick-starting the process for initial public offer of Air-India and Indian Airlines expected to hit the market later this fiscal.
Accused of protecting its Member of Parliament Padamsinh Patil, who has been accused on being involved in a double murder case, the Nationalist Congress Party on Wednesday suspended Padamsinh Patil from its primary membership. The suspension comes three days after the arrest of Patil by the Central Bureau of Investigation in connection with the murder of Congress leader Pawanraj Nimbalkar and his driver three years ago.
In a coalition era, the smallest of parties gets almost blackmail power and that power is in direct proportion to the weakness of the senior coalition partner. Which is why, for instance, even in an era of coalitions, Atal Bihari Vajpayee was a lot more powerful than Manmohan Singh is.
Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel has directed promoters of the Mumbai International Airport Limited to keep in mind local sensibilities while undertaking the upgrade and modernisation of Mumbai airport. The ministry denied allegations that the government had given permission for the change of the name of the airport and location of the Shivaji statue.
Meanwhile, accusing Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel of being responsible for the state of affairs in Air India, the CPI(M) has demanded the immediate revocation of the order to derecognise the unions and sacking of employees for going on a flash strike.
Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Tuesday said talks are on with "like-minded parties' to jointly oust the Bharatiya Janata Party from power in next month's assembly elections in the coastal state.
Indian striker Sunil Chhetri was awarded the AIFF Player-of-the-Year award during the farewell exhibition match of Bhaichung Bhutia against German giants Bayern Munich in New Delhi.
The government on Thursday claimed that the losses of Air India were coming down and admitted that there were "some issues" which were affecting the process of its merger.
Bengal Aerotropolis Projects, a special purpose vehicle, which is developing India's first airport city, or aerotropolis, in the Asansol-Durgapur region, today entered into a technical services arrangement with Singapore-based Changi Airports International.
The high tax regime makes aircraft service above 50 per cent more expensive than international rates and might spell trouble for over a dozen MRO projects -- several of them involving foreign direct investment that have been announced so far.
American companies have so far not evinced any interest in investing in the huge Indian infrastructure market, which is estimated to be worth over $200 billion, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said on Tuesday.
India's aviation sector would have a fully functioning satellite based navigation system (GPS) in place next year, Aviation Minister Praful Patel said.
The political crisis faced by the Digambe Kamat-led government in Goa has blown over with the Congress leadership managing to convince the Nationalist Congress Party, protesting alleged irresponsible utterances against it by some Congress MLAs, to vote for the finance bill in the state assembly.
Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel on Thursday said he would request the finance ministry for extending tax exemption on leased aircraft, scheduled to be implemented from April 1, 2005.
The work on restructuring Delhi and Mumbai airports would begin by the middle of next year and the process of selecting private joint venture partners for the Airports Authority of India
Airlines owe a huge sum of Rs 75,701 lakh (Rs 757.01 crore) to Airports Authority of India till September, 2004, Minister of state of Civil Aviation Praful Patel informed the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.
But if the minister signals that he is on the side of the unions on key staff issues, he reduces the management's scope of action as well as the likelihood of better service.
Praful Patel, India's reformist civil aviation minister, has helped drive the privatisation of Mumbai and 's moribund airports, overcoming initial protests by employees.
New Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi on Thursday sought the support of all employees of ailing Air India in restoring its lost glory and said the staff and the management should work in coordination to achieve this.
After having allowed private Indian airlines to fly to SAARC countries, the Union Cabinet is likely to take a decision to permit them to launch operations to other international destinations in a month's time, civil aviation minister Praful Patel sai
Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, who has issued a diktat to his partymen to greet Rahul Gandhi with black flags for his "Mumbai for all Indians" remark, on Friday attacked Marathi ministers at the Centre for "not protesting Rahul's anti-Mumbai statement".
After a meeting with Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel in New Delhi, Communist Party of India leader Gurudas Dasgupta told PTI that six staffers, whose services were terminated after the two-day strike that had disrupted hundreds of flights, have been taken back 'after they submitted apology letters on our advice'.
Replying to supplementaries during Question Hour in Rajya Sabha, civil aviation minister Praful Patel said, "full service airlines earlier used to offer five per cent commission to travel agents on basic fare." "From November 1, 2008, Air India, Jet Airways and Kingfisher abolished the agency commission and introduced transaction fee model... (however) Jet and Kingfisher have started paying commission on basic fare and fuel surcharge.
Asserting that the government can't remain a mute spectator to the move by the air carriers, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said there can be 'no justification' for airlines to hike fares in an 'arbitrary manner'.
Indian tennis icon Leander Paes, who will participate in the Olympics for the sixth time next year, said he is keen to promote Indian football, perhaps in the role of a brand ambassador.
Air-India and Indian Airlines are to submit another aircraft acquisition proposal for long haul jets and replacement of wide-bodied planes, respectively.
Mortal remains of senior NCP leader and ex-Home Minister R R Patil are kept at the party office in Mumbai.
The inaugural Air-India Boeing 747-400 Mumbai-Los Angeles flight, carrying 170 passengers, was on Friday flagged off by Minister of State for Civil Aviation Praful Patel.
Taking note of the incident, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel ordered a probe by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and appealed to VIPs not to pressurise pilots to operate flights.
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