AirAsia to offer fares as low as Rs 1,000

AirAsia may offer fares as low as Rs 1,000; may skip Mumbai-Delhi route NEW DELHI: AirAsia may avoid flying on the Mumbai-Delhi route and focus on smaller cities and the southern metros in a unique strategy to keep costs low and capture a larger slice of the fast-growing flying population in the rest of the country. The Tony Fernandes-run budget carrier, which rattled the aviation ministry and some of the country's established carriers by announcing an airline venture with the Tata Group last month, will focus on Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and northern cities like Jaipur, Ahmedabad, top airline officials have said. The decision is surprising as Mumbai and Delhi are the most lucrative flying routes with all domestic airlines having a presence. But flying to these airports is also expensive as landing and other charges are at least 25% higher than other airports. The cities also don't have low-cost airports. "We are going after a pan-India licence and not a regional one," Suresh Nair, AirAsia regional manager — India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, said, explaining the group strategy. "Avoiding Delhi and Mumbai doesn't make us a regional carrier because India is much beyond that. If we fly, say, Chennai-Ahmedabad or Chennai-Jaipur, that would mean national operations. We would fly wherever we can to keep cost of operations low," he added. The move is in sync with AirAsia's disruptive strategy and its desire to grab a bigger market share of passenger traffic outside the two big cities. A section of the travel fraternity still thinks that AirAsia would be able to offer competitive fares not only by adopting certain practices unique to them and but also those not yet tried in India. Having a domestic network helps cope with expensive airports but the costs involved in operating from Delhi and Mumbai will still be quite high for a budget carrier. Keyur Joshi, COO of Nasdaq-listed travel portal makemytrip.com expects the company to avoid some of the major cities, not just Delhi and Mumbai. "I expect them to avoid Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad to keep costs low. Indian airlines have not been able to negotiate with airport operators to resolve that. AirAsia may also prefer to add more frequencies on a route rather than going after many routes, something not yet tried in India," he added. In a conference call with reporters on February 21, Tony Fernandes said the airline will avoid Delhi and Mumbai. "We will avoid certain airports like Delhi and Mumbai because of high charges and also because these airports are slot constrained. We will stimulate the market first with low-cost structure and later as the airports are being developed, we would also look at these newer markets. India is a huge country and we are confident that we will succeed," Fernandes had said. It is not yet clear whether AirAsia will completely avoid these two cities, as in not ferry passengers from other destinations to the two top metros. Nair said the routes have not been finalised and can't yet make a comment. While AirAsia is entering the domestic market for the first time, it has been flying between several Indian cities and south-east Asian countries. The experience so far has not been very good. The airline plans to pull out of flying between Delhi and Bangkok and rival IndiGo has responded aggressively by doubling services on the same route. High airport charges forced it to withdraw services between Kuala Lumpur and Hyderabad in 2010 while its long-haul arm AirAsia X pulled out of Delhi and Mumbai in January last year for the same reason. "We don't know why airlines don't come together on these issues. Every rupee makes a difference. We also know that costs of a couple of airlines are very low but they are not offering that price to customers," Nair said. AirAsia may also offer fares as low as Rs 1,000 to lure passengers when it begins operations in India though a successful replication of its South-east Asian model may be difficult due to the country's high-cost structure. The Malaysian budget airline will start fares at Rs 999 for flyers wanting to book months in advance and hopes to make early booking a regular habit. News Credits:TOI

SBI identifies some properties of Kingfisher for attachment

SBI, the lead banker in the 17-lender consortium to Kingfisher Airlines, has identified some properties for attachment, according to a top SBI official. "Efforts are afoot to make some recoveries. Already certain properties have been identified towards attachment by the bank as against loans disbursed to the airline. Allocations have been made in the bank's NPA which stood at (around) Rs 22,000 crore as of Dec 2012," A Krishnakumar, Managing Director and Group Executive (National Banking) told reporters. A sub-committee has also been formed, involving about four banks to examine availability of assets of the borrower and will also solicit needful legal advisors before the next stage of opting for litigation, he said. It was last year reported that lenders to debt-ridden Kingfisher were considering selling the carrier's two properties in Mumbai and Goa worth Rs 120 crore to recover a part of the loans worth over Rs 7,500 crore.

How Narendra Modi shakes UPA, rocks Twitter in just 50 mnts

New Delhi, March 3: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi was in the limelight while delivering his 50-minute-long speech at the BJP conclave in New Delhi on Sunday, March 3.
Beginning from Gujarat development stories to Manmohan Singh-led UPA government's inability to take the nation to a better position, Modi mentioned everything in his speech.
"Nothing can save the Congress. But to save the nation, we have to stand united and present ourselves to the people," said Modi.
The Gujarat CM also asserted that the BJP has the power what UPA does not have.
Speaking about the party's Prime Ministerial candidate, Modi said, "It does not matter who is the PM candidate. We don't have the right to disappoint the nation."
Modi, who is also expected to get a place at BJP's central team ahead of the crucial Lok Sabha elections, criticised Manmohan Singh while asserting that Pranab Mukherjee would have been a better PM than the present one. Taking a dig at the Gandhi family, Modi said, "The Congress tradition is to sacrifice the interests of the country for one family. They even sacrifice the interests of the party." "I feel if Pranab Mukherjee was the Prime Minister instead of Manmohan Singh, we would have been where we are...Pranab Mukherjee has a connect with the people, understands the problems of India...but if he succeeded, then what would happen to the family," added the CM.
Meanwhile, micro-blogging site Twitter was flooded with tweets on Modi's speech. Hash tags related to his speech such as Narendra Modi, Namo, BJP Council were trending on the top of Twitter. Article credits:Nairita,Oneindia

Shri Narendra Modi at B.J.P National Executive New Delhi

Is Shri.A.K.Antony Hon:Defence Minister acting as a shining shield for the political establishment to deflect charges of wrong-doing ?

Quoting the Hindu editorial dt.February 16, 2013
When the United Progressive Alliance government chose Mr. Antony as Defence Minister, the rationale was not that the man with a strong reputation for probity would be able to prevent corruption in defence purchases, but that he would act as a shining shield for the political establishment to deflect charges of wrong-doing. But a clean image is no guarantee for efficiency in governance.
The fact that the Italians were investigating the payoffs made in the Indian deal was known last year itself but Mr. Antony was slow to act, apparently keener to avoid trouble than to find out the truth. The Bofors case was a classic instance of messed-up investigation and sloppy prosecution. The Italian chopper deal case must not be allowed to go the same way. The issue is not about the choice of specifications or helicopter, but about the kickbacks that have clearly been paid. Evidently, all manufacturers feel compelled to pay bribes disguised as commissions on a percentage basis to middlemen and lobbyists for obtaining supply orders from the Indian government. The Defence Minister needs to show some spine in going after the wrong-doers; otherwise the charges would recoil on him and his party.
Let us Hear the stalwarts of B.J.P in Parliament has to say about the issue
Every Indians should Watch this Video
Shri.Ravi Sankar Prasad

Shri Arun Jetley

Why this Muslim-majority town in Gujarat voted for Modi's BJP

Every Pseudo Secular Politicians and Media should watch this Videos and Truth



Additions
In 2009 A.P.Abdullakutty M.P from Kerala had the courage to tell this to the world
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CPM MP A P Abdullakutty suspended for praising Narendra Modi
Saturday, January 17, 2009
CPM MP A P Abdullakutty suspended for praising Narendra Modi
Breaking News! A day after he praised Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for adopting a perfect development model to woo investors to his state, CPM MP from Kannur, A P Abdullakutty, was suspended from the party for one year. According to the CPM sources, the decision to suspend Abdullakutty, was taken in order to maintain discipline in the party. Abdullakutty, a two-time MP from Kannur, defended his statement, saying he did nothing wrong by praising a Chief Minister, who put his state on the path of high growth and development. Abdullakutty also said he intended to trigger a positive debate on development irrespective of party politics.

Modi sweep: Muslim majority town elects all BJP candidates

Tuesday, February 12, 2013, Ahmedabad, Feb 12: It was a straight fight and the BJP created history by winning all 27 seats of town municipality in Salaya, a Muslim-majority town in Dwarka district. Salaya is know for its mega power project and now it will be known for giving Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi another triumph in the development agenda. Among BJP's 27 candidates, 24 were Muslims while remaining three were Hindus including one Scheduled Tribe (ST) candidate. The BJP's sweep in a township comprising 90 percent Muslims will take wind of many psedo-secular elements. Of the 27 seats spread over nine wards, BJP candidates won unopposed on four seats in state municipal elections. Voting for remaining 23 seats took place on Sunday (10th February) with Congress in straight fight with BJP. The Congress party candidates even lost deposit on three seats. Salaya has been enjoying fruits of development with Essar Energy's integrated energyc company establishing a power unit to generate 1200 mw. Salaya I is Essar Energy's first coal fired power project and has been built at a total investment cost of US$1.1 billion. Most of the power produced will be sold to the Gujarat state electricity utility, GUVNL, under a long term contract. When all the units are commissioned, the project is expected to generate nearly 2000 mw power. Salaya will also be getting a world-class marine infrastructure project with a state-of-the-art material handling facility. The bulk handling port will be capable of handling 20 MMTPA of cargo. The jetty is located in the Salaya Harbour, which is naturally protected by two islands - Kalubhar Tapu and Dhani Be. Essar has been conducting various projects under its social development initiative in Salaya. To empower the local women, Essar Foundation runs a stitching centre in Salaya. The Foundation is supporting the stitching center by providing skills and creating new business opportunities. This will also provide the associated families with an alternative source of income, by establishing market linkages. The stitching center at Salaya initially started as a small community program by the local Wagher Muslim Community Jamat, with the idea to provide skill development to the women without them having to leave their houses. The center is also imparting the women several life skills such as basic literacy, personality development, accounts and business entrepreneurship. News credits : Oneindia