FIRSTPOST YOUSPEAK
Wednesday, May 22nd 09:14 PM IST
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Indian Airlines GALLERY.
strongBy Rajeev Sharma/strong The importance of Iran for India cannot be over stated. Iran is a vital cog in the wheel of the Indian scheme of things for reaching out to Afghanistan. But the question is: whether both India and Iran are about to lose their leverage on Afghanistan? The good news is that Iran is as uncomfortable as India on the back-room developments with regard to Afghanistan as the United States-led international community seems hell bent on good Taliban taking over the land-locked country in the post-2014 scenario of withdrawing American forces from Afghanistan. The bad news is that India may have to, after all, live with a regime in Kabul in 2014 that is friendly to Pakistan. This may well be a nightmarish scenario for India that has seen for itself how anti-India jihadist forces based in Afghanistan aided terrorism in India during the Taliban regime of 1996-2001. The hijacking of the Indian Airlines Kathmandu-New Delhi flight IC 814 to Kandahar on December 24, 1999 is just a chilly reminder of what a pro-Pakistan Taliban regime in Kabul can do to India. These nuggets of valuable information were thrown up on 2 January, 2012 when Iran's National Security Advisor Saeed Jalili came face-to-face with Indian media during a 80-minute interaction at Indian think tank Observer Research Foundation (ORF) premises which was kept confined to select Indian media only. [caption id=attachment_577026 align=alignleft width=380 strongBy Rajeev Sharma/strong The
The Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) today pleaded before the Supreme Court that ground handling at airports is part of aviation business and the government cannot take it away from them. The federation said their efficiency and time-bound services would be adversely affected if the handling duties is taken over by the government authorities and refuted the contentions of the Centre it has been done out of security concern. Ground handling is part of our business and we want it to be with us. My punctuality and quality of services would go haywire and I would to receive blame from my passengers, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the FIA, told a bench headed by Justice B S Chauhan. [caption id=attachment_484985 align=alignleft width=380 The Federation of Indian Airlines (
Striking Air India pilots from the Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) lie on a dias in front of an image of Indian freedom icon Mahatma Gandhi during the fifth day of a hunger strike in New Delhi on June 29, 2012, the latest development in a dispute between the managment of Air India and the IPG which has lasted for over 50 days. Eleven pilots belonging to Indian Pilots' Guild (IPG) began an indefinite hunger strike on June 24, to demand the reinstatement of 101 sacked colleagues. The pilots are demanding parity on conditions with their colleagues from Indian Airlines. Air India and Indian Airlines were merged in 2007 under the guidance of then Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel. The strike comes after the government in May 2012, cleared a USD 5.75-billion bailout package to help cash-strapped Air India, which has debts of USD 8.3 billion. Striking Air India pilots from the
Indian Airlines' pilots holding placards walk by people sleeping on the ground during a silent protest against the Air India management in Mumbai, India, Wednesday, June 6, 2012. The strike by some of pilots entered its 30th day. Indian Airlines' pilots holding pla