Swachh Bharat, Skill India 'transformative' schemes: Pranab Mukherjee Edit

Swachh Bharat, Skill India 'transformative' schemes: Pranab Mukherjee

President Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday hailed the Narendra Modi government's initiatives like Digital India,Swachh Bharat and Skill India as "transformative in nature".

"President of India President Mukherjee believes these programmes are transformative in nature and their successful implementation will alter the landscape of the country," said a reply on Facebook live chat from the President's page, where a question and answer session was organised on the eve of his four years in office.

The replies were made by Venu Rajamony, Press Secretary to the President.

Mukherjee urged Indians to dedicate themselves to the service of the nation.

"Citizens of India should dedicate themselves to the cause of the nation and society through constructive contribution to these programmes in every possible manner," he said in reply to one question.

The President also stressed the importance of teachers, saying: "Teachers are like the soft and skillful hands of a potter. They mould the destiny of thousands of students, in turn shaping the future of a nation."

In another reply, it was said that he "loves teaching and remembers his days as a teacher fondly".

Mukherjee was a teacher in Suri Vidyasagar College of West Bengal before joining politics.

However, the live chat evoked a lukewarm response from some net-savvy citizens who said very casual and "easy" kinds of questions were asked.(more)

India Aviation takes off, govt reaches out to industry

The fifth edition of India Aviation 2016 kicked off in Hyderabad on Wednesday with a focus on developing the country as a manufacturing and maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) hub, bringing to together airline promoters, chief executives and bureaucrats.

On the occasion, along with Make in India, the government also emphasised its focus on plans for regional connectivity, which received a boost in Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's Budget 2016.

The event also attracted three biggest airlines from the Gulf - Emirates from Dubai, United Arab Emirates' Etihad Airways and Doha's Qatar Airways, as these companies marked a presence for the first time in the biennial show.

Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said the first day of the five-day event saw participation from 25 countries, with ministerial-level participation from four countries. "The country's aviation sector has grown by about 35 per cent from the time the show was conducted in 2014, with an unparalleled 20 per cent growth in domestic traffic," said Raju.

The Indian aviation 2016 sector is witnessing its most buoyant period on the back of low fuel prices and passenger growth. According to estimates by International Air Transport Association, India's domestic air travel soared 22.9 per cent in January, compared to a year ago. Growth is being propelled by the comparatively strong domestic economy and increases in air services.

The Indian market overtook both Australia and Japan during 2015 and is currently level with Russia at around 1.2 per cent of global passenger traffic.

Emirates specially flew in its jumbo Airbus A380 for the show and Qatar Airways is displaying an Airbus A350, the latest in its fleet.

With India clocking the highest growth rate in the aviation sector for almost a year now, the country has become important for the airlines.