Resume Work : Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel

Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel today asked the employees of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to resume work saying the existing airports at Hyderabad and Bangalore would continue to remain operational for general aviation (corporate and business jets), defence purposes and national emergencies.

However, the airports would not be open for commercial operations, he said, adding the “interests of the AAI employees at these airports will be fully protected.”

The employees are on strike against the proposed closure of the two airports once the private greenfield facilities start functioning.

All reserved activities such as security, immigration, Customs and air-traffic control would continue to be under government control, Patel told Parliament.

Patel’s statement is a change from the government’s earlier stand that the two airports would be closed for aviation operations.

However, Patel’s offer has been rejected by the employees’ union. “The agitation will continue. The government’s earlier assurances did not materialise. We would like to sit across the table and sort out the matter,” said union leader Dilip Gurjar.

The Centre has invoked the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) to thwart any full-fledged strike that the current non-cooperation may lead to.

“Flight operations have remained normal and there is by and large no impact on air traffic services at the airports,” said an AAI spokesperson.

There were reports from Hyderabad (220 air traffic movements daily), Kolkata and Bangalore (300 movements and 28,000 passengers daily) that housekeeping services and baggage-handling services had been mismanaged.

“The impact of the strike was visible on the housekeeping services at the airport, though we managed the baggage handling services well,” said an official of Hyderabad airport.

Bangalore airport reported a minor disruption but 90 per cent functioning was normal, said Director N Kaushal. The two other Metro airports at Delhi and Mumbai, which are run by private airport operators, handled the situation with ease.

“Flight movement was smooth here,” said a senior official at Delhi airport as the indefinite agitation by Airports Authority of India Employees Joint Forum began at midnight.

The forum claimed about 14,000 employees were on “indefinite non-cooperation movement” since the midnight of March 12, affecting operations at 127 airports.

About 2,000 workers at Mumbai airport did not report for work since the strike began but it had not affected operations, officials said.

Man Escapes from RAIL accident : IBN Video

INTEL Award for Indian-American High School girl

An Indian-American High School girl has bagged a whopping $ 100,000 Intel scholarship for developing a model to identify early stage colon cancer patients with a high risk for recurrence, beating competition from 1,600 others.

Shivani Sud, 17, of North Carolina won the Intel Foundation's top award aimed at honouring the next generation of scientists and innovators in the US.

For her research project, Sud developed a model that analysed the specific ''molecular signatures'' of tumors from patients with stage II colon cancer.

She then used this information to identify those at higher risk for tumor recurrence and propose potentially effective drugs for treatment, Intel said in a media release.

''That proud feeling comes from doing what I do and not just the acknowledgment of it,'' Sud, who attends Jordan High School, was quoted as saying by The News and Observer of Durham.

Sud said her interest in cancer research started very early on as a result of a relative developing cancer.

''I saw how hard that was for my family, I saw how that kind of changed my outlook on life, because when you're six years old, you don't think about topics such as death or dying from this type of cancer -- having your life change drastically,'' she said.

This year's Intel Science Talent Search finalists came from 19 states and represented 35 high schools throughout the United States.

Hockey Federation chief KPS Gill Refuses to RESIGN :

Despite India's disgraceful exit from the Olympics qualifier, hockey federation chief KPS Gill has said he had no intention of resigning from the post.

The Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) president denied giving any 'instant coffee' remark. "I never made this statement."

Gill said that the focus of the IHF was on juniors and not seniors. He emphasised that the federation has done well in that regard.

Defending himself over the Olympics qualifier issue, Gill pointed to the fact that India had won 10 major hockey tournaments during his 14-year tenure.

"When I took over we were nowhere in hockey. From 1998 till now, we have won approximately 10 major titles," he said.

"You have to see the effort, it is not only the federation. When you call it a National Game it has to be a national effort. It becomes a national sport through symbiosis through the government, IHF and Sports Authority of India. Now for four years, the training centres for hockey were non-existent," said Gill.

Another justification that Gill gave on the recent hockey debacle was that India's performance at world cup has always been bad.