4 years of Narendra Modi: More Indians in airplanes now than in AC trains.

With India emerging as the third largest aviation market, air passenger traffic growth has been in the range of 18-20 per cent over the past three years.

Latest News – The number of flyers in India is more than those travelling in AC coaches of trains, documents released to mark the fourth anniversary of the Narendra Modi government show.

With India emerging as the third largest aviation market, air passenger traffic growth has been in the range of 18-20 per cent over the past three years.

“For the first time, more people travelled in airplanes than in AC trains,” according to the document, titled ‘saaf niyat, sahi vikas’ (clean intent, right development).

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while presenting the government’s report card at a rally in Cuttack last Saturday, had drawn the people’s attention to the rapid growth of the civil aviation sector in the country.

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Also Read : Some hits, some misses in Modi’s first term

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The Aviation Ministry is targeting a five-fold increase in passenger trips to one billion per annum in 15-20 years. The civil aviation sector will also see the addition of 1,000 aircraft in the Indian skies in the coming decade from about 550 aircraft today.

The document also said that domestic air passenger crossed 100 million in 2017. It said the National Civil Aviation Policy 2016 has been unveiled to transform the sector.

Under the present dispensation, the Civil Aviation Ministry had launched the Regional Connectivity Scheme or UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) to provide air connectivity to smaller towns and hilly terrains at affordable prices.

The ministry has claimed the scheme as a major success and pushing the number of operational airports in the country to about 100.

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Read More → 4 years of Narendra Modi

Bharat Bandh: Dalit protest death toll rises to 10

In the wake of violent protests, 16 additional companies of the SSB, four companies of the RAF, two companies of the STF, and 3,000 trainee constables have been deployed across Madhya Pradesh today.

Latest News : The Bharat Bandh called by Dalit groups protesting the apparent dilution of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) Prevention of Atrocities Act by the Supreme Court recently left at least ten people dead and hundreds injured as incidents of violence were reported across several states on Monday. Protesters were reported to have blocked trains, clashed with police, and set fire to private and public properties, including police posts. At the moment, reports say schools will remain shut in Uttar Pradesh’s (UP’s) Agra, Hapur, and Ghaziabad over the bandh. Whether schools and colleges in other states and cities, too, will stay closed is not clear yet.

Meanwhile, the Narendra Modi-led government moved the Supreme Court seeking a recall of its judgment on the SC/ST Act. While the SC declined an urgent hearing on a writ petition filed by the All India Federation of SC/ST Organisations against the verdict, the Congress demanded that the Centre bring an amendment to the said law in Parliament or file a “curative petition” in the apex court.

The government will on Tuesday mention the review petition in the top court for an early hearing.

With the Bharat Bandh protest in Madhya Pradesh (MP) claiming six lives, additional police and anti-riot forces are being deployed across the state. The Dalit protest saw curfew being imposed at several places. The Union Home Ministry, for its part, rushed 800 anti-riot policemen to MP and UP, and asked all states to take preventive steps to maintain public order and ensure the safety of lives and property. Thousands of people were detained following widespread incidents of firing, vandalism, and arson across over 10 states, several of them being BJP-ruled.

The Bharat Bandh call was supported by nearly all Opposition parties, which, along with Dalit organisations and Dalit members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies, had criticised the SC order on the SC/ST Act and asked the Centre to file a review petition. While the BJP accused Opposition parties of politicising the issue and contributing to the violence, the Opposition alleged that in several places, particularly in Agra and Gwalior, it was BJP workers who attacked protesters. The Congress, for its part, said that the Centre had taken the Bharat bandh call “lightly”, which resulted in the violence.