Pioneer in short
Jewar airport gets DGCA licence
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has granted an aerodrome licence to Yamuna International Airport Private Limited for the Noida International Airport at Jewar in Gautam Budh Nagar, Uttar Pradesh. The development was confirmed by Rakesh Kumar Singh, CEO of Noida International Airport Limited and the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority. Civil Aviation Minister Rammohan Naidu Kinjarapu said the airport will strengthen aviation connectivity across the National Capital Region and western Uttar Pradesh while boosting tourism, investment and economic growth. It is also expected to ease congestion at existing regional airports. The airport is being developed by YIAPL, a subsidiary of Zurich Airport International AG, under a public-private partnership with the governments of Uttar Pradesh and India. The 40-year concession began on October 1, 2021. According to Shailendra Bhatia, the licence permits domestic passenger and cargo operations. The all-weather airport features a 3,900-metre runway, Instrument Landing System and 24-hour operations, with parking for 26 aircraft and facilities capable of handling wide-body planes.
278 International Flights Cancelled
Domestic airlines operated limited services to the Middle East on Friday while cancelling 278 international flights amid disruptions caused by the ongoing US–Israel–Iran conflict, the Ministry of Civil Aviation said.According to the ministry, Indian carriers had scheduled 96 flights to and from Middle Eastern destinations for the day. However, airspace restrictions linked to the regional conflict forced widespread cancellations.Earlier, officials said more than 140 international flights were cancelled across major airports in Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and Kolkata. At Mumbai airport alone, 39 departures and 34 arrivals were cancelled.
Mamata hits streets against ECI
Mamata Banerjee on Friday staged a dharna in central Kolkata against large-scale deletions in the State’s voter rolls, escalating the Trinamool Congress confrontation with the Election Commission of India ahead of the Assembly polls. Launching the protest at Metro Channel in Esplanade, Banerjee accused the Bharatiya Janata Party and the poll panel of conspiring to “disenfranchise Bengali voters”. According to official data released on February 28, about 63.66 lakh names-around 8.3% of the electorate-have been deleted since the Special Intensive Revision exercise began in November, reducing the voter base from roughly 7.66 crore to just over 7.04 crore. Another 60.06 lakh voters have been placed under the “under adjudication” category, pending legal scrutiny. The TMC alleges the exercise could affect more than 1.2 crore voters, a charge rejected by the EC.
