ANDHRA PRADESH
- Heli-tourism services to be relaunched from December 28
- The Visakhapatnam Metropolitan Region Development Authority (VMRDA) is going to relaunch heli-tourism services from December 28, marking the Visakha Utsav. The chopper rides will be available till January 16, 2019.
- The much-touted helitourism services were launched by chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu in December 2017.
- Later, the VMRDA constructed a permanent helipad in Rushikinda to operate the chopper on a continuous basis as the existing helipad in the Vuda Park falls into the air funnel zone. The services will resume again on December 28 to coincide with the Visakha Utsav-2017.
INTERNATIONAL
· IATA expects India to be set as third largest aviation market
- Global aviation bodyInternational Air Transport Association (IATA) said that India will be the third largest aviation market globally a year sooner than was earlier predicted. It is now expected to be among the top three countries by 2024. India currently holds the seventh position.
- In its latest 20-year forecast for the aviation industry, IATA said that air passenger numbers worldwide could double to 2 billionin 2037. IATA added that the other south-east Asian countries predicted to grow rapidly include Indonesia, likely to be the fourth largest by 2030 from its current ranking of the 10th largest aviation market. Thailand, too, is expected to enter the top 10 markets in 2030.
- IATA is a trade association of the world’s airlines.
- It consists of 290 airlines, primarily major carriers, representing 117 countries, the IATA’s member airlines account for carrying approximately 82% of total Available Seat Miles air traffic.
· India and Japan signed a currency swap agreement worth USD 75 billion
- India and Japansigned a currency swap agreement worth$75 billion. The agreement happened during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Japan. The agreement aimed at a great friendship between the two countries and to further strengthen the economic cooperation.
- It is expected that the swap arrangement should aid in bringing greater stabilityto foreign exchange and capital markets in India.
A currency swap involves the exchange of interest and sometimes of principal in one currency for the same in another currency - Interest payments are exchanged at fixed dates through the life of the contract.
NATIONAL
· A Rs.700 crore project to clean up courts has been proposed under Swachh Nyayalaya
- In the pre-launch function of the ‘Swachh Nyayalaya’ project, a Rs.700-crore project has been proposed to have clean courts, right from the Supreme Court and the High Courts to the 3,388 lower courts.
- Under the project, construction of toiletsfor both male and female lawyers and litigants, a facility that many courts sorely lack, has been planned. These toilets will be equipped with vending machines that will dispense sanitary napkins, toilet paper, band-aids, etc. Garbage segregation in courts is also being planned. Also, 11.4-132.3 11.4-132.3s0-89.4-11.4-132.3zm-317.5 213.5V175.2l142.7 81.2-142.7 81.2z"/> Subscribe on YouTube