Delhi airport overtakes Mumbai as busiest in country

Where’s the new airport? “Delhi airport has superseded Mumbai as the busiest in the country and it is only expected to consolidate its lead. Passenger traffic and air traffic movement figures reveal that Mumbai airport, which has been the busiest in the country since 2006-08, is now reaching a point of saturation, due to a dearth of space and delay in building a second airport. Though passenger traffic in Delhi was only 1.4 percent higher than Mumbai and flight movements higher by 11.6 percent in 2010, industry experts say the gap between the two airports will only widen,” reports Times of India. [caption id=“attachment_135560” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Passenger traffic in Delhi was 1.4 percent higher than Mumbai. Sajjad Hussain/AFP”]  [/caption] A related report in the same paper, however, says that “A new terminal integrating both domestic and international flight operations and a new network of taxiways are the two major projects that Mumbai International Airport Private Ltd (MIAL) has undertaken to enhance the capacity of Mumbai airport. The airport, which accommodated almost 30 million passengers in the last financial year, is now bracing itself to reach the 40 million mark. The new integrated terminal, which is being constructed in Sahar, Andheri, is likely to be ready by 2013. Smoking is killing Mumbaikars. “In The Emperor of All Maladies : A Biography of Cancer, oncologist Siddhartha Mukherjee brought to the fore a disease that society and the medical world are still grappling with. But there is another disease that claims more lives than cancer; considered as dangerous as AIDS, its fatality rate is surpassed only by heart attacks, strokes and acute lung infections-Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Described as a slow killer, COPD is fast emerging as an epidemic , affecting eight out of 100 people living in Mumbai and Thane district,” says a Times of India report. If a 26/11 happens in London, the authorities there want to be better prepared to deal with it. “The UK government is training paramedics for a Mumbai-style terrorist attack, amid earlier warnings by the Scotland Yard that such a strike was possible in the country. National Health Service paramedics are to be given bulletproof jackets in case they have to help out during a Mumbai-style terrorist attack. According to The Sunday Times, ambulance medicas are being trained to treat battlefield casualties during what the Home Office calls a “marauding terrorist gun attack”. The volunteer medics are being trained over the next four years to treat victims of the type of attack launched by terrorists in Mumbai in 2008. Scotland Yard has been warning hotels, restaurants and financial institutions about the possibility of a Mumbai-style attack in Britain,” says ibnlive. While on 26/11, here’s some learning from it. “They were the ‘Mumbai 25’, a spiritual guru from Virginia, USA, and 24 disciples trapped in Hotel Oberoi on the night of 26 November  2008 when it was attacked by Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorists. While a father-daughter duo from the group were killed that night, 19 survivors have now recounted in a book how, and why, they forgive the perpetrators of the carnage,” reports Indian Express. Will Nariman Point see more desertions? “High property tax is driving many companies away from Nariman Point. The tax has been increased from Rs 2.5-3 per sq ft to Rs 70-90 per sq ft post 2000 . “The civic body levies the tax depending on the year of construction of the building, irrespective of whether it is owner-occupied or rented out. This led to a high vacancy and unsettled property owners; they wondered who would have to pay this liability-whether they or the lessees-since the tax was not accounted in the earlier lease agreements,” the secretary of a Grade A building said,” says Times of India. Some relief for Mumbaikars from the suburbs. “State transport commissioner VN More announced that there were plans to have prepaid auto service at four places - Borivli, Andheri, Bandra and Kurla. “We also plan to have a prepaid taxi stand outside CST station by the month end,” he said after inaugurating the fourth prepaid taxi stand at LTT on Friday morning,” reports the Times of India.