"If the charges are proved, then the NCP will completely dissociate itself from Patil," senior NCP leader and Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel told media-persons in New Delhi.
The government on Saturday said it is expected to take a decision on privatisation of Delhi and Mumbai airports at the meeting of the Empowered Group of Ministers on January 24.
Air-India and Indian Airlines are to submit another aircraft acquisition proposal for long haul jets and replacement of wide-bodied planes, respectively.
After the merger between the two national carriers -- Indian (formerly Indian Airlines) and Air India, the merged airline will have its first flight from Mumbai to New York on August 1, said Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel.
The Nagpur-Bangkok flight would depart at 1010 hours IST and arrive in Bangkok at 1455 hours (local time), a spokesman of Indian told PTI on Friday.
The government will infuse equity into Air India by March, but only if the ailing state-run carrier manages to generate another Rs 2,000 crore (Rs 20 billion) by increasing revenue and cutting costs.
It turned out to be a starry affair as some of India's top current and former cricketers attended former union civil aviation minister Praful Patel's daughter Poorna's sangeet ceremony in Mumbai on Thursday.
The government on Thursday said state-owned carrier Air-India would raise funds through loan guaranteed by the US Exim Bank to part-finance its purchase of 68 aircraft costing about $7.2 billion.
The last rites of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who died in a plane crash, were held with full state honors in Baramati. Prominent leaders and thousands of mourners attended the funeral.
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
Aviation experts say the existing airports cannot be viable.
That's a surprise since his protege Praful Patel has shouted down requests this week
India's ailing aviation sector can finally hope to get some relief. The Union Minister of Civil Aviation, Praful Patel has announced that a Group of Ministers (GoM) has been formed to look into the issues faced by the aviation sector.
Union minister and Congress leader Vilasrao Deshmukh and two Nationalist Congress Party candidates were elected on Monday to the Rajya Sabha from Maharashtra. NCP leaders Govindrao Adik and Ranjitsinh Mohite Patil were elected to the Upper House of parliament against the seats vacated by Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel and Supriya Sule after their election to Lok Sabha.
The Union Cabinet on Thursday referred the proposal for allowing People of Indian Origin to invest in domestic airlines on par with NRIs to a Group of Ministers.
Cabinet refers policy on aviation to GoM.
The Union Cabinet is likely to take up the airline industry's concerns over high taxes on jet fuel and airport charges at its next meeting and a Group of Ministers (GoM) may be set up to focus on ATF pricing.
Unrest is again brewing among airport employees with the unions threatening another bout of workers action if urgent steps were not taken to meet their 'long-pending' demands.
According to top sources in the government, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in his meeting with Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel on Tuesday asked the ministry to take an initiative, even as the turmoil in the ailing airline deepened.
The Group of Ministers, which is reviewing the recovery path of Air India, will meet next month to discuss the infusion of Rs 1,200 crore (Rs 12 billion) as equity and review the steps taken by the national carrier for achieving a turnaround.
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.
A group of Air India unions on Friday asked Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel to fix the accountability on those who are "sabotaging" the airlines merger process
International flights from the Srinagar airport would operate from February 14, when it would be formally inaugurated as an international airport. The first international flight will take off for the port city of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, according to a statement issued by the Union Water Resources Minister, Saif-ud-Din Soz.
The aircraft to be inducted by Indian Airlines are 19 Airbus A 319s, Four A 320s and 20 Airbus A 321s.
A draft note on equity infusion in Air India, prepared by the civil aviation ministry, is being sent to Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs.
Halving the productivity-linked incentive will make its salary levels unattractive and put a heavier burden on junior staffers.
The skies have opened up for Indian carriers in the US and the UK with the government liberalising the air services agreement with the two countries.
In the eye of the raging IPL storm, Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Saturday rubbished the charge that his party or ministerial colleague Praful Patel was involved in any alleged wrongdoing relating to the T20 league.
Ruling out the possibility of union ministers Sharad Pawar and Praful Patel resigning in the wake of the IPL controversy, the Nationalist Congress Party on Thursday dismissed reports about the involvement of any of its leaders or their relatives in any financial wrongdoings in the cricket league. Party spokesman D P Tripathi saw nothing wrong in Civil Aviation Minister Patel's 'personal office' forwarding projections of new franchisee valuations to Tharoor.
Air India had placed an order for 68 aircraft, including Boeing 737s, 777s and 787s, all valued at $11 billion in Dec 2005.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation is planning to start flights connecting about 120 cities in the country from the current 81 cities, said Praful Patel, Union Minister for Civil Aviation.
Politicians across the political spectrum graced Radhika Merchant and Anant Ambani's wedding ceremonies at the Jio World Convention Centre at the Bandra Kurla Complex in north west Mumbai.
Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Praful Patel said he would be ordering an inquiry into the tragic accident, and added that notwithstanding the inclement weather, it was the pilot's duty to determine a flight could be taken or not.
When specifically asked about the reason for the crash and whether Air India is privy to any preliminary findings, Chandrasekaran said, "One would have to wait for the probe to conclude."
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