London Plane journeys are taking longer than a decade ago, according to a report that claims the change is due to airlines “padding” their schedules to create an impression that passengers are reaching their destinations on time.

The report by London-based travel guide, Which?, carriers were adding extra time to flight schedules, in some cases up to 30 minutes, to ensure they maintain punctuality and are therefore less likely to be liable for compensation payouts, the Guardian reported on Monday.

A majority of flight routes are advertised as taking longer than 10 years ago, despite improvements in aircraft technology, the report found.

Researchers examined average flight times for 125 routes operated by large airlines in 2009 and compared them with last year.

They found that 76 routes, 61 per cent, are now slated to take longer; with 87 per cent of British Airways flights analysed found to be slower. That proportion is 82 per cent for Ryanair, 75 per cent for Virgin Atlantic and 62 per cent for easyJet.

British Airways flights from Heathrow to Bangkok, New York and Singapore were extended by 20 minutes, and a Virgin Atlantic flight from Heathrow to Newark Liberty airport, New Jersey, now takes an average of 35 minutes longer.

Rory Boland, Which? travel editor, said: “Passengers are likely to feel that schedule padding is another case of airlines pulling the wool over their eyes. Instead, longer scheduled flight times are likely to mean passengers spend more time sitting around at the gate or on the plane itself, just so the airline can pat itself on the back for being ‘on time’ at your destination.”

[IANS]

Referring to the latest International Monetary Fund (IMF) report on India, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday said that it was only with NDA coming to power in 2014 that the economy had undergone a transformational change.

In postings over both Twitter and Facebook, Jaitley, who resumed his duties earlier this week, said that a comparison of the data released in 2014 and 2018 proved that high inflation, fiscal deficit and current account deficit, besides a standstill in the infrastructure and power sectors, as well as in allocation of natural resources, were some of the failures of the previous UPA government.

“We have come a long way. The last four years have seen a series of reforms, both legislative and otherwise, which have been carried on by the Government. The system has been substantially cleaned up and made more transparent,” Jaitley posted on Facebook.

“Decisiveness has led to easier decision making and made the economy stand out before several other countries. I would urge all to read these two reports (IMF), the copy of which are now publically available,” he said.

“The tightening of global liquidity has increased external pressures and heightened the focus on India’s macroeconomic imbalances (high inflation, large current account and fiscal deficits) and structural weaknesses (particularly supply bottlenecks in infrastructure, power and mining),” The Finance Minister said regarding the report’s references to the situation in 2014.

“Growth is expected to slow to 4.6 per cent this fiscal year, the lowest level in a decade, reflecting global developments and domestic supply constraints. Headline CPI inflation is expected to remain near double digits for the remainder of the fiscal year. The current account deficit is narrowing, driven by a significant improvement in exports, robust remittances flows, and a rapid diminution of gold imports.

“Nonetheless, India has very little room to adopt countercyclical policies, constrained by persistently-high inflation, and sizeable fiscal and external imbalances. Spillovers from renewed external pressures interacting with domestic vulnerabilities are the principal risks,” he said referring to the situation in 2018.

“Stability-oriented macroeconomic policies and progress on structural reforms continue to bear fruit. Following disruptions related to the November 2016 currency exchange initiative and the July 2017 goods and service tax (GST) rollout, growth slowed to 6.7 per cent in FY 2017/18, but a recovery is under way led by an investment pickup”, he added.

(IANS)

Chinese electronics giant Huawei on Saturday announced it would provide free repair services for Huawei and Honor smartphones damaged in the Kerala floods.

In order to ensure the availability of services in the state, the company has activated technical teams across all operational authorised and exclusive service centres in Kerala, the company said in a statement.

“We have deployed our customer service team in full action to support customers affected by Kerala floods. We will be providing free of cost service to Huawei smartphones damaged due to water-logging,” said Allen Wang, Director, Product Centre, Huawei Consumer Business Group, India.

The free repair services would continue till August 31.

[IANS]

New Delhi The Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation is gearing up to set up more than 100 railway stations and terminals — all of them “specially designed” — along the 3,360-km-long, much-delayed network linking the eastern and western seaboards to the northern heartland.

Besides, the dedicated freight corridor, known as DFC, will have as many as 12 private freight terminals, 15 private sidings and 10 goods sheds to cater to over 300 million tonnes of traffic a year from 2020-21.

Designs of these new DFC buildings will be influenced by local culture and architecture so that they become iconic structures of the area’s skyline, a senior official of the Corporation said.

“Special care has been taken that all the station buildings reflect the heritage of the region,” the official told IANS, not wishing to be identified.

Passing through nine states and 60 districts, the Rs 81,459 crore project will have 48 stations and junctions along the Western DFC and 58 in the Eastern DFC.

While the Western DFC will cover 1,504 km from Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust near Navi Mumbai to Dadri in Uttar Pradesh, traversing through Vadodara-Ahmedabad-Palanpur-Phulera-Rewari, the Eastern DFC covers 1,856 km from Ludhiana in Punjab to Dankuni, near Kolkata in West Bengal, and will traverse the states of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand.

“Many private players have shown interest to build multi-modal logistics parks and terminals along the corridor to facilitate value addition — including packaging, labelling, retailing and transportation of goods on the dedicated route,” the official said.

All the newly-designed station buildings are expected to be ready before the corridor becomes operational in 2020-21.

There is a focus on station buildings as economic activities get a boost around the rail stations and terminals.

The Western DFC — a section of which (between Ateli in Haryana and Phulera in Rajasthan) opened for a trial run on August 15 — is expected to largely carry petroleum products, imported fertilisers and coal besides steel and iron among others in double-stack containers.

According to initial estimate, Western DFC will carry about 152.24 milliion tonnes (MT) of goods in 2020-21.

The Eastern DFC aims to speed up the movement of coal, cement, fertilisers, foodgrain and general goods, among others. The expected traffic on the Eastern DFC is 153.23 MT in 2020-21.

The Western and Eastern DFCs — both of which will be fully electrified — will intersect at Dadri, near Delhi.

Also, in a first for Indian Railways, there will be a time table for freight trains once the DFCs are operational.

The eastern wing of the DFC is being funded by the World Bank and western side is being financed by the Japanese International Cooperation Agency, or JICA.

[IANS]

New York US stocks closed higher as investors digested a batch of economic data.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Friday rose 133.37 points, or 0.52 per cent, to 25,790.35. The S&P 500 was up 17.71 points, or 0.62 per cent, to 2,874.69, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 67.52 points, or 0.86 per cent, to 7,945.98.

New orders for manufactured durable goods in July decreased $4.3 billion or 1.7 per cent to $246.9 billion, said the Commerce Department on Friday. The decrease followed a 0.7 per cent increase in June.

Excluding transportation, new orders increased 0.2 per cent. Excluding defence, new orders decreased 1 per cent.

US weekly jobless claims slipped by 2,000 to 210,000 last week despite the ongoing trade worries, the Labor Department said on Thursday. The 4-week moving average was 213,750, a decrease of 1,750 from the previous week’s unrevised average.

Meanwhile, investors also paid close attention to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s speech delivered at the Jackson Hole Symposium in Wyoming, where leading central bankers are meeting to discuss the future of monetary policy.

“If the strong growth in income and jobs continues, further gradual increases in the target range for the federal funds rate will likely be appropriate,” said Powell.

On Wednesday, the US central bank released the minutes of its latest monetary policy meeting, where Fed officials saw an escalation in international trade disputes as a potentially “consequential downside risk” for the US economy.

While many Fed officials signalled that the central bank was ready to raise interest rates as soon as next month, some worried that current trade disputes could force the central bank to rethink its interest rate hike plans.

[IANS]

Distinguished aerospace scientist G. Satheesh Reddy was on Saturday appointed the Chairman of the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) and Secretary in the Department of Defence Research and Development (DDR&D).

Reddy succeeds S. Christopher, who retired in June.

The Appointment Committee of the Cabinet approved Reddy’s appointment for a period of two years from the date of assumption of charge or until further orders, whichever is earlier, an official statement said.

Reddy, renowned for his research and development in missile systems and sustained contributions towards advancement of aerospace technologies and industries, is now employed as the Scientific Advisor to Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

Reddy led the conceptualization, design and development of inertial sensors, navigation schemes, algorithms systems, calibration methodologies, sensor models, simulation along with development of satellite navigation receivers and hybrid navigation systems.

Under his leadership, advanced products and varieties of avionics systems have been produced and successfully flight tested in strategic programmes of the country.

A graduated in Electronics and Communication Engineering from the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU) in Andhra Pradesh, Reddy is a renowned navigation scientist.

He holds the distinction of being inducted as fellow of Royal Institute of Navigation, London, Royal Aeronautical Society, UK, and has been awarded the full member diploma as a Foreign Member of the Academy of Navigation and Motion Control, Russia.

He is an Honorary Fellow of Computer Society of India and Fellow of Indian National Academy of Engineering (FNAE), Aeronautical Society of India, Institution of Engineering and Technology, UK, Associate Fellow of American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, US, and many other professional and scientific bodies in the country and abroad.

Reddy received the prestigious Indian Science Congress Association Homi J. Bhabha Memorial award.

He is the first defence scientist working in India to receive the Silver Medal of Royal Aeronautical Society, UK, and has been selected for the first IEI (India) and IEEE (USA) joint award for Engineering Excellence.

(Ians)

The Vice President, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu addressing the 15th World Rural Health Conference with the theme “Healing the Heart of Healthcare – Leaving no one behind”, in New Delhi on April 26, 2018.
The Minister of State for Health & Family Welfare, Shri Ashwini Kumar Choubey and other dignitaries are also seen.

Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday said that every doctor should serve at least 3 years in rural areas before getting a promotion.

“It should be made mandatory for young doctors to serve at least 3 years in rural areas before getting promotion,” Naidu told the first convocation ceremony of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bhubaneswar.

He said there was a need to increase the number of doctors available at healthcare centres in rural areas as the absence of qualified medical practitioners was making people approach quacks.

“We need to overcome the acute shortage of healthcare providers as also the infrastructure in rural areas,” he added.

Naidu also stressed on the need to increase the number of medical colleges.

The Vice President said medical education curriculum had to be constantly updated, by including the latest developments and methods of treatment.

“Doctors must be trained to be more sensitive towards the sufferings of the patients and their families and should provide the healing touch with effective communication. There can be no greater service than restoring fellow human beings to good health,” he said.

Naidu said schemes such as ‘Ayushman Bharat Yojana’ or the National Health Protection Scheme would be a game-changer in terms of accessing healthcare services in India.

Speaking on girls’ education, he said: “Who says women can do nothing? Given an opportunity they can do wonders. Girls are outperforming boys.”

Speaking at the event, Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said the institution was growing fast and hopes rare surgeries, which are now carried out at AIIMS Delhi, would soon be conducted at AIIMS Bhubaneswar.

He said it would be a befitting tribute to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee if his statue was installed in the premises of AIIMS here.

Notably, Vajpayee had laid the foundation stone of the hospital here in 2003.

Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda said AIIMS Bhubaneswar provided treatment to over 5 lakh patients last year.

New Delhi In a partial relief to Cyrus Mistry, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Friday stated that Tata Sons cannot force him to sell his shares.

However, the two-judge bench headed by Justice S.J. Mukhopadhyaya, declined Mistry’s appeal to staythe conversion of Tata Sons into a private company.

The court said it will decide on conversion of Tata Sons into a private company after the final hearing on September 24.

Further, NCLAT has admitted Mistry’s appeal against his removal from the post of Tata Sons’ Chairman in 2016. The appeal was against the order of the NCLT, Mumbai bench.

Bengaluru-based lending company Capital Float on Tuesday announced it has acquired Pune-based personal financial management app Walnut for $30 million (nearly Rs 209 crore).

Walnut has over seven million downloads on Google Play Store, an average rating of 4.4/5 and is featured in Google Editor’s Choice list of Top 5 Financial applications.

The acquisition followed Capital Float’s announcing its foray into the Consumer Finance vertical, emphasising a strong strategic focus on leveraging this lucrative borrower segment, the company said in a statement.

“We’re excited to collaborate with Walnut, an accomplished member of the Fintech ecosystem. Their approach towards leveraging technology to solve financial concerns of the common individual was particularly impressive, and we eagerly look forward to working closely with them,” said Sashank Rishyasringa and Gaurav Hinduja, Co-Founders of Capital Float.

Walnut helps users automatically track spends, bank and card balances, bill payments and split expenses within a group.

In July 2017, Walnut launched “Walnut Prime”, an instant credit line that users can access on the app anywhere, anytime. This app-based credit line is centred on Walnut’s “Prime Credit Score”.

Walnut has crossed the Rs 100 crore-mark in loans to users on its mobile app.

“We believe having Capital Float on our side opens up an immense set of opportunities by leveraging their strength in online lending and financial products with our innovative approach to consumer experiences,” said Patanjali Somayaji and Amit Bhor, Co-Founders of Walnut.

Founded in 2013, Capital Float leverages technology and Big Data Analytics to deliver innovative credit products to businesses and individuals across the country.

[IANS]

The Siddaramaiah government had started Indira Canteen with the genuine intention of feeding people quality food at a subsidised cost. Unfortunately for some, this canteen is not just a place to pacify hunger, but it is also a place to lift cutlery!

Surprising but true, the 168 canteens across the state have lost spoons, plates and glasses worth Rs 20 lac in last one year.

According to the data, in the last one year, the Indira canteens have lost 1.5 lakh spoons and 10,000 plates. A spoon costs Rs. 15 while a plate costs Rs. 50.

It is estimated that over 2.15 lakh people are served food at these canteens on an average per day and in one year over six crore people have relished food here.

However, it is a sad state that a section of people fail to respect the intentions behind the canteen and insult the efforts of the government by resorting to theft, says a regular canteen goer.