Rahul should apologise, withdraw allegations on Rafale deal, says BJP

Rahul Gandhi also renewed the demand for a joint parliamentary committee to probe the Rafale deal

Politics News: Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday cited a purported “dissent note” by some officials who negotiated the Rafale deal to assert that it demolished Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s claim of better pricing and faster delivery of the jets, and dismissed the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) report on the multi-billion pact as a “cover-up” that was “not worth the paper” it was written on.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) responded by demanding an apology from Rahul Gandhi, as the CAG had said in its report that the National Democratic Alliance deal was 2.86 per cent cheaper than the United Progressive Alliance one.

At a press conference, the Congress chief said even though he did not agree with the CAG’s submission, it still called the bluff of Modi, then Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who had told Parliament that the new deal was 9-20 per cent lower.

“The fact of the matter is that the new deal that… Modi signed gets India the aircraft later than the original deal,” Rahul Gandhi said. Hitting back, senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said, said in view of the Supreme Court order and the CAG report, Rahul Gandhi should withdraw his allegations and tender an apology. “The BJP demands that Rahul apologise as the SC order and the CAG report on Rafale jet deal have exposed his lies,” he added.

Indigo crisis: India facing pilot shortage; 2,000 more needed this year

According to CAPA Research, the country has over 7,963 pilots and will require an additional 17,000 pilots in the next 10 years

Economy News: The cancellation of over 30 flights by IndiGo has bought the growing shortage of pilots to the fore, especially when airlines are expanding their fleet. According to industry estimates, more than 100 new planes will be added in the next 12 months, a bulk of which will come from IndiGo alone, currently adding nine planes every month. As a result, around 1,500-2,000 additional pilots will be required in 2018-19 to fly new aircraft and tide over the existing crisis in the cockpit.

Despite more flights in operation, the number of additional commanders being recruited is slowing down. Aviation industry estimates the number of additional commanders recruited by carriers fell by around 10 per cent in 2017-18 over 2016-17. This was despite domestic carriers scrambling for more expatriates to make up for the dwindling pool of qualified home-grown commanders. According to CAPA Research, the country has over 7,963 pilots and will require an additional 17,000 pilots in the next 10 years, of which 9,000 first officers will be upgraded to commanders.

IndiGo currently has 3,100 pilots on its payroll. The carrier constitutes for 38 per cent of pilots recruited by domestic airlines. It also has a domestic market share of 41 per cent and is planning an aggressive overseas flightpath. It has over 1,250 captains, which effectively constitutes for over 31 per cent of the 4,000 commanders in service.

According to an airline executive, the ballpark figure of five to six commanders and an equal number of co-pilots, or a total of 12 per aircraft, is needed. “It also takes four to five years for a pilot to become a commander,” he said….(Read More)