It is not Government’s duty to run airports and airlines; says Puri

 

The Civil Aviation Minister on Sunday said that the Government should not open airlinesas of now. He also added that he hopes that India will be able to privatize Air India during 2020.

The remark came amid the controversy in Kerala wherein the Kerala Government has shown its disagreement on the decision of the Union Cabinet to lease out the Thiruvananthapuram airport to Adani Enterprises under the public-private partnership (PPP) model for a period of 50 years. The decision was announced on August 19.

Puri was attending a virtual meeting on the Namo App, when he became vocal about the issue. He said, “I can tell you from my heart the government should not be running airports and the government should not be running airlines.” It is to be noted that The Centre-run Airports Authority of India (AAI) currently owns and manages over 100 airports including the one in Thiruvananthapuram.

Puri also talked about the privatization of Air India and said, “As a going concern, one that is attractive to potential bidders, we should privatize it (Air India). And I am hopeful that we will be able to complete that privatization process during this year.”

The Government started the process of privatization of Air India in January 27. Recently the government has to extend the deadline of bidding for the company till October 31 considering that the economy is severely hit by the COVID-19 outbreak. “If the government runs an airport or an airline, then they have to follow the government rules like L1 and L2, and that is not how commercial entities can run,” Puri said.

However, the Thiruvananthapuram airport issue has remained a core topic of discussion during the meeting. Earlier Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding the issue. “In view of the unilateral decision taken by the Government of India without giving credence to the cogent arguments put forward by the State government, it will be difficult for us to offer cooperation to the implementation of the decision, which is against the wishes of the people of the State,” he said in the letter.

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We will eliminate Hindu specific regions only, Pakistan threatens of nuclear war

 Pakistanhas once again given a statement about starting a war with India. The country has warned that they can start a nuclear war against India at any time and claimed that they have specialized weapons which would spare the Muslim population while eliminating the Hindu regions specifically.

Pakistan Minister Sheikh Rashid claimed that the weapons that Pakistan currently has are very compact and precise to the operations. He was attending an interview with a Pakistani media channel Samaa TV.

The minister clarified that they will be targeting the Hindu region in India specifically and added that even Assam now is counted as a Hindu region. Rashid went ahead stating that there is no option with Pakistan related to convention war and if they started anything, it will declare the end.

"If Pakistan gets attacked by India, there is no scope for convention war. This will be a bloody and nuclear war. It will be a nuclear war for sure. We have very calculated weapons which are small and perfect. Our weapons will save Muslim lives and will only target regions. Pakistan range now even includes Assam. Pakistan has no option in convention war; therefore India knows if something will happen it will be the end," said Rashid.

This, however is not the very first time when Pakistan threatened India for nuclear war. In last year, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan talked about nuclear war with India on Several occasions.

In August 2019, Khan had said, "I want to tell (Narendra) Modi that our Army is ready for anything they do in Kashmir (PoK). The world should know that when two nuclear countries face-off, the whole world will be harmed. I tell this to everyone I speak with,'' These remarks were made by Khan during the 'Kashmir Hour' rally.

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SC to announce verdict on CBI Probe for Sushant's death

 The Supreme Court today will give the verdict about whether or not the CBI should be handed over the probe of the mysterious death of Sushant Singh Rajput which is claimed to be suicide. Sushant died by suicide in Mumbai two months back.

The verdict will be pronounced by Justice Hrishikesh Roy on a petition filed by Rhea Chakraborty, Sushant's alleged girlfriend and actor, who with the plea has sought the transfer of the FIR lodged by Rajput's father in Patna to Mumbai, the place where Sushant committed suicide.

The FIR was referred to the CBI from the Bihar government with request to the agency to undertake the investigation of the case. But, Maharashtra Government did not accepted the request and instead demanded that the investigation must be handed over to Mumbai Police in whose jurisdiction the incident happened.

Before Justice Roy concluded the hearing on August 14, made clear that Rhea Chakraborty has no problems with the CBI probe. "You may be correct in saying that you have been a victim of media focus on the case but your stand is that if CBI probe is ordered into the incident, you have no objection," he had said.

"We do not know what is the role of Chakraborty in the case— witness, accused, complainant or nobody? Yet, she moves an application in the SC seeking transfer of the FIR to Mumbai. What is her interest in seeking transfer when she should be  interested only in a fair probe, irrespective of the agency  which investigates the case," Mehta had said.

Sushant Singh Rajput's death have become an international sensation as there are proofs emerging indicating it to be a murder and not a suicide. the verdict will decide who will be responsible for the probe and the issues can be sorted.

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