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INTERVIEW OF THE WEEK

For Bhushan Ashok Gagrani Secretary Tourism to Mahrashtra Government & Managing Director (MD) of Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) "innovation" coupled with dedication is the mantra to success. Gagrani is an IAS officer of 1990 batch of the Maharashtra cadre. According to him one of the biggest achievements has been to bring tourism within the reach of a common man.

There are many firsts to the credit of this young, dynamic & enterprising bureaucrat as MD of the MTDC.Like development of full-fledged scuba Diving Centre on Konkan Coast (in Sindhudurga District).Bhushan Ashok Gagrani who is also MD of "Film City" as well holds the charge of Secretary Information & Public Relations(IPR) to the Mahrashtra Government. In a free & frank exclusive interview to <whispersinthecorrdors.com> he unfolded his plans regarding steps to boost tourism in this Western Indian state.

In reply to a question he said "MTDC's 90% accommodation facilities cater to budget tourists. It introduced "bed & breakfast" (B&B) accommodation concept in 1996 & has group accommodation & budget family accommodation at most of its units in Maharashtra. Every year MTDC plans & adds to new places/facilities for budget tourism. In the last & current financial year MTDC has added almost 100 such facilities all over the Maharashtra."He also stated that plans were afoot to work on first of its kind special entertainment zone near Mumbai with a large investment from private sector.

Gragrani who loves to chill out by playing squash has equal measure of passion for mountaineering.Here goes his interview-

1/ What new projects are you going to add/launch?

A- MTDC has launched the following new projects:
i) Full-fledged Scuba Diving Centre on Konkan Coast (in Sindhudurga District).
ii)A Rs. 300 crore coastal tourism development Plan.
iii)Started establishing R.V Parks & Campervan Tourism to develop Road tourism options in Maharashtra.
iv)Forming Umbrella body of all major players of Tourism like Off-beat tourism product providers, Tour-operators & local hotelier groups etc.
v)Arts & Craft village in Mumbai and Aurangabad.
vi)Eco-tourism project in Vidarbha region of the State.
vii) Narrow gauge luxury train in Vidarbha.
viii) Life size cave replicas of 4 caves of Ajanta to provide world class interactive multimedia experience to the visitors.

2/ What are your plans to hold the inbound traffic of domestic tourists?

A- The overall growth in economy, easy accessibility, improved communication & availability of spare time & money have all added to the impressive growth of Tourism ( both inbound & outbound ) up to 15% to 20 % per annum. Increase in Indian Outbound Tourism (Six million) compared to foreign inbound (Four million) gives the impression that inbounds or domestic tourist traffic is decreasing or need plans to hold this traffic.
Nevertheless, to increase the domestic tourist traffic Maharashtra is concentrating on:-
i) Improvement in infrastructure.
ii)Offering diversified tourism product.
iii)Attract private investment in the sector by offering incentives.
iv)Increase budget allocation.
v)Sharing developmental responsibility as

oForest & Eco Tourism.
oPilgrimage Tourism.
oRegional Tourism Development.
oNational & International projects with Central Financial assistance.
oMega projects through overseas funding.

vi)Exploit Area strength & focus accordingly e.g.
oVidharba - Forest & Eco Tourism
oWest Maharashtra/Marathwada - Historical/Heritage Tourism
oKonkan - Beach & Leisure Tourism
oPan Maharashtra - Pilgrimage Tourism.

3/ These day there is lot of stress on budget hotels. What is MTDC doing in that direction?

A- Stress has been on budget hotels by tourism players may be a recent phenomenon, but MTDC has right from its inception (1975) worked on this concept. MTDC's 90% accommodation facilities cater to budget tourists. It introduced "bed & breakfast"( B&B) accommodation concept in 1996 & has group accommodation & budget family accommodation at most of its units in Maharashtra. Every year MTDC plans & adds to new places/facilities for budget tourism. In the last & current financial year MTDC has added almost 100 such facilities all over Maharashtra.The state government has announced elaborate tourism policy, which gives wide range of incentives and tax exemptions to the investor in hospitality sector.

4/ Do you have plans for initiating projects under Public Private Partnership (PPP) principle? If yes then please give details.

A- Tourism's role in employment and wealth creation, its contribution to GDP, its rate of growth has forced all players in government & private to think of PPP. No sector can solely depend on government funding. For speedy growth & for reaping the benefit from the sector in time, private participation in projects & government facilitations can only lead to desired results. MTDC has been implementing PPP since last two decades. Almost 30 of its properties are run by private entrepreneurs. To give further boost to PPP Maharashtra has been preparing shelf plan for Tourism development. The state has introduced an investor friendly tourism policy, a pragmatic land policy & package scheme of incentives to investors in tourism sector. Plans are afoot to work on first of its kind special entertainment zone near Mumbai with a large investment from private sector.

5/ What steps are being taken in terms of infrastructure to hold increased flow of tourists to Maharashtra?

A- To cater to increased inflow of tourist to Maharashtra, the following steps are being taken:
oFour-fold increase in Tourism budget as compared to last Five year plan.
oResponsibility of Infrastructure development for tourism shared as follows
Forest Department - Forest & Eco Tourism.
Rural/Urban Development - Pilgrimage Tourism.
Tourism Department - State & National Tourism Projects.
oMega Infrastructure Projects like Rs. 500 Cr Ajanta Ellora Conservation & Development Project & Rs 300 Cr Coastal Tourism Development project have been undertaken.
oNew Tourism Policy, Land Policy and Package scheme of Incentive for attracting private investment to boost infrastructure.

6/ What are your major achievements ?

A- Major achievements are
oBrought tourism within the reach of common man.
oInvestor friendly Tourism policy.
oImplementing mega heritage projects e.g. Ajanta & Ellora conservation & development project and Coastal Tourism Development project.
oThe super luxury train "The Deccan Odyssey".

WE SAID THIS ON SEPTEMBER 3

The 123 agreement may be burried

The Indian politicians, bureaucracy, media & scientists may be busy breaking their heads on the 123 Agreement, but whispers in the Capitol Hill suggest that the agreement may be given a quiet burial. In this election year the Bush Administration may not be too keen to wreck up another controversy to itself. Opinion of Representatives House & Senate may be used to close doors on 123 Agreement.
( Did any media say other than Whispersinthecorridors.com? )

Pradeep Kumar to be Secretary Expenditure ?

It is widely believed that Secretary Disinvestments Pradeep Kumar will succeed Sanjeev Mishra as Secretary Expenditure after his superannuation. He is 1972 batch IAS officer of Haryana cadre.

CBI probing 12 IAS officers
The prime Indian investigating agency of CBI is reportedly probing different cases against 12 IAS officers of which seven are from Uttar Pradesh & two belong to the Madhya Pradesh cadre.

Cooling period of One year for retiring officers
Those officers of All India Services who wish to join after retirement, will now have to take permission from the Government, only if they want to join within one year of their retirement. However, those who join private sector, one year after their retirement from their official job will not have to seek the Government's permission.

Detailed Pay Commission report later
Sixth Pay Commission is reportedly preparing pay-structure to be submitted to the Finance Ministry. Detailed report is likely to be submitted later.

IRS officer quits
Ms Vanitha Vaidialingam is reported to have quit the service. 1984 batch IRS (IT) officer Ms Vanitha is likely to join MNC.

1993 batch IPS to get DIG rank in Jharkhand
Two 1993 batch IPS officers M S Bhatia and Murari Lal Meena are being promoted to the rank of DIG in Jharkhand in a couple of months

20 AIG level vacancies in MoEF
There are 20 vacancies at the AIG level in the Indian Ministry of Environment Forests. A panel of Indian Forest Service (IFS)officers belonging to batches from 1989 to 1998 is to be considered

Will Prabh Das be allowed to join Bhatinda Refinery ?
PMO has reportedly raised a query on Prabh Das's file for a 6.2.2 assignment with Mittals on the grounds that he was in the Petroleum Ministry and that the rules forbid any officer from going on deputation to an organization with which he has dealt with during the past five years.1981 batch West Bengal cadre IAS officer Prabh Das has been chosen to head the Bhatinda Refinery.

SAG level promotion to IES officers

As many as seven Indian Economic Service (IES) officers of the 1981 batch who have been promoted to the Senior Administrative Grade(SAG) i.e.Joint Secretary level.They are:Ashish Kumar Director Regional Evaluation Organisation(REO) has been sent as Economic Advisor in the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment,M.R.Anand Additional Economic Advisor(EA) in the Deparment of Economic Affairs(DEA) has been promoted as Economic Advisor in DEA itself, Gajendra Bhujbal Additional EA in DEA to EA in the Commerce department,Ms.Preeti Madan Director Planning Commission to EA to the office of the Directorate of Industrial Policy & Promotion(DIPP),Rajpal Bagaria Chief Director in the Directorate of Sugar has been given proforma promotion,Ms.Rugmini Parmar Director DIPP to EA in the Commission for Agricultural Cost & Prices(CACP),N.D.George Director Planning Commission to EA in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs & M.Mathisekharan CVO Tuticorin Port Trust to EA in the Forward Markets Commission Mumbai.Meanwhile,three SAG level IES officers were also transferred.They are: Ms.Vineeta Kumar EA in department of Commerce to the Department of Financial Services,Dr.Joseph Abraham EA in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs to the Tariff Commission & Ms.Sangeeta Verma who so far was Secretary to UP Electricity Regulatory Commission(UPERC)on deputation on her return has now been made EA in the Central Electricity Authority(CEA).

Poonam Sharma to join Aajtak
Poonam Sharma is reported to have quit the ESPN to join the Aajtak.

Rahate is Director RD
S K Rahate is new Director Rural Development in the Government of India. He is 1990 batch IAS officer of Jharkhand cadre.

Rekha Gupta to continue in Finance Ministry !

Rekha Gupta, an officer of 1975 batch of Indian Audit & Accounts Service is due for promotion to the post of Additional Secretary but she may have to wait for promotion and continue as Custodian in Finance Ministry. The Custodian office is a temporary office. It was created in 1992 after scam of Harshad Mehta. Extension is given to this office on yearly basis.

K P Mitra joins AP Govt on deputation
K P Mitra has joined Andhra Pradesh Government's Commission for sub-categorisation of SCs. He is an Indian Economic Service (IES) officer of the 1980 batch.

ISS Officer is without Posting for 5 months
Dr. Devender Verma, a JAG level 1982 batch officer of ISS, is without posting for 5 months despite vacancies at JAG level in the Service.

Railway postings
Ms. Surya Lakshmi Chellapalia, SS(Looking after in JAG)/East Coast Railway has been transferred to Southern Railway.C Hamza, SG/Metro Railway, presently working as DyFA&CAO has been transferred to Eastern Railway vice Ms. Binita Mitra who will move to Metro Railway.Ms. Geetha R Moro, SG/South Western Railway, presently working as DyFA&CAO(Const.) will move to Rail Wheel Factory.. Ram Adhar, SAG/Eastern Railway, should be tranferred to East Central Railway and posted as FA&CAO(C)/East Central Railway vicei S K Mallik, SAG, transferred to Railway Board.On return from leaveM S Khan, SAG/East Central Railway has been posted as FA&CAO. P K Jha, Group 'B' officer of Accounts Department of East Central Railway, presently working as Senior Accounts Officer (Traffic) has been transferred to Workshop Projects Office/Patna.

Chopra is New GM Southern Railway
Rakesh Chopra has taken over as General Manager of Southern Railway.

Former IAS join BSP in HP
Two former IAS officers, S.K. Alok and S.K. Justa have joined the BSP in Himachal Pradesh.,

Padhi in Planning Commission's TSG

Dr.Aravinda Kumar Padhi has been appointed as a member of Technical Support Group under National Food Security Mission by the Planning Commission.A Post graduate in Agrciculture Science with PHD in Entomology,Padhi is the Director, Agriculture and Food Production , Orissa.He is an Orissa cadre IAS officer who belongs to the 1996 batch.

IAS changes in Uttar Pradesh

Pawan Kumar and Ravindra have been appointed DMs of Oriya and Barabanki respectively.Leena Johari will now be Health.Alka Shrivastava has been made Project Director of UP Health System.

Sanjay Prasad is Director Health

Sanjay Prasad Additional Commissioner of Income Tax(CIT),Delhi on deputation has been posted as Director in the department of Health & Family Welfare for five years.He is an Indian Revenue Service(IRS) officer of the 1990 batch.

Avinash Mishra is Director Health

Avinash Mishra Additional Commissioner of Income Tax(CIT),Delhi on deputation has been posted as Director in the department of Health & Family Welfare for five years.He is an Indian Revenue Service(IRS) officer of the 1991 batch.

R.S.Sharma is Dy Secy Culture

Radhe Shyam Sharma Additional Commissioner of Income Tax(CIT)UP(W) on deputation has been posted as Deputy secretary Culture for four years.He is an Indian Revenue Service(IRS) officer of the 1993 batch.

Constitution of the 13th Finance Commission soon

Constitution of the 13th Finance Commission(FC) is on the anvil.Among other posts to be filled are of :Economic Advisor- one post,Joint Secretary -two posts,Director - four posts & Joint Director- three posts.

FORUM

Who should be the Cabinet Secretary?

GoI follows the British system where head of the civil service is also the Secretary to the Cabinet. This is not the case in other parliamentary systems like Japan. State Governments are free to formulate their own rules of business. In the States, it makes sense to have the posts of State Chief Secretaries IAS cadre post because he is also the boss of Commissioners and Collectors. But why should the officer double as Cabinet Secretary is not clear. Uttar Pradesh has shown the light in this matter and appointed a person with long experience within bureaucracy but not in the IAS as Cabinet Secretary. The new Chief Secretary knew that he will not be Cabinet Secretary if he moves from the centre and accepts the job of Chief Secretary in the state and had no objection. Chief Secretaries in big states can function better if they are freed from the responsibilities of secretaryship of the Cabinet. The UP system is not only efficient (even in a state like UP!) but also fair. Unlike Union Cabinet Secretary, the State Chief Secretaries control the whole of bureaucracy through power of writing CR's etc. and often go berserk. The UP system wards off megalomania with which some State Chief Secretaries suffer to the detriment of State administration. It is time other big states try this system.

Mahesh Prasad

It's really shocking

It was really shocking to read the news in your web site that an IAS Officer of 1977 batch is without any posting for months after return from Afghanistan. This is a regular feature in many Ministries of Government, which are Cadre Controlling Authorities for various services, that for extraneous reasons officers are not given postings so as to adjust them later at special posts which are likely to arise in future. This favor is done on some 'consideration'. Officers are given salary without posting or doing any work, and are treated as on "Compulsory Waiting". It is understood when a post is not available immediately to adjust an officer retuning from deputation

B Kutty

Age should not be raised

Retirement age of 62 years is not suggestible.

P S Murthy

There should be no raise in retirement age

The eager lot of babus must look at their achievement record before they ask for 62 years retirement age. We have had it increased to 60 and we got nothing. Why should the rotten lot get it when as such most of them have simply not done anything worth in their service till 60. Yes, the outstanding ones may be allowed to continue only for specific assignments. In the era of growing economy the young ones must be encouraged.

A K Kumar

Why retirement age should be raised ?

Govt should seriously consider increasing the retirement age to 62 b'cos:-
(i)If an Indian reaches 60, she lives upto the age of 77 yrs.;
(ii)this means that she receives pension for 17 yrs;
(iii)raising the retirement age to 62 implies that pension will be payable for 2 years less; therefore, a huge amount of saving for the Government;
(iv)there is no substitute for experience; Government should make use of experienced persons.
Hope the Government and the Pay Commission are listening!

S K Nagpal

Retirement age should be 62 years

Why do the government want to put much pressure to the employees. The retirement age should be 62 years and this will really brings a massive head-relief to the Employees.

Punya M Chakma

What about ADGs and DGs

Rajesh is certainly right. What about the battalion of ADGs and DGs that each state has ?.

Amitabh Agarwal.

Aaj Ki Aawaz

Manmohan many would say is 'no' Prime Minister… 'no' has been the norm!!!
Said no to Nuclear Deal, Pension Reform, Divestment and Agriculture Reform!!

Many would say that Commies made PM into a Lame Duck,
On reforms Commies got PM stuck!!!

PM spoke to Bush!!!!
Told Bush he'd prefer to follow adage ' better to have a bird in hand that two in the bush'!!

Bush must have said, " Pardner you sure sing a different tune today",
Must have questioned , "Now Commie approval is mandatory you say?"

But Manmohan's and Sonia's back flips are indeed surprising!!!
Demands that Manmohan resign are rising!!

The timid 'give in' has indeed got everyone talking!!!
Because just a day before the Deal as being irreversible Congress was hawking!!!

So was Congress just playing games.....looks like it was dong so????
Because Congress was well aware that Commies to this Deal would say no!!!

No compromise was possible as Commie objection was that the Deal was with USA !!
And Congress knew on account of numerical compulsions Commies would have their say!!

Ray of hope is that Congress is saying pause button has been pressed till there is consensus!!
Possibility of another flip flop seems Commie top brass senses!!

That's why they want a formal letter captioned ' Deal is dead'!!!
And they want the letter from the Sarkaar's head!!!

Pawar may have postponed his Party's debacle!!!
Because many say in Maharashtra Congress and NCP cannot be saved even by a miracle!!

That's to show how bad are Congress's and NCP's electoral prospects in the State,
Electorally so bad is both Party's state!!!

Virbhadra says that by EC he's been ambushed!!!
He wants that to before the onset of summer the elections be pushed!!!

In the saddle he wants to enjoy a few more maheene (months)!!!
Before from him power BJP cheene ( snatch)!!!

Congress would love to ally with Gujarat BJP rebels but their RSS connection is the hurdle,
Because this could make the honky dory relationship with Gujarat Muslims curdle!!!

Are Gujarat rebels that fickle that for power they'll ditch their ideology????
Because today their stand elicits this analogy!!!

Actually Modi is also being ambushed by some Delhi Leaders who see him as a threat!!!
Because a win in Gujarat and very strong Modi will get!!!

If not a probable PM he'll be the 'PM maker' and this has got some BJP Netas hyper!!
So they've got Metha in Gujarat to play Pied Piper!!!

But point to be noted that only rats followed the Pied Piper and were doomed in the end!!!
Metha Piper will survive but down the political cliff the rebel 'rats' he'll send!!!

Rebels will end up as political pariahs …… touch me nots!!
Secular Parties will treat them like lepers and by their ex Party will be considered as blots!

Laloo is eating and sleeping better nowadays,
This is what Rabdi says!!!!

That's because midterm poll prospects had made him loose appetite and sleep!!!
In fact if you needled in those days there was every chance he'd weep!!!

Laloo now looks forward to enjoying the winter sitting in front of the aagh,
Hogging pakodas and makki ki roti and sarson ka saag!!!

Sensex is going up like a rocket because of record Hedge Fund inflow!!!
And its well known Hedge Funds come in fast but when they go .... faster is the outflow!!!

PC knows that Hedge Fund PN synthetic money will be a double whammy in the end,
Because both Rupee and Sensex ko kiya hai this money ne aasman ki taraf send!!!

And when reversal takes place fall will be steeper than rise!!!
In falls the Market and Rupee will hit 'new highs'!!!

Confucius says…..It's the Bull's tail now……. and the Bears head will soon appear!!!
He continues... And once Bear head appears Market will go into a reverse gear!!!

Bharat Kumar

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CORPORATE

Deepak Brara is ED (Sales and Marketing) NACIL

Deepak Brara is the Executive Director (Sales and Marketing) of the National Aviation Company of India Ltd (NACIL), the new company into which Air India and Indian have been merged.

R.K.Pande to head BHEL's Jhansi unit

R.K.Pande will head the BHEL's Jhansi unit as Group General Manager(GGM).At present he is in charge of Central Stamping unit coming in Jagdeeshpur as a General Manager(GM)& based in Delhi.He will replace Jain ED of the Jhansi unit who is retiring on October 31,2007.

A.V.Krishnan to GGM in BHEL at Ranipet

A.V.Krishnan has been elevated from General Manager to Group General Manager(GGM) in BHEL and posted at Boiler Auxiliary plant,Ranipet(attached to Trichy).So far he was GM Quality Control in Delhi based head office.

Anand is Director Projects Delhi Metro
Vijay Anand has been appointed Director Projects of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation. as Director (Projects).

Mukherjee is VP of AIRIA
T K Mukherjee has become the senior vice-president of All India Rubber Industries Association.

Capacity of VP CGL to augmented

NTPC Ltd. of which Chairman cum Managing Director (CMD) is T.Sankaralingam has agreed in principle with the Bihar State Electricity Board (BSEB) to expand the capacity of Vaishali Power Generating Company Ltd.(VPGCL)-a joint venture between NTPC Limited and BSEB) by setting up two units of 250 MW each in addition to existing 220 MW capacity under renovation at Muzzaffarpur in Bihar.

NTPC & BSEB sign MOU for a Joint Venture

NTPC Limited of which Chairman cum Managing Director (CMD) is T.Sankaralingam has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Government of Bihar and The Bihar State Electricity Board (BSEB) recently to promote a Joint Venture Company with the aim of establishing and operating a 3X660 MW coal based thermal power project at Nabinagar site in Aurangabad district in Bihar. The joint venture shall have equal participation between NTPC and BSEB with power allocation to BSEB upto 75%. The balance power shall be with NTPC for supply to other states.

New flights of Air India Express on the anvil

Air India Express on September 24,2007,commenced direct flights from Nagpur to Dubai, three times a week and on October 7,2007, commenced direct thrice-weekly flights from Kolkata to Singapore.It is proposed to introduce direct flights from Kolkata to Dhaka, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur. Other flights proposed are from Chennai to Kuala Lumpur and Johar Baru, from Lucknow, Jaipur and Ahmedabad direct to Dubai, from Mumbai to Male via Kochi and Mumbai to Colombo direct.

T.R.Balu open Mauritian maritime academy

The Indian Minister for Shipping, Road Transport & Highways T.R. Baalu has inaugurated the state of the art Mauritius Maritime Training Academy at Pointe aux Sables in Mauritius yesterday. The function was organized by the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Land Transport & Shipping of the Republic of Mauritius.The inaugural ceremony of the academy was attended by Dr. Ahmed Rashid Beebeejaun Deputy Prime Minister Mauritius, Vasant Bunwaree Mauritian Minister of Labour, Madan Dulloo Mauritian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abu Kasenally Mauritian Minister of Public Affairs, Asraf Dullul Mauritian Minister of Land & Housing, James Burty David Mauritian Minister of Local Government & Acting Minister of Education, Sylvio Tang Mauritian Minister of Youth & Sports, B. Jaisankar, High Commissioner of India in Mauritius, Mrs. N. Nababsingh Permanent Secretary of Public Infrastructure in Mauritius among other senior officers of Republic of Mauritius.Earlier he called on Sir Anerood Jugnauth, President of the Republic of Mauritius.

Indian maritime university on the anvil

The process for establishing the Indian Maritime University in in the advanced stage. According to Indian Minister for Shipping, Road Transport & Highways T.R. Baalu the proposed university would impart high value management, professionals and legal courses in various maritime fields.Mainly these fields will be shipping and port management, logistic management, naval architecture, marine engineering, nautical knowledge, chartering and ship broking and maritime law etc.,he said

NFL CMD Mangat presents dividend to Ram Vilas Paswan

National Fertilizers Limited (NFL)hairman and Managing Director G.S.Mangat presented a dividend cheque of Rs.51.58 crore Indian Minister for Chemical & Fertilizer and Steel Ram Vilas Paswan in Delhi on October 16,2007.Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers Dr B K Handique and Secretary Department of Fertilizers Dr. J S Sarma were also present on the occasion

Centre gives Rs.1.70 Crore for Tea garden labourers of West Bengal

The Indian Government has sanctioned a special education & book grant to about 16,000 workers of 13 closed tea gardens of Northern part of West Bengal. A cheque for Rs.1.7 crore was handed over to R. Ranjit District Magistrate(DM) Jalpaiguri by Pranab Mukherjee Indian Minister for External Affairs, for disbursement to the beneficiaries.

Air India's 10th owned 737-800 aircraft inducted into Air India Express fleet

Air India Express, a wholly owned subsidiary of Air India, has inducted the 10th owned aircraft into its fleet. The Air India Express fleet consists of state-of-the-art Boeing 737-800 aircraft which is one of the most technologically advanced single-aisle jet aircraft.A very innovative feature of Air India Express aircraft is the attractive tail designs on either side of the aircraft depicting different facets of traditional and contemporary India which represent the heritage values and ethos of the country.Various themes have been used on the nine aircraft inducted so far and the 10th aircraft carries the design of two dance forms of India - Garba, the graceful dance form of Gujarat associated with 'Navratri', the festival of nine nights on one side and Bihu, the folk dance related to the national festival of Assam, the North-Eastern state of India, on the other.The airline has been formed primarily to cater to the price sensitive market which requires point to point service at lower fares.The low cost model on which Air India Express functions, offers all Economy Class seats. Fares are priced at approximately 25 per cent lower than the legacy airlines. Pricing is dynamic and discounts vary from 50 to 15 per cent of full service airline fares. Higher discounts are given to those who book in advance. Unlike other low cost carriers, Air India Express serves passengers snacks and a soft drink in pre-packed boxes. While tea/coffee and drinking water are served complimentary, alcoholic drinks are sold at a nominal price.Besides lower fares, an important feature of Air India Express is the internet based reservations system. This system is very customer-friendly and passengers can make reservations from home, offices or through appointed travel agents. Passengers have access to fares and availability of seats, which makes it an extremely transparent system.

Air India employee cricketers felicitated

The Air India employees who are also members of the Indian Cricket team met with V. Thulasidas, CMD, NACIL (National Aviation Company Limited) in Delhi on October 16,2007 at the Air India building. The cricketers included the Indian Captain M.S.Dhoni Vice Captain Yuvraj Singh and other team members of the victorious T-20 world cup team - Harbhajan Singh, R.P. Singh, Robin Uthappa and Irfan Pathan.V. Thulasidas (Chairman and Managing Director, NACIL) was quoted saying, " Air India and sports are synonymous since many years. It has been Air India's constant endeavor to groom young talent and support them with required facilities to excel in the field of sports. These six players who are a part of our organisation have done brilliantly on the world stage and I take immense pleasure to congratulate them personally."At thevent Thulasidas congratulated the players on their brilliant victory at the Twenty20 world cup in South Africa. To show their gratitude the cricketers presented Thulasidas a cricket bat autographed by the Indian Cricket team.Photographs are of the same occasion.

Sanjay Bhasin is VP, V&S Broadcasting

V&S Broadcasting of which CEO is Shantonu Aditya, a subsidiary of UTV Broadcasting, has roped in Sanjay Bhasin as vice-president, ad sales. He was previously working with The Walt Disney Company as associate director, ad sales.