The Indian government has extended its Visa-On-Arrival (VOA) facility to four more countries, viz. The Philippines, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam (all ASEAN countries).
Before this the government offered this facility in January 2010 to five other countries, viz. Singapore, Japan, Luxembourg, Finland and New Zealand.
Some key features of the said facility –
It will initially be available at the airports of New Delhi, Calcutta or Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai.
It will allow a traveler a single entry facility with a validity of 30 days.
A passenger will have to pay a fee of $60 for availing the facility.
One passenger will be allowed to avail the facility for not more than 2 times in a calendar year. And there must be a minimum gap of 2 months between the two occasions when he will avail the facility.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Monday, December 27, 2010
My “Time-Efficient” Way To Read Newspaper
I love to keep regular track of all that is happening in the world, I mean all those incidents and developments that we collectively call current affairs.
At the same time now-a-days I do not get that much time to devote to reading the daily newspaper. There was a time I used to read newspaper like anything, virtually covering every sentence of every page (note: I said “virtually”). This habit of “eating the newspaper like a hog” was there with me till the beginning of my professional life. And then I realized that I had entered a life where I could not afford to give so much time for newspaper reading. Because in the morning I am in a hurry to get myself ready for the office. And when I come back, that time I like to have some quality time with my family rather than reading the newspaper.
But at the same time I did not want to give up my passion for keeping myself updated of all the latest news across the world, ranging from global politics to Indian corporate scenario.
So I have started following a simple formula, which I think many of you people also follow. And what’s that?
Well, it is actually something very simple. After opening the newspaper I just keep running through all the news. What I mean is that while reading a particular news piece, I never go through the entire news. Rather I quickly go through just the first 2 or 3 paragraphs. And you bet, I manage to get at least a gist of the news from that around 3 paragraphs. And then I quickly rush for another news piece. Sometimes I even manage to gather the basic news just by looking at the headline.
And, in this way I manage to finish the entire newspaper in around 15-20 minutes (sometimes I may take around 30 minutes, though), without compromising on reading any of the news pieces of my interest.
In case I overlook or miss any key part of a news piece, I get it “rectified” through another method. During lunch breaks or coffee breaks at office I discuss various current affairs issues with my colleagues (albeit in a casual manner). And then I manage to gather a key part of a news piece that I missed while going through it in the morning newspaper.
I suppose I am not alone who follows this formula of reading newspaper. Many of you also do the same, right?
At the same time now-a-days I do not get that much time to devote to reading the daily newspaper. There was a time I used to read newspaper like anything, virtually covering every sentence of every page (note: I said “virtually”). This habit of “eating the newspaper like a hog” was there with me till the beginning of my professional life. And then I realized that I had entered a life where I could not afford to give so much time for newspaper reading. Because in the morning I am in a hurry to get myself ready for the office. And when I come back, that time I like to have some quality time with my family rather than reading the newspaper.
But at the same time I did not want to give up my passion for keeping myself updated of all the latest news across the world, ranging from global politics to Indian corporate scenario.
So I have started following a simple formula, which I think many of you people also follow. And what’s that?
Well, it is actually something very simple. After opening the newspaper I just keep running through all the news. What I mean is that while reading a particular news piece, I never go through the entire news. Rather I quickly go through just the first 2 or 3 paragraphs. And you bet, I manage to get at least a gist of the news from that around 3 paragraphs. And then I quickly rush for another news piece. Sometimes I even manage to gather the basic news just by looking at the headline.
And, in this way I manage to finish the entire newspaper in around 15-20 minutes (sometimes I may take around 30 minutes, though), without compromising on reading any of the news pieces of my interest.
In case I overlook or miss any key part of a news piece, I get it “rectified” through another method. During lunch breaks or coffee breaks at office I discuss various current affairs issues with my colleagues (albeit in a casual manner). And then I manage to gather a key part of a news piece that I missed while going through it in the morning newspaper.
I suppose I am not alone who follows this formula of reading newspaper. Many of you also do the same, right?
Uttarakhand Government’s Blatant Violation Of Indian Forests Protection Act
Uttarakhand’s Lachchiwala reserve forest area is witnessing shameless felling of lush green trees, with the number of felled trees having already crossed 300.
And this massacre of trees is being done at the behest of the state government itself. Reason? Well, it is being done for the development of a herbal garden that will be spread over 5 acres of the forest area. In fact, this herbal garden initiative is reportedly a dream project of the Uttarakhand Chief Minister, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank.
Unfortunately, the state government has completely overlooked (or given a damn to) this fact that this mindless felling of trees of kukat, kher, semal, sheesham, silver oak and kaju has completely violated the Indian Forests Protection Act of 1927.
Is the Uttarakhand government being run by ministers and bureaucrats who are not adequately aware of the laws of the country? Or is it so that they give a damn to those laws that cross the path of their own ideas and ideologies?
And this massacre of trees is being done at the behest of the state government itself. Reason? Well, it is being done for the development of a herbal garden that will be spread over 5 acres of the forest area. In fact, this herbal garden initiative is reportedly a dream project of the Uttarakhand Chief Minister, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank.
Unfortunately, the state government has completely overlooked (or given a damn to) this fact that this mindless felling of trees of kukat, kher, semal, sheesham, silver oak and kaju has completely violated the Indian Forests Protection Act of 1927.
Is the Uttarakhand government being run by ministers and bureaucrats who are not adequately aware of the laws of the country? Or is it so that they give a damn to those laws that cross the path of their own ideas and ideologies?
Gujjars’ Quota Agitation: Isn’t It A Contempt Of Court?
I do not know how much right I am. But I personally feel, very strongly, that the ongoing Gujjar agitation for quota hike is a case of contempt of court. Their quota hike demand has been declined not by the Rajasthan government, but by the Rajasthan High Court. And by openly refusing to accept the Rajasthan High Court’s verdict, the Gujjar agitators have shown strong disrespect for the Indian judiciary. And I feel it qualifies, at least to some extent, to be a case of contempt of court.
I would have understood if there were no democratic way to challenge the Court’s decision. But that is not the case. The Gujjar agitators had the opportunity to appeal in a higher court challenging the Rajasthan High Court’s decision. But instead of doing that they went for certain disruptive activities in the name of protests and agitation.
There is another issue that I want to highlight here. One of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Indian Constitution is the “Freedom to assemble peacefully without arms”. And it is this fundamental right that many pressure groups, etc. use (and exploit) while launching their protest/agitation. And these Gujjar agitators are also using precisely this fundamental right to launch their protests.
However, we often forget that while guaranteeing the fundamental rights, the Indian Constitution has also mentioned that no such right is “unlimited”. And no person/group of people can exercise a fundamental right that will hamper the fundamental right of other people.
By disrupting the train movements the Gujjar agitators are depriving the train passengers of one key fundamental right guaranteed by the same Indian Constitution – “Freedom to move freely throughout the territory of India”.
More significantly, can such an assembly be called a “peaceful assembly” which resorts to activities like disruption of train services, thereby creating so much trouble for so many innocent people?
I would have understood if there were no democratic way to challenge the Court’s decision. But that is not the case. The Gujjar agitators had the opportunity to appeal in a higher court challenging the Rajasthan High Court’s decision. But instead of doing that they went for certain disruptive activities in the name of protests and agitation.
There is another issue that I want to highlight here. One of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Indian Constitution is the “Freedom to assemble peacefully without arms”. And it is this fundamental right that many pressure groups, etc. use (and exploit) while launching their protest/agitation. And these Gujjar agitators are also using precisely this fundamental right to launch their protests.
However, we often forget that while guaranteeing the fundamental rights, the Indian Constitution has also mentioned that no such right is “unlimited”. And no person/group of people can exercise a fundamental right that will hamper the fundamental right of other people.
By disrupting the train movements the Gujjar agitators are depriving the train passengers of one key fundamental right guaranteed by the same Indian Constitution – “Freedom to move freely throughout the territory of India”.
More significantly, can such an assembly be called a “peaceful assembly” which resorts to activities like disruption of train services, thereby creating so much trouble for so many innocent people?
Thursday, December 23, 2010
India’s Parsi Community Is Facing Extinction, Thanks To Their Own Fault
India’s respectable Parsi community – a community to which our country owes so many stalwarts from so many fields – is on the verge of extinction.
So why is the community on verge of extinction? Well, I suppose we all know the reason. The reason is an alarmingly low fertility rate that has been plaguing the community for quite some time now.
But why does the community suffer from such a disturbing fertility rate? I suppose that is also known to more-or-less all of us.
There are mainly two reasons.
The first reason is a general trend of late marriage in the Parsi community. This practice of late marriage naturally impacts the fertility potential of Parsi women, eventually resulting in a steady decline in the Parsi population.
However, the second factor that has contributed to the current status of Parsi population is more significant. It is actually an archaic practice that is, in a blunt language, very unhealthy. It is a practice of strictly precluding a Parsi man or women from marrying outside his or her community. And what will happen if a Parsi person marries somebody from outside his/her community? Well, in that case he/she will face Excommunication. In plain speak, he/she will be banished from the Parsi community.
For several generations the Parsi community has been following this practice of intra-community marriage, and today probably every Parsi man has some sort of blood relation with every Parsi woman. And so the marriage between them will obviously bear the risk of adversely affecting the health of their child.
It is high time that our Parsi friends shed off their flawed idea of ethnic purity, and look beyond their own community for matrimonial relationships. They must remember that no matter how old a custom or practice is, it cannot be more important than the survival of their community. After all, what is the meaning of adhering to a custom when it poses a threat of extinction to the very community that is practicing it?
I earnestly appeal to the elders of the Parsi community to “banish” this archaic custom of excommunicating Parsis who marry people from outside their own community.
The Parsi community has been a very resourceful community for India, and our motherland cannot afford to lose it.
(Note: I sincerely apologise in advance if anything in this write up hurts the religious or ethnic sentiment/emotion of any Parsi friend).
So why is the community on verge of extinction? Well, I suppose we all know the reason. The reason is an alarmingly low fertility rate that has been plaguing the community for quite some time now.
But why does the community suffer from such a disturbing fertility rate? I suppose that is also known to more-or-less all of us.
There are mainly two reasons.
The first reason is a general trend of late marriage in the Parsi community. This practice of late marriage naturally impacts the fertility potential of Parsi women, eventually resulting in a steady decline in the Parsi population.
However, the second factor that has contributed to the current status of Parsi population is more significant. It is actually an archaic practice that is, in a blunt language, very unhealthy. It is a practice of strictly precluding a Parsi man or women from marrying outside his or her community. And what will happen if a Parsi person marries somebody from outside his/her community? Well, in that case he/she will face Excommunication. In plain speak, he/she will be banished from the Parsi community.
For several generations the Parsi community has been following this practice of intra-community marriage, and today probably every Parsi man has some sort of blood relation with every Parsi woman. And so the marriage between them will obviously bear the risk of adversely affecting the health of their child.
It is high time that our Parsi friends shed off their flawed idea of ethnic purity, and look beyond their own community for matrimonial relationships. They must remember that no matter how old a custom or practice is, it cannot be more important than the survival of their community. After all, what is the meaning of adhering to a custom when it poses a threat of extinction to the very community that is practicing it?
I earnestly appeal to the elders of the Parsi community to “banish” this archaic custom of excommunicating Parsis who marry people from outside their own community.
The Parsi community has been a very resourceful community for India, and our motherland cannot afford to lose it.
(Note: I sincerely apologise in advance if anything in this write up hurts the religious or ethnic sentiment/emotion of any Parsi friend).
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
AI Domestic Loses Spot To IndiGo – Another Indication Of Indian Domestic Passengers’ Preference For LCC?
An Indian civil aviation sector watcher may not find it very striking to know that Air India Domestic has lost its 3rd position in terms of domestic market share (the 1st and 2nd positions are held by Jet Airways and Kingfisher respectively).
But it is certainly at least a bit interesting to note that AI Domestic has lost its 3rd position to IndiGo, an LCC (low-cost carrier), and India’s youngest LCC for that matter.
IndiGo had been breathing on AI Domestic’s neck for quite some time, and finally overtook the latter in November 2010.
For some of us it may appear to be just an insipid piece of market data. However, as an ordinary watcher of the Indian civil aviation sector I feel that it is yet another implication that Indian domestic passengers are developing more preference for LCCs. We must not forget that both Jet Airways and Kingfisher have LCCs (JetLite, Jet Konnect, Kingfisher Red). And there are ample reasons to believe that their LCC services have contributed a lot in helping these airlines to occupy the top two market positions.
I feel Air India should introduce a domestic service of its international LCC, AI Express, at the earliest.
But it is certainly at least a bit interesting to note that AI Domestic has lost its 3rd position to IndiGo, an LCC (low-cost carrier), and India’s youngest LCC for that matter.
IndiGo had been breathing on AI Domestic’s neck for quite some time, and finally overtook the latter in November 2010.
For some of us it may appear to be just an insipid piece of market data. However, as an ordinary watcher of the Indian civil aviation sector I feel that it is yet another implication that Indian domestic passengers are developing more preference for LCCs. We must not forget that both Jet Airways and Kingfisher have LCCs (JetLite, Jet Konnect, Kingfisher Red). And there are ample reasons to believe that their LCC services have contributed a lot in helping these airlines to occupy the top two market positions.
I feel Air India should introduce a domestic service of its international LCC, AI Express, at the earliest.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Possible Extension Of Deadline For Phasing Out Expat Pilots In India
The Indian government is likely to extend the 31st July 2011 deadline for phasing out expatriate pilots. If that happens, then it will be a great relief for the Indian carriers, who have been very vocal about their dependence on pilots from foreign countries.
The Indian carriers and cargo airlines have said that they will collectively require 2,665 expat pilots till 2015. And they have also made it very clear that in case their demand is not met, then they will be forced to ground a huge number of their collective aircrafts. Needless to say that if that happens, then it will have a very adverse impact on the Indian aviation scenario.
However, while the Indian carriers have lobbied for a 5 years extension for the deadline, the DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) has made a recommendation to the Indian government for an extension of 2 years. And it is a 2 years extension that the government is currently considering, though a final decision in this regard is still pending.
Presence of a huge number of expat pilots is certainly not a comfortable scenario for wannabe Indian pilots with licenses from Indian training institutes, as it severely shrinks their employment opportunities. Under that circumstance, they will certainly not be able to welcome a decision to extend the deadline for phasing out expat pilots.
However, the Indian government certainly cannot afford to have a situation where all the Indian carriers will be forced to ground a huge number of their total aircrafts overnight, eventually resulting in a temporary but serious disorder for the Indian civil aviation market.
Then there is also the question of security. Many Indian airlines fly such aircrafts that can be flown only by expat pilots. And the Indian pilots cannot overnight be given the responsibility of flying those aircrafts until and unless they have picked up the necessary expertise. It is a question of passenger security.
So now the Indian Civil Aviation Ministry has to espouse a balanced approach. On one hand it has to offer the necessary extension as sought by the Indian carriers. But at the same time the government must ensure that the Indian carriers start taking steps so that soon they are able to employ Indian pilots. For example, the carriers may start training Indian pilots on how to fly those aircrafts that reportedly can be flown only by expat pilots.
The Indian carriers and cargo airlines have said that they will collectively require 2,665 expat pilots till 2015. And they have also made it very clear that in case their demand is not met, then they will be forced to ground a huge number of their collective aircrafts. Needless to say that if that happens, then it will have a very adverse impact on the Indian aviation scenario.
However, while the Indian carriers have lobbied for a 5 years extension for the deadline, the DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) has made a recommendation to the Indian government for an extension of 2 years. And it is a 2 years extension that the government is currently considering, though a final decision in this regard is still pending.
Presence of a huge number of expat pilots is certainly not a comfortable scenario for wannabe Indian pilots with licenses from Indian training institutes, as it severely shrinks their employment opportunities. Under that circumstance, they will certainly not be able to welcome a decision to extend the deadline for phasing out expat pilots.
However, the Indian government certainly cannot afford to have a situation where all the Indian carriers will be forced to ground a huge number of their total aircrafts overnight, eventually resulting in a temporary but serious disorder for the Indian civil aviation market.
Then there is also the question of security. Many Indian airlines fly such aircrafts that can be flown only by expat pilots. And the Indian pilots cannot overnight be given the responsibility of flying those aircrafts until and unless they have picked up the necessary expertise. It is a question of passenger security.
So now the Indian Civil Aviation Ministry has to espouse a balanced approach. On one hand it has to offer the necessary extension as sought by the Indian carriers. But at the same time the government must ensure that the Indian carriers start taking steps so that soon they are able to employ Indian pilots. For example, the carriers may start training Indian pilots on how to fly those aircrafts that reportedly can be flown only by expat pilots.
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