Number of airports in country to go up to over 200: Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia
Chennai, Feb 4: The Civil Aviation Ministry has drawn up plans to boost air connectivity by taking the total number of airports operating in the country to over 200 over the next five-six years under its vision of increasing the 'width and depth of air penetration,' Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said here on Saturday.
Scindia, here on a brief visit, said in its 67 years of independence the country saw only 74 new airports being built while in the last 8.5 years it has been increased to 147 under the Prime Minister Narendra Modi rule.
"We are just one short of doubling that number. The 148th airport will be also completed this month itself which means that what India took 66-67 years to build and under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi that has been done in a period of nine years." he told reporters.
Scindia said the Ministry has envisaged to take the number of airports operating in the country to over 200 in the next five to six years.
"Another 50 additional airports, waterdromes and heliports have been sanctioned in the budget (presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman). Under UDAAN scheme, we were building 100 airports and now we will build 150 airports, waterdromes and heliports in the next couple of years to come," he said.
Stressing that the air connectivity in the country cannot be focused only by expanding international routes, he said air connectivity should be expanded to tier-II and III cities.
"Under the Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik (UDAN) scheme we have introduced small aircraft scheme last year which will be only sub-20 seater aircraft. These are all not ATRs not Boeing or Airbus not big aircraft. These are sub-20 seater aircraft so that the penetration is down to the grassrootslevel," he said.
Scindia said such aircraft were currently being operated in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, NorthEastern States and advanced landing grounds have been activated on the border of Arunachal Pradesh so that there is 100 per cent penetration.
"The 'mantra' of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is that air penetration must encompass across the length and breadth of the country," he said.
To a query about the greenfield airport at Parandur near Chennai, he said the Ministry was in discussion with TIDCO (Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation Ltd) and was examining the project proposal. It would issue the 'site' and 'in-principle' approval through the Airport Authority of India and Directorate General of Civil Aviation.
"DGCA, AAI have to look into the proposal for new airport to see if there are any obstacles on flight path from safety and security angle. Your question should be directed to the State government," he said while responding to a query about the protest by villagers in Parandur opposing the project.
In August 2022, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin said a second airport for the city would come up at Parandur near Sriperumbudur at an estimated Rs 20,000 crore with an annual capacity of 10 crore passengers.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
19-yr-old woman found hanging from tree in UP village; juvenile held
Lucknow/Pratapgarh (UP) (PTI): Police have apprehended a 16-year-old boy for his alleged involvement in the rape and murder of a 19-year-old woman whose body was found hanging from a tree in a village here, officials said on Monday.
Additional Superintendent of Police (West), Brijnandan Rai, said that the body of a 19-year-old woman was found hanging from a tree in an orchard in the Manikpur police station area on Sunday morning. A post-mortem examination subsequently confirmed that she had been raped.
Police registered a case against unidentified persons under sections 103(1) (punishment for murder) and 70(1) (gangrape) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and initiated an investigation.
During the course of the investigation, the police found that the deceased was in contact with a juvenile who was also her relative.
Acting on this information, during a joint checking operation, sub-inspector Amit Kumar Singh of Manikpur police station and SOG In-charge Amit Kumar Chaurasia, along with their team, apprehended the 16-year-old near the Lehdari Ganga River bridge.
The search for other accused persons is ongoing, police said.
According to the police, the woman had gone to sleep after dinner on Saturday night but was found hanging in an orchard nearly 400 metres away from her home the following morning.
Additional Superintendent of Police (West), Brijnandan Rai, had earlier said that the circumstances suggest foul play.
"The victim's slippers and undergarments were recovered 50 metres away from the spot where the body was found. There are visible injury marks on her body," Rai said.
While locals have alleged that the woman was murdered after being raped, the ASP said that it is "prima facie a case of murder."
"Based on the complaint filed by the victim's brother, a case of murder has been registered against unidentified persons," the officer added.
Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, in a post on X in Hindi on Monday, said, "The news of the heinous murder of a Dalit daughter in Pratapgarh is deeply tragic and condemnable."
"The question remains: why does the spate of murders of 'PDA daughters' continue unabated in Uttar Pradesh? Are the BJP government's claims regarding women's safety merely hollow rhetoric, or is there, in fact, discrimination even in the provision of security for women?" he said.
"Whenever the 'wandering Honourable (ghumantu maananiye)' finds a moment of respite from election campaigning, he should cast a glance at the plight of the daughters of his own Uttar Pradesh. In any case, apart from injustice and oppression, no sister, daughter, or mother of this state holds any hope from you," Yadav added.
