Measures being taken for ensuring a pandemic free environment for Aero India-2021: Yediyurappa
Bengaluru: Organising Aero India-2021 amid COVID-19 would be a "unique challenge" and the Karnataka government has adopted various proactive measures for ensuring a "pandemic free environment" for the country's premier air show, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa said on Wednesday.
Participating in the Ambassadors Round Table, a virtual summit of foreign envoys in the backdrop of the Aero India- 2021, chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, he said, there has been a tremendously positive response with almost 90 percent of the space being provisionally booked/blocked by the exhibitors.
The 13th edition of the Aero India exhibition is scheduled from February 3 - 7 at Air Force Station in Yelahanka here.
Yediyurappa said Karnataka has been the host for the last 12 editions of Aero India and it was a proud moment for it to be chosen again as the venue for the upcoming event.
It was indeed a unique challenge to the Karnataka government and the Ministry of Defence to host this event during the time when the entire world is reeling under the global pandemic, he said.
However, soon after the launch of the Aero India-2021 website for booking of spaces at the venue, there has been a tremendously positive response with almost 90 percent of the space being provisionally booked or blocked, he was quoted as saying by the CMO in a release.
Yediyurappa said his government has adopted various proactive measures for containing the pandemic and was also taking steps to ensure "a pandemic free environment" for the Aero India-2021.
The standard operating procedures (SOPs) are being formulated in order to ensure the safety of international delegates, participating dignitaries, and the general public with strict adherence to COVID-19 norms such as thermal screening, sanitization, and social distancing at all locations inside and outside the venue, he added.
The chief minister highlighted that Karnataka has a prominent place in the Aerospace and Defence map of the country catering to nearly 25 percent of India's Aircraft and Spacecraft Industry.
The state also contributed nearly 65 percent of the country's Aerospace related exports, besides accounting for 67 percent of the helicopter and aircraft manufacturing for defence services.
Karnataka was also the first state in the country to formulate a dedicated Aerospace Policy he said, pointing out that strategic Defence major public sector units like HAL, BEML, and BEL were situated here.
It also has the country's first private Aerospace SEZ in Belagavi, a thousand-acre Aerospace Park at Devanahalli, MRO at Kempegowda International Airport, and a Defence Production Cluster near the HAL Helicopter unit in Tumakuru district, Yediyurappa said.
Multiple financial incentives have also been announced under the New Industrial Policy of Karnataka to create a favorable environment for the investors, he said, adding that the government is also providing a 1.5 million dollar subsidy to anchor industries and special incentives for MRO and Regional Civil Aviation facilities.
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Police arrested Kejriwal's aide at same time his anticipatory bail plea was being heard: Atishi
New Delhi (PTI): Delhi Minister Atishi alleged on Saturday that the city police arrested Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's aide Bibhav Kumar at the same time his anticipatory bail plea was being heard in court.
Kumar was arrested on Saturday in connection with the alleged assault on AAP Rajya Sabha member Swati Maliwal, officials said.
He was picked up from the chief minister's residence by a Delhi Police team around noon, a senior officer said.
Addressing a press conference, Atishi said Kumar had filed a plea for anticipatory bail before the Tis Hazari court.
Kumar was picked up for questioning by the Delhi Police around 11 am. As soon as he was taken for questioning, news channels started saying he had been arrested, she claimed.
"This shows the BJP's conspiracy. Their intention is to disturb our election campaign and Arvind Kejriwal," she said.
Atishi said the Tis Hazari court considered Kumar's matter urgent and agreed to hear his plea on Saturday itself.
"The court commenced hearing on his plea at 3:55 pm and within 20 minutes, the Delhi Police arrested him at the Civil Lines police station. As soon as his lawyers began arguments, the police learnt that their case is weak and Kumar would get relief. So they arrested Kumar," she claimed.
Atishi alleged that when the court was dictating its order on the matter at 4:55 pm, the Delhi Police lawyer appeared through videoconferencing and said Kumar had already been arrested.
Kumar's anticipatory bail plea has become "infructuous" as he has been arrested, the court observed.
The chief minister's aide, accused of assaulting Maliwal on May 13 at Kejriwal's residence, was arrested two days after an FIR was registered against him at the Civil Lines police station.
Additional Sessions Judge Sushil Anuj Tyagi, while dictating the order to the court staff on the anticipatory bail plea, noted that Additional Public Prosecutor Atul Kumar Srivastava appeared through videoconferencing around 4:45 pm and informed the court that Kumar had already been arrested.
Atishi said, "Even they knew that their case was weak and if the case was heard, Bibhav Kumar would get bail. That is why tomorrow (Sunday) Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will lead all AAP leaders and to the BJP headquarters and court arrest."
Kejriwal said he and other AAP leaders would go to the BJP headquarters on Sunday "so that the prime minister can send anyone he wants to jail".
The BJP is saying they would send AAP MP Raghav Chadha and Delhi ministers Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj to jail, he claimed at a press briefing, hours after Kumar was arrested.
