Air India is considering selling off its overseas properties in Hong Kong, Nairobi and Mauritius as part of asset monetization to garner resources.
The national carrier has started approaching Indian banks and public sector undertakings for disposal of these properties including floor space in prime locations, airline officials said. They said the Indian high commissions at these places have also been approached to help the airline find suitable buyers for the assets.
The plan to monetize real-estate assets is an important ingredient of Air India’s financial restructuring and turnaround plans, under which the airline aims to raise an estimated Rs. 5,000 crore over a period of 10 years, with an annual target of Rs. 500 crore from 2013-14 onwards.
The airline has already chalked out plans to monetize its unutilized or surplus immovable assets over the next few years, the officials said, adding properties in several cities including Delhi and Mumbai are already in the process of either being sold, or leased or rented out.
Air India was also exploring other avenues for generating ancillary revenues, including leasing out space in some of its booking offices for banks to install ATM outlets. The airline plans to start with leasing out office space in Delhi and Mumbai, and then extending it to cities in South India, the officials said.
As part of reducing distribution and marketing costs, the national carrier was also looking at enhancing its revenue through web sales which at present contributes up to 20 per cent of its total sales. To push up online business, discounts were also offered for a short while on web sales on international sectors.
Air India might sell overseas assets to raise resources
12-year-old kidnapped, killed in Thane
A 12-year-old boy was killed after being kidnapped in Kalyan city of Thane district, police said on Sunday.
The parents of the victim had on April 17 lodged a complaint with Bazarpeth police of Kalyan that their son Rohan had been kidnapped by some unknown persons.
Later, the boy’s father Uttambhai Gucchali (39), a jeweller, received a call for a ransom of Rs. 50 lakhs.
A couple of days back, police recovered chopped off legs at the Givindwadi flower market. The ossification test revealed that the body parts belonged to a male aged around 12.
Later, the boy’s father identified the body parts as that of his son, police said.
Sunday morning, some other body parts of the victim were found in a drain, they said.
Bazarpeth police, which was investigating the case, said four suspected killers of the boy had been identified and efforts were on to nab them.
Murder accused dies in police custody in Thane
An accused in a murder case, who was arrested on Saturday, has died in police custody.
Prakash S Bhoir (44) was arrested by Safala police of Thane district in connection with the murder of his second wife and was kept in a lock-up for interrogation, district police said today.
At around 8 pm yesterday, Bhoir complained of uneasiness and was rushed to a local hospital where he died, they said.
Police have registered a case of accidental death and are further probing.
Bhoir, a habitual drinker, was accused of killing his second wife by slitting her throat with a kitchen knife over a domestic issue in Palghar taluka of Thane on April 16, they said.
He was arrested after his 15-year-old son registered a complaint with Safala police.
The accused was booked under sections 302 (murder) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.
According to the son, his father had killed his step-mother, as she had lodged a complaint against Bhoir’s first wife with police, they added.
We too are human beings: Laxmi Narayan Tripathi
Activist and celebrity transgender Lakshmi Narayan Tripathi was lucky to have found acceptance from her parents and yet feels the Supreme Court’s landmark judgement recognising a “third gender” restored her dignity – and safeguarded that of future generations of the so-called hijra or eunuch community in India.
“It is a wonderful judgment and has brought back my dignity and safeguarded dignity of the future generations of the transgender community,” Tripathi, an activist of international repute who works for the community through her campaign group Astitva, said.
“But what matters is accepting your own children and not leaving them abandoned. Many parents feel the shame and struggle to accept their own children. This mindset has to go,” she added.
Tripathi, who has participated in reality shows like “Bigg Boss” and “Sach Ka Saamna”, recently celebrated the apex court judgment – that also mandated job reservations for the community that has a recorded history in the subcontinent from ancient times – along with other transgenders or transsexuals at the Jantar Mantar.
She is also the first transgender to represent Asia-Pacific at the UN in 2008. The 35-year-old described the April 15 judgment as “wonderful”, but pointed out that there is still a long way to go despite the fact that the apex court has ordered the government to provide quotas in jobs and education to transgenders, like other minority groups.
“In India, the hijra community is often seen as a bad omen. If a mother sees a hijra, she would order her daughter inside the room. This fear comes from a mindset that we are vile,” said Tripathi who was here to attend “The Shift Series” conference on the fearless journey of a woman.
“We too are human beings and should be treated like one. People need to go back to the scriptures and read how honoured the transgender community once was. This would make things better and easier for people to accept us unconditionally,” she added.
Born in an orthodox Brahmin family in Thane in Maharashtra, Lakshmi was lucky to find support from her family, which encouraged her to take up dance and theatre, and chose not to disown her. An arts graduate from Mumbai’s Mithibai College and with a post-graduate degree in Bharatnatyam, she was often ridiculed by people on the streets. Tripathi recollected how their nasty remarks never bothered her.
“I was comfortable with myself; so what others said never bothered me. That was the time when I was a queen, an epitome of sexuality, and I had many boyfriends. All this while I found I was very feminine,” she said.
She had started earning when young, and as she candidly admitted “she used to be the life of the Mumbai parties”. It was a phase she completely enjoyed, but she never thought she would one day champion the cause of the transgender community. “I never saw myself as an activist. It just happened that I got involved in working towards the cause of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community. There were many hijras who died on my lap in the hospital because they didn’t get medical attention on time,” she recollected.
Her journey began in 2002 when she became the founding board member of the Dai Welfare Society – an organisation that works for the well-being of transgenders. “This mattered to me. This discrimination and apathy were killing the basic core of humanity. It had to be addressed and I am happy to be a part of this movement,” she added.
Adani denies favours from Modi
Many politicians including Arvind Kejriwal and Rahul Gandhi accused Narendra Modi of giving away lands at throwaway prices to his friend Gautam Adani. Nowadays, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also started attacking Modi on frequent intervals. She rejected the Gujarat model of development in which “thousands of acres” of land has been given to “friends” of Modi at “throwaway prices” and accused him of treating the country as a “classroom”.
Campaigning for her mother, Sonia Gandhi, she also took a dig at Modi for his ‘ABCD’ and ‘RSVP’ jibes and said he should instead tell people what he planned to do for them. Priyanka said that people possess an unmatched understanding and they knew about Modi’s Gujarat model of development “where you (Modi) gave thousands of acres of land to your friends.” Modi had recently described UPA’s governance as “RSVP model” in which a person was able to multiply his earnings from Rs. one lakh to Rs. 400 crore in five years. Giving his own meaning to RSVP, he said it stood for “Rahul, Sonia, Vadra and Priyanka”. He had also attacked Congress saying ‘ABCD’ has become a symbol of corruption by Congress party with ‘A’ referring to Aadarsh scam and ‘B’ denoting Bofors. Priyanka said any leader whether from her own party or from any other, should speak about what they would do for the people.
With political parties using him as a punching bag in the highly charged election campaign, Adani Group head Gautam Adani denied special favours from Modi and said his group has since 1993 acquired only barren waste land for infrastructure projects. The USD 8.7 billion ports-to-energy Adani Group began acquiring land near the coastal town of Mundra in Gujarat way back in 1993 and only one-third of a total landbank of 15,946 acres was acquired when Modi was Chief Minister. He told media that, not a single acre has been taken from any farmer. Adani went to Kutch, when no one looked there and acquired only barren and dessert-like land that was not suitable for agriculture. Adani used the land to build India’s biggest port, which loaded and unloaded a record 100 million tons of cargo in the year that ended on March 31, and the nation’s biggest coal power station in the private sector; his group did not buy land at cheap rates to sell it to make profits. When they began acquiring land at Mundra in 1993, (Chief Minister) Chimanbhai Patel charged them 10 paisa per square meter. (BJP government led by) Keshubhai Patel (in 1995) charged them Re. 1 per sq mt and Shankersinh Vaghela (led Rashtriya Janata Party) in 1996-07, charged Rs. 1.5 per sq mt. Under Modi, they got some 5,000 acre of land at an average of Rs. 15 per sq mt rate.
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi has in his political meetings used alleged largesse to industrialists like Adani to attack Modi. At a recent rally, Gandhi claimed that Modi had given Adani land for Re. 1, the price of a toffee. AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal too has alleged a nexus between Modi and industrialists like Adani and Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani. Modi became Chief Minister of Gujarat in 2001 and Adanis got first land under him in 2006 to set up a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) under UPA government’s SEZ policy. They wanted 10,000 acres but got only 5,000 acres. Now, people are comparing the price we paid 20 years back for barren, non-agriculture land with the market rate of a land that has been developed with all facilities like road and electricity. A school dropout, Adani moved to Mumbai at the age of 16 to try his luck. He initially dabbled in diamond trade before returning to his home state Gujarat to run a small plastic factory owned by his brother. Eventually, he set up his own import and export business, Adani Enterprises in 1988. Few years later, he borrowed heavily and invested in Mundra’s vast swathes of marshy wasteland to build India’s largest port. In Mundra, Adani also built India’s largest privately- owned power plant, producing 4,620 MW of power, and a 64-km railway connecting the port to railway network. Adani has also gone abroad, he has bought mines, ports, and railways in Australia and Indonesia. Adani plans to double his group size by 2020. Mundra port capacity will be doubled to 200 million tons; electricity generation capacity will be raised from 8,620 MW to 20,000 MW and the group will mine 200 million tons of coal.
Many ministers attacked Modi and Adani over land issues but nobody is providing proof for the accusations of gifting away land. Priyanka Gandhi could have become a successful politician if she had got involved actively in Congress. She chooses to campaign only for her brother and mother which is destroying her political career. One cannot take part in politics during election time and rest of the time enjoy personal life. If she wants to be a successful politician, she has to take it as full time work like her mother and brother. When the Congress is on the verge of its worst defeat, she has suddenly woken up and is giving all sorts of statements. This will not work, Priyanka.
Priyanka does not hold any post in the Congress party and has never contested elections. Even she does not have Gandhi as her surname. To the contrary, her husband’s alleged illegalities are the talk of the town. It is then quite amusing for her to pass judgement on Modi and BJP from the vantage point of, not an ordinary ‘private’ citizen (as her husband claims to be), but as a leader. Robert Vadra is accused of land grabbing scams. She should realise that her husband has destroyed Congress and blotted the image of her mother and brother. Rather than working on image makeover, she is attacking Modi which will not benefit the Congress Party in such crucial time of anti-Congress waves.
This is good thing that, Adani came himself and opened up to the media and presented his side of the story too. I wish this debate will stop right here.
Change is within us
If Narendra Modi becomes Prime Minster no significant change is likely to occur as we citizens must have to undertake this task. We are more interested in watching the debate involving “ Jasodabehn” and “ Robert Vadra” on television. Prem Shukla had written that had Balasaheb Thackeray not been there, “hanari sunnat ho jati”. True, Balasaheb was a great organizer but we are relying too much on him and Modi. We are only thinking about judging our leaders. For bringing radical reforms, we need to be “tejaswi and ojaswi”. Tomorrow, some one may write, had Arvind Kejriwal not been there, the country would have been gripped under corruption.
Look at how media is giving coverage to Shazia Ilmi, Somnath Bharti and Arvind Kejriwal. None of them have proved themselves and yet nobody is asking television channels to stop discussing about these “good for nothing” leaders. Tomorrow if Meera Sanyal wins, what work she will do which she has not done so far? If Medha Patkar wins, she will halt all projects. What is the purpose of revising electoral rolls if Ram Jethmalani and Deepak Parekh cannot exercise their franchise? This job can be performed better by dedicated girls who regularly work every Sunday for polio eradication activity. They will do an excellent job in revising and updating electoral rolls.
Both fanatics and liberal minded persons exist in Hindu and Muslim communities. Our job is to ignore the bad ones and talk about and be guided by the ones who are good. All of us need to help Modi in implementing constructive agenda and vociferously oppose those who may try to ride piggy back on him with their regressive agenda. That is our duty. Spot the bad person and protest effectively till he/she is dismissed from the cabinet.
Do we know that we do not have a single good passenger ship owned by an Indian company (after the loss of M.V. Chidambaram). On the other hand, N. Srinivasan is trying to control BCCI and own Chennai Super Kings instead of building a good shipping company. Why do you think that Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the fittest man to be the Vice President of India Cements Limited? Is it because more money can be made through IPL and cricket instead of nurturing and promoting a technical venture? Friends, we always look for short cuts and that is why we are lagging behind in manufacturing sector which is vital for our development.
BJP releases video against Robert Vadra, seeks explanation from Sonia Gandhi
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday released a video accusing the Haryana and Rajasthan governments of favouring Robert Vadra in acquiring lands fraudulently.
The video also accuses Gandhi family of helping Vadra in acquiring the lands.
The BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad in a press conference told that rules were bent to favour Vadra and Sonia Gandhi should give explanation on Vadra’s model of development.
Terming the scam as ‘Damaadgate’, Prasad also said there was violation of environmental laws and it is a clear case of corruption.
Alleging that the ‘model’ became successful due to the patronage provided by the Gandhi family to Robert Vadra, BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “There was gross violation of laws relating to land and environment. The influence of the family helped make Vadra big earnings in the deals.”
The six-page booklet titled ‘Damad (son-in-law) Shree’ refers to the alleged deals of Mr. Vadra in Rajasthan and Haryana.
The nearly 8-minute documentary seeks to show how Mr Vadra was allegedly helped in his business deals by the Gandhi family using their clout.
Mr. Prasad said BJP was not targeting an individual but the issue of corruption.
“Someone talks about a big heart. Whose big heart helped Robert Vadra to establish his empire in such a short span with an initial investment of Rs one lakh,” he questioned.
He was referring to Priyanka Gandhi’s dig at Mr. Modi that a 56-inch chest was not needed to run the country but a “big heart” and “moral strength”.
Mr. Prasad said except Mrs. Vadra, Congress has made no serious attempt to defend Mr. Vadra.
Alleging that the land deals involving Mr. Vadra were a “textbook case of corruption and crony capitalism under state patronage”, he said BJP wants to know from Congress President Sonia Gandhi and party Vice President Rahul Gandhi as to under whose patronage Mr. Vadra was allowed to carry out the deals in Haryana and Rajasthan “violating various environmental and land laws”.
Dalits unsure about voting for BJP after Ramdev’s honeymoon remark
Yoga guru Ramdev’s recent ‘honeymoon’ remark on Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi could cost BJP a great deal of votes in Raebareli. Lambasting him for his comments, Dalits in Raebareli said that though they were thinking about voting for the BJP in this election, Ramdev’s statement has driven them to rethink their decision.
“We were BJP supporters but will now think before voting as why should we vote for such a party which supports such statements,” a Dalit in Raja Mau in Raebareli said.
While the BJP in an attempt to downplay the remark had said that Ramdev is a saint, Dalits in the area refused to accept him as one.
While the BJP in an attempt to downplay the remark had said that Ramdev is a saint, Dalits in the area refused to accept him as one.
“Why should we consider him a saint. A saint doesn’t give such statements,” an agitated person from the Dalit community said.
Ramdev had recently targeted Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi by saying that he only visits Dalits’ houses for honeymoon and picnic.
Explosion near Farooq Abdullah’s rally, 14 injured
Fourteen people were injured Sunday in an explosion near the venue of an election rally to be addressed by ruling National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah. This was the second such explosion during the day to disrupt the Srinagar Lok Sabha candidate’s rally.
Abdullah was scheduled to address the rally in Magam town of central Badgam district, 30 km from Srinagar.
“Fourteen people were injured in the explosion. Of them, 10 have been taken to hospital,” a police official said, adding that they were investigating the explosion.
Eyewitnesses said some unidentified persons threw a hand grenade causing the explosion.
Earlier, another explosion occurred 50 metres from an election rally being addressed by Abdullah in Khanyar area of the state capital.
Abdullah, who was accompanied by other NC leaders, told the rally: “These explosions will not deter me and should also not deter you from coming out and voting for the National Conference.”
“You must come out in large numbers and vote for the NC on April 30,” he said.
Police said no one was hurt in the Khanyar blast. No one has so far claimed responsibility for the explosions.
AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal said that his fight against BJP prime ministerial nominee Narendra Modi is not a “battle of prestige” but one to save the country from corrupt forces. Kejriwal said the party’s electoral win in Varanasi and Amethi would be “enough to shake up the country” even if the rookie party does not win 100 seats in the Lok Sabha poll. “Modiji brought me to Varanasi. And this is not a battle of prestige, but one to save the country from corrupt forces like the BJP and the Congress,” Kejriwal after his hectic and back-breaking campaigning in the temple town. In Amethi, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has fielded Kumar Vishwas against Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi. Asked whether it was purely out of electoral reasons that he decided to contest in Varanasi, Delhi’s former chief minister Kejriwal said: “It is not so… Wherever the Aam Aadmi Party enters once, it maintains an everlasting tie with that place and its people.” “We have come to Varanasi and we will never leave it,” he adds. Varanasi will go to the polls May 12. The contest between the Gujarat chief minister and Kejriwal is the most keenly-watched contest, in which the former seems to have the upper hand. Both the leaders filed their nomination papers accompanied by large numbers of supporters and their cavalcades. Modi’s road show – a day after Kejriwal’s – was joined by thousands, sending out a strong signal of his popularity. Besides Modi, Congress’ Ajay Rai is another contender. Asked about the number of seats AAP was hoping to muster in the house of 543, Kejriwal said: “We will get what people will give. I am not worried about the results. Imagine you seeing news on TV and coming to know that both Modiji and Rahul Gandhiji got defeated. The Congress will be destroyed and BJP will cease to exist,” he added. As to why the over a-year-old party did not wait for the 2019 general election, Kejriwal answered: “People said we should have contested 30 seats (in Lok Sabha) and gradually taken the graph higher, but that is conventional politics. Had we waited till 2019, the country would not have been there,” he said. Perhaps, the biggest challenge for Kejriwal is to justify his resignation from Delhi’s chief ministership to the voters of Varanasi. “You have only one point against me that I resigned from the post of Delhi chief minister. But I did no corruption whereas Modiji is the agent of Ambani.
The new Chief Justice of India, RM Lodha, on Sunday said he did not agree with the idea of having fixed tenure for chief justices of high courts and the CJI and favoured continuing with the collegium system for appointment of judges in higher judiciary.
Justice Lodha, who took over as 41st CJI, however, advocated wider consultation with people outside collegium “without tinkering” with the memorandum of procedure prescribed by Law Ministry in appointment of judges.
He differed with his predecessor Justice P Sathasivam who had said that there should be two-year fixed tenure for CJI and chief justices of high courts.
“My view will be little different on the issue. This institution works on discipline. The fixed tenure is bound to affect the next member. If there is a fixed tenure of CJI then the legitimate expectations of other judges would be taken away. Average tenure of Supreme Court judges is less than four years then how do you expect fixed tenure of two years for the CJI,” Lodha said while interacting with reporters.
He said that judicial institutions would run smoothly if good people with impeccable character are appointed judges and this would be his “top priority” along with bringing more transparency within the judicial system.
“My first priority would be to appoint judges in high courts and the Supreme Court. My mantra is appoint good judges and rest will follow on its own. If we have good judges then we would have entire new complexion of judiciary in the next 7 or 8 years down the line.
“I am bringing more transparency and wider consultation in appointment of judges. Consultations to be done with 2-3 judges outside the collegium and with 2-3 lawyers of impeccable integrity,” he said.
The CJI said he will be writing to all chief justices of high courts in the regard.
Justice Lodha also made it clear that wide consultation for appointment of judges does not in any manner mean that he was making any reservation on the collegium system of selection and appointment of judges.
“This (wider consultation) is only for additional inputs. There is no tinkering with the memorandum of procedure prescribed by the Ministry of Law,” he said and added that “other than the collegium system there is no other suitable system (for appointment of judges).”
On the issue of judges’ kith and kin practising in the same high court, Justice Lodha said that there is nothing that a judge can do in such matters and it is up to the Bar to be “pro-active” and take action.
“Bar has the disciplinary control over the members. It is for the bar to take action and closely follow the conduct of the members. What can a judge do if some lawyers do not adhere to ethics. Rules are there and bar has to take action,” he said.