Business
India’s air passenger traffic to surpass pre-Covid numbers: Scindia

India’s civil aviation sector has emerged stronger from Covid-19 and passenger traffic will surge to 410 million by 2024-25, surpassing the pre-pandemic numbers, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Friday.
Before Covid struck, the passenger throughput (both domestic and international) was 344 million. With international operations set to resume from March 27, the minister exuded confidence that by 2022-23, the number will reach close to 300 million passengers and grow further to 410 million by 2024-25.
The minister was speaking at the inaugural session of Wings India 2022, Asia’s largest civil aviation show being held at Begumpet Airport in Hyderabad.
“I am confident in days to come, when you look at combination of domestic and international passengers, the throughput in India which was close to 344 million passengers in 2018-19 prior to Covid will reach close to 300 million by the year 2022-23 and by by 2024-25 we will surpass 410 million passengers creating a new history in India,” he said.
The minister said the aviation sector has gone through tremendous change during Covid. “The number of air passengers in India in 2018-19 was 140 million but then we got hit by Covid but even through this Covid period between the first wave and the second wave and between the second wave and the third wave if there is one sector which reemerged strongly it is the civil aviation,” he said.
He pointed out that post the second wave the sector recovered to reach close to 3.9 lakh passengers per day against the pre-covid number of close to 4.1 lakh passengers. “We were almost back to pre-Covid numbers but then Omicron came and again those numbers dipped to 1.6 lakh passengers per day. Post third wave numbers have again come back close to 3.83 lakh passengers,” he said.
“I am very confident that our sector in days and months to come with the next year will surpass pre-Covid number of 4.1 lakh passengers per day,” the minister added.
He said the international passengers were close to 60 million in 2018-19 but fell to almost 10 million, “But today I am glad that from day after tomorrow we are opening up 100 per cent of international operations so that India can once again reconnect to the rest of the world.”
Scindia said buildings of airports and other infrastructure powers the economic growth. “Civil aviation has an economic multiplier of 3.1. This means every dollar invested in the area of civil aviation yields economic output of 3.1 dollars. It is also an employment multiplier. The economicA multiplier effect is 1:6.1. It means that every direct employment created in area of civil aviation creates 6.1 indirect jobs. Both in terms of employment and output this is one of the largest employment and output generating sectors in the economy,” he said.
Airports Authority of India (AAI) chairman Sanjeev Kumar said domestic traffic has almost come to pre-Covid level and hoped that with the reopening of international air traffic from March 27, the international sector will also reach pre-Covid level soon. He exuded confidence that the double-digit growth would soon return to Indian aviation sector.
Stating that various stakeholders had paused expansion decisions due to the pandemic during last two years, he said the time has come to resume working on these decisions.
Civil aviation secretary Rajiv Bansal the sector is poised for remarkable growth. He said the growth would be across spectrum of the sector. He said UDAN scheme would be further strengthen to provide air connectivity to tier III and tier IV cities.
Ministers from France, Laos and Nepal and delegations from 22 countries are participating in the four-day event organised jointly by the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI). Various stakeholders have set up 125 stalls in the exhibition area spread over 8,000 square meters.
National
Kerala steps up Covid-19 testing as cases increase

Thiruvananthapuram, June 3: With the number of Covid-19 positive cases increasing in Kerala, the Health Department has decided to come out with fresh protocols.
With around 1,435 patients turning positive for the virus, Kerala has the highest number of Covid-19 cases in the country.
The directions have been given that all patients arriving with a fever at hospitals have to undergo Covid-19 tests.
Since fresh Covid cases started registering till now, eight Covid-positive patients have passed away.
Those patients coming with a fever will have to do an antigen test first, and if it is positive, they will have to take the RT-PCR test.
An advisory has been issued that those having health issues should use masks.
By-standers of those who are admitted to hospitals have to use masks, and all Covid positive cases have to be admitted to a separate ward.
Another reason why the health authorities decided to come out with fresh directions is that educational institutions in the state have opened on Monday, and a fever is raging in the state.
Meanwhile, while the fresh guidelines came out on Tuesday, in most private hospitals, all patients undergoing surgery had to come with a Covid-19 negative certificate, and this was being done as a matter of abundant caution.
Notably, the Covid-19 cases in the country have risen to 4,026 till 8 a.m. on Tuesday, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
Five fresh deaths were reported in the past 24 hours, taking the total number of fatalities to 37.
On Monday, Health experts assured that there is no need to panic as the current infection wave is unlikely to cause a higher burden on hospitals.
This fresh wave has been caused by two new coronavirus variants, NB.1.8.1 and LF.7, mutations of the Omicron offspring JN.1 variant. Both were found in India, as per data from the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG), set up under the Ministry of Health.
National
Op Sindoor: India hit 9 terror bases in Pakistan, latter’s dossier reveals ‘more targets hit’

New Delhi, June 3: India struck deeper and wider inside Pakistan during Operation Sindoor than it officially acknowledged, a confidential Pakistani dossier on its internal military Operation ‘Bunyan un Marsoos’ has revealed.
The dossier, accessed by NDTV, documents at least eight additional Indian airstrikes that were not previously disclosed by Indian defence authorities.
Maps within the Pakistani dossier show Indian strikes on key cities such as Peshawar, Jhang, Hyderabad in Sindh, Gujrat in Punjab, Gujranwala, Bahawalnagar, Attock, and Chor — locations that were not publicly mentioned by the Indian Air Force or the Director General of Military Operations during the press briefings held after the May 7 counteroffensive.
The new details shed fresh light on the scale of Operation Sindoor and are being viewed as a significant factor behind Pakistan’s urgent call for a ceasefire.
Operation Sindoor was launched by India against the nine high-value terror hubs in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) following the dastardly Pahalgam terror attack, in which terrorists associated with an offshoot of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba killed 26 civilians, including one Nepali national.
The dossier contradicts Islamabad’s earlier claims of having inflicted heavy losses on India and instead underscores the depth of damage suffered on Pakistani soil.
Indian defence sources had already outlined the strike’s magnitude, including the targeting of key terror hubs across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, in retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack.
While initial briefings named several high-value targets, including the Jaish-e-Mohammed headquarters in Bahawalpur and the Lashkar-e-Taiba camp in Muridke, the revelation of deeper incursions suggests a strategic decision by New Delhi to allow Pakistan to reveal the full extent of the damage.
The newly disclosed targets reportedly include both military and dual-use installations in urban centres far beyond the areas acknowledged by India, indicating a far more ambitious and calculated military operation than previously understood.
Earlier satellite imagery released by Maxar Technologies had already confirmed extensive damage at several sites, corroborating Indian claims of precision strikes against terror infrastructure.
The nine locations initially confirmed by India included Muzaffarabad, Kotli, Rawalakot, Chakswari, Bhimber, Neelum Valley, Jhelum, Chakwal, and the aforementioned terror bases.
Despite India’s clear statement that its actions were confined to targeting terror facilities, Pakistan responded with a barrage of drone and missile attacks against Indian civilian areas, religious infrastructure and military posts along the western front.
India’s counter-response included the targeting of 11 Pakistani air bases — Nur Khan, Rafiqui, Murid, Sukkur, Sialkot, Pasrur, Chunian, Sargodha, Skardu, Bholari, and Jacobabad — causing substantial military damage.
This unprecedented escalation, lasting three days, eventually forced Pakistan to request a ceasefire, a move widely interpreted as a sign of the heavy losses it sustained.
New Delhi, meanwhile, has reiterated that Operation Sindoor has redefined India’s counter-terrorism policy and emerged as India’s ‘new normal’ against terrorism, turning any major terror attack into a declaration of war.
The Pakistani dossier, now unintentionally validating India’s operational narrative, reflects the shifting paradigm of India’s military posture.
National
PM Modi speaks to Assam and Sikkim CMs, Manipur Governor on flood situation, assures full support

New Delhi, June 3: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday dialled the Chief Ministers of Assam and Sikkim, as well as Manipur Governor Ajay Bhalla, to take stock of the flood situation in the northeastern states and offered all possible assistance in dealing with the flood menace.
The northeastern states, including Assam, Sikkim, Tripura, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh, have been battered by heavy rains in the past few days, thereby bringing life to a standstill and cutting off the key supply chain to remote locations in these states.
PM Modi assured Assam and Sikkim CMs, as well as the Manipur Governor, of all possible assistance from the Centre in the ongoing relief and rehabilitation efforts.
The incessant rains in the northeast states, including Assam, Sikkim and Manipur and other adjoining regions, have caused water levels in rivers to swell to menacing levels. Major rivers of the region, including Brahmaputra, Pachnoi, and Kushiyara, are said to be flowing at alarming levels. Lakhs of hectares of land have been inundated, confining people to their homes and forcing those living in low-lying areas to move to safer locations.
Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma also took to X to inform that PM Modi called him to inquire about the flood situation in the state.
“I briefed the Prime Minister on how continuous rainfall in Assam and adjoining states has led to flooding and impacted many lives. I also apprised him of the relief operation undertaken by the state government,” he informed on X.
“The Prime Minister expressed concern and assured full support from the Central Government for our relief and rehabilitation efforts. Grateful for his guidance and unwavering support to the people of Assam,” he further said.
Sikkim CM Prem Singh Tamang, taking to X, thanked the Prime Minister for extending support regarding the landslide and flood situation in the state.
He also reiterated that the state administration remains fully committed to managing the situation and providing all necessary assistance to those affected.
In Manipur, the Army and Assam Rifles personnel are collectively carrying out the relief operation. They have so far rescued over 1,000 flood-hit people in Imphal East and Imphal West districts, grappling with a serious flood situation.
A flood bulletin issued by the Manipur administration on Monday informed that more than 56,000 people remained affected in at least 174 villages.
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