Domestic air passenger growth slows

Domestic air passenger growth has lost the high double-digit momentum with a growth of 5.62 per cent in February - a 53-month low - with airlines flying 11.34 million passengers compared to 10.74 million, according to DGCA data. The last time such a low growth was reported in July 2014 when incremental traffic grew 7.19 per cent. Since September 2014, the market has been clipping at double digits, which lasted till December 2018. Come January 2019, the growth rate slipped to 9.1 per cent. Significantly, almost all major carriers operated a truncated schedule, mostly led by the crippled Jet Airways and budget carrier IndiGo, which had to cancel hundreds of flights due to a host of reasons.

Four acquitted in Samjhauta blast case

A special court in Panchkula acquitted Swami Aseemanand and three others in the Samjhauta Express blast case which had left 68 people, mostly Pakistanis, dead in 2007. All the four accused, Naba Kumar Sarkar alias Swami Aseemanand, Lokesh Sharma, Kamal Chauhan and Rajinder Chaudhary have been acquitted, said NIA counsel Rajan Malhotra. The blast took place near Panipat in Haryana on February 18, 2007, when the train was on its way to Attari in Amritsar, the last station on the Indian side. Aseemanand, who was already out on bail, and three others, who were in judicial custody, were present in the court when NIA special judge Jagdeep Singh pronounced the verdict. Before the verdict, the judge dismissed the plea filed by a Pakistani woman for examining eyewitnesses from her country. The court ruled that the plea of the Pakistani woman was devoid of any merit.

US warns Pak to rein in terrorist outfits

The US has warned Pakistan that another terror attack on India will prove to be “extremely problematic” as it asked Islamabad to take more “concrete and sustained” actions to rein in terror groups such as JeM and LeT. Addressing reporters at the White House, a senior administration official said: “We need to see Pakistan taking concrete and sustained action to rein in terrorist groups, mainly the Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba in order to ensure that we don’t have re-escalation (of tensions) in the region. If there’s any additional terrorist attack without Pakistan having made a sustained, sincere effort against these groups, it would be extremely problematic for Pakistan and it would cause re-escalation of tensions, which is dangerous for both countries.”

India slips 7 spots in global happiness list

Indians are not as happy in 2019 as they were in 2018 and the country figures at 140th place, seven spots down from last year, on this year’s UN World Happiness Report, which is topped by Finland for the second year in a row. The report was released by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network for the UN on March 20, which has was declared as World Happiness Day by the UN General Assembly in 2012. The report ranks countries on six key variables that support well-being: income, freedom, trust, healthy life expectancy, social support and generosity. Finland has been ranked as the happiest country for the second year in succession. The nation is followed by Denmark, Norway, Iceland and the Netherlands.

Afghan presidential election delayed again

War-torn Afghanistan has delayed its presidential election until September 28, the second time the ballot has been put back and five months later than it was originally scheduled to be held. The announcement by the Independent Election Commission (IEC) comes after speculation that the vote would be postponed to create space for US-led efforts to end the 17-year war with the Taliban. The presidential ballot was originally scheduled for April 20, then delayed to July 20. Many observers had considered both dates unrealistic given the IEC is still finalising results of October’s shambolic parliamentary elections. A spokesman for President Ashraf Ghani - who plans to seek re-election - said the government respects the decision and is “fully prepared to cooperate with the IEC”.

‘Security Council undermining UNGA’

India has accused the UN Security Council of “progressively” undermining the authority of the General Assembly on matters of what constitutes a threat to international peace and security and said the blame for this lies partly with the 193-member UN body for focusing on procedures rather than addressing substantive issues. India’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador K. Nagaraj Naidu stressed that the primacy of the General Assembly flows from the universality of its membership and the principle of sovereign equality of all its members. “The ownership of the General Assembly’s deliberations and decisions are reflected in the widest possible participation of the full membership of the UN, which is unmatched by any other organ,” he said.

Navy ships reach cyclone-hit Mozambique

In the wake of Cyclone Idai hitting the Mozambican coast, three Indian Navy ships have reached Beira port with relief material, providing humanitarian assistance to disaster-affected areas. The first training squadron of the Indian Navy - Sujata, Sarathi and Shardul - operating in the southern Indian Ocean, were diverted to Beira following a request received from the government of Mozambique. INS Sujata, along with ICGS Sarathi, arrived in Beira on March 18, while INS Shardul arrived on March 19. They are providing necessary support to the local administration, an official statement said. Cyclone Idai made landfall in Beira on March 15. The Indian ships are likely to set up medical camps and provide food, water, blankets and other necessary relief items.

Social media firms adopt election code

Social media platforms such as Facebook, Google and Twitter have adopted a voluntary code of ethics for the upcoming general election to act against paid advertisements that violate norms set by the Election Commission, industry body IAMAI said on March 20. “Under the code, participants have voluntarily undertaken to establish a high-priority communication channel with the nodal officers designated by the EC. Participants including BIGO, ByteDance, Facebook, Google, Sharechat and Twitter have also agreed to take action on content reported by the nodal officer expeditiously in accordance with the law,” the Internet and Mobile Association of India said in a statement.

Telecom subscriber base crosses 120 cr

India’s telecom subscriber base for the third time crossed the 120 crore mark with Reliance Jio, BSNL and Airtel adding new customers in January, according to a TRAI report. “The number of telephone subscribers in India increased from 1,197.87 million at the end of December 2018 to 1,203.77 million at the end of January 2019, thereby showing a monthly growth rate of 0.49 per cent,” said the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. Earlier, the subscriber base crossed the 120 crore mark in July 2017 and May 2018. The mobile customer base grew to 118 crore in January from 117 crore in December. Landline connections slid to 2.17 crore in January from 2.18 crore in December.

Kartarpur villagers demand compensation

As Pakistan and India discuss the alignment of the Kartarpur corridor, some 600 villagers who are facing “forcible eviction” due to the project say they will block development work if denied compensation of their land on commercial rates. The entire population (600) of village Kothay Khurd, where Gurdwara Dera Sahib Kartarpur is located, has been ordered by the district administration to vacate their houses immediately for the development of the Kartarpur corridor to facilitate Sikh pilgrims from India. “We are living in the area for centuries and it was not possible for us to leave the area and the graves of our ancestors,” villager Zaeem Hussain said, adding that officials had only told them that they would be compensated after their land and houses had been acquired.

Neomi Rao sworn in as judge of DC court

Indian-American lawyer Neomi Jehangir Rao has been sworn in as US Circuit Judge for the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals, becoming the second from the community to be a part of the powerful court considered next only to the US Supreme Court. Rao, 45, will replace Supreme Court Judge Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who was nominated by President Donald Trump. Born in Detroit to Parsi physicians from India Zerin Rao and Jehangir Narioshang, Rao is the second Indian-American after Sri Srinivasan to be part of the powerful court. Srinivasan was appointed during the previous Obama regime. Nominated by Trump during Diwali celebrations last November, Rao was confirmed by the Senate by 53-46 votes.

Kazakhstan renames capital ‘Nursultan’

Kazakhstan’s parliament on March 20 voted to rename the country’s capital in honour of long-time ruler Nursultan Nazarbayev, a day after he resigned as president. “Astana is now officially renamed Nursultan,” said the state-owned Kazinform news agency. Interim president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev proposed renaming the capital after he was sworn in following Nazarbayev’s shock resignation. Astana, the government’s showpiece project on the Ishim river, took over as the capital more than 20 years ago. It replaced Kazakhstan’s largest city Almaty as the capital in 1997 and was transformed from a minor provincial town into a futuristic city. Its name meant “capital” in Kazakh and there had long been speculation it could at some point be renamed after the leader who shaped it.

New Zealand bans assault weapons

New Zealand imposed a ban on assault weapons on March 21, taking swift action in response to the Christchurch massacre and triggering renewed calls from leading politicians for curbs in the US. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said assault rifles and military style semi-automatic weapons would be banned with immediate effect, making good on a pledge to ensure that nothing like last week’s slaughter of 50 people ever occurs in the Pacific nation again. The killings by an Australian white supremacist have caused national soul-searching over New Zealand’s lax gun laws. “In short, every semi-automatic weapon used in the terrorist attack will be banned in this country,” Ardern said, adding that high-capacity magazines and devices similar to bump stocks will also be banned.

FAO warns of Fall Armyworm threat

A crop-guzzling insect, which has moved from its native Americas to Asia, threatens to cost farmers from India to Thailand billions of dollars in lost production, the UN food agency has warned. The Fall Armyworm pest is continuing to sweep across the globe, having moved eastwards from the Americas onto Africa before arriving in Asia last summer. The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation has convened a three-day meeting of international experts in Bangkok and officials from affected countries, who are discussing what to do about stopping the onward march of the crop-guzzling insects, and limiting the devastation they cause.

Newsmakers

1971 war hero Captain M.N. Samant died of a cardiac arrest on March 20. He was 89. The submarine commander was conferred with the Maha Vir Chakra for his acts of conspicuous gallantry. Post-war, Samant had served as the first chief of staff of the Bangladesh Navy.