R-Day closure: 100 flights to be cancelled daily between Jan 18-26 in Delhi

At least 100 domestic flights a day are expected to be canceled between January 18 and 26 from 10:30 am to 12:15 pm as part of annual Republic Day closure, the Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) said.

DIAL said it in a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) on Thursday. The authority which operates Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) said it has sought to minimize the inconvenience to the passengers. Approximately 1,000 flights are likely to be affected over a period of nine days This shutdown will also affect around 15,000 passengers daily.

This is for the first time that domestic airlines have been ordered to cancel their flights as till last year they were asked to reschedule their operations. International flights can reschedule their flights during the nine-day period this year.

On an average, Delhi airport handled 1,350 flights every day in 2017. According to officials, while the number of flight handled by the Delhi airport has been going up by 10-15 per cent every year, and the number of passengers by 20 per cent, there has been no corresponding rise in the airspace and terminal capacity, Hindustan Times said in a report.

According to domestic airlines, the short notice to cancel the flights would anger the passengers and they will have to face the brunt even when it is not their fault. Until last year they only had to reschedule their flight timings which was manageable as passengers could fly, said a senior executive on the condition of anonymity, Economic Times reported
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Centre bars JNU, Delhi University, IIT-D from receiving foreign funds

Prominent academic institutions like JNU, Delhi University, IIT Delhi, ICAR besides Supreme Court Bar Association are among several hundred organisations barred by the Centre from receiving foreign funds.

The registration of these institutions under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 2010 (FCRA) has been cancelled by the Union Home Ministry as these have failed to file their annual returns for five consecutive years.

No organisation is allowed to receive funds from abroad unless it is registered under the FCRA. It is mandatory under the law for such organisations to submit income and expenditure statement to the government annually else their registration is cancelled.

Among the institutions whose FCRA licence have been cancelled include Jawaharlal Nehru University, University Of Delhi, Indira Gandhi National Open University, Indian Institute Of Technology, Delhi, Panjab University, Indian Council Of Agricultural Research, Gargi College, Delhi and Lady Irwin College, Delhi, according to the documents accessed by PTI.
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Snag forces Paris-bound Air India flight to return to Delhi after take off

A technical snag on Sunday forced an Air India flight carrying 220 passengers from Delhi to Paris to return to the IGI international airport here over 90 minutes after take off.

The flight resumed three-and-a-half hours later after the aircraft, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, was replaced by another one.

"AI 143 departed from Indira Gandhi International airport at 1:58 pm but returned at 3.38 pm," said a spokesperson.

The substitute aircraft finally departed at 7.10 pm from New Delhi.
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