You’ve seen and flown low-cost airlines, now get ready for low-cost commercial airports. That is what Capt. G.R. Gopinath, promoter and managing director of Air Deccan, has up his sleeve next. He is planning to persuade various state governments to pony up the money to build low-cost airports. Capt. Gopinath said here on Sunday he will be meeting Andhra Pradesh government officials next week with a concrete plan to steer ahead ideas for 5-6 low-cost airports in the state, inspired by the Maharashtra government-owned airport in Sholapur.
Built at an investment of Rs 10-15 crores, low-cost airports are mere "bushstrips" with airstrips, night-landing and basic navigational facilities. The target sites here are the ones in district headquarters and in places like Kandla in Gujarat, Kadapa and Warangal in Andhra Pradesh, Ambikapur in Madhya Pradesh and Bellary in Karnataka. Kingfisher Airlines chairman Vijay Mallya seconded Capt Gopinath’s idea. "We need to develop ‘grass-strips’ as smaller versions of a full-fledged airport. Look at Kenya... It has the largest number of grass-strips in the world and that has done wonders for its tourism sector," Dr Mallya said addressing delegates and members of the Indian Travel Congress here on Sunday.
On its part, the Andhra Pradesh government wants an assured connectivity from Air Deccan. "Once you assure connectivity, we will call a meeting in 10 days to take the matter forward," Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy told Capt. Gopinath while speaking at the Indian Travel Congress.
Capt. Gopinath said he intends to ask the state to underwrite 20-30 seats on its flights from such airports. "The state governments must create and enable infrastructure
and get out of the way as far as business operations are concerned," he said. Capt. Gopinath said about 450 airstrips in the country are underutilised, adding that he has so far received favourable responses from the Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand governments to his idea.
How Vande Mataram history was made here
September 4, 2006, 10:05 am
THE hullabaloo over singing Vande Mataram on its centenary on September 7 has drowned the history of our national song. Do Amdavadis know that in Gujarat, the song by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay was first sung in Ahmedabad? Yes, the strains of Vande Mataram first echoed in Gujarat from the United Bengal Home in Khadia in 1906. The Bengal Home was established in 1906 with 30 members to inculcate the spirit of ‘swadeshi’ among Bengalis who had been invited here to teach textile manufacturing to compete with foreign manufacturers.
Prominent members of the organisation included people like MN ROY, MN Ghose, SN Roy and JN Dasgupta who played an important part in the freedom struggle. The home, which closed down in 1909, is now a charity home. But, nearly a century after the national song was sung in open defiance of the British Raaj, opinions have changed. Ashutosh Bhatt, convenor of the Khadia Itihas Samiti says singing it should not be made compulsory.
Bhatt thinks that the song should be sung so that the next generation understands its importance. “I don’t think singing Vande Mataram should be made mandatory, but one needs to generate the spirit of the freedom struggle in the young generation, and so the song needs to be sung,” he feels. According to Bhatt, “The United Bengal Home was primarily established to teach textile manufacturing to our own countrymen. However, the organisation also played an important part in promoting the national song and spreading the idea of swadeshi.”
Bhatt says the song used to be sung in street corners during evenings. “Vande Mataram used to echo in the bylanes of Khadia, sung by members of the United Bengal Home. Very often, the members used to draw small crowds to explain to them the idea of swadeshi. Later on, the song was sung as a mark of respect to the motherland.”
Chunilal Bhatt and Keshavlal Mehta, Congress members who attended the party’s Benares session in 1905, were instrumental in starting the home, says Bhatt. “Bhatt and Mehta were a part of the Gujarat delegation that attended the Benares session. They asked presiding chairman Rajbihari Ghosh to send people from Calcutta to Gujarat so that they learnt the art of manufacturing textiles to promote swadeshi goods,” he says.
Bhatt says the United Bengal Home also brought out a magazine called ‘Vanaspati’ which had ways to make a bomb and its members were also the first to hurl a bomb at Lord Minto. “Mohanlal Pandya and Krupashankar Shastri who were members of the United Bengal Home threw bombs at Lord Minto outside the Sarangpur Gate during the rebellion.”
The Khadia Itihas Samiti is now busy corresponding with current administrators of textile mills which were originally built by members of United Bengal Home. These mills based in West Bengal include Chitranjan Textiles, Akeshwari Cotton Mills, Keshavlal Textile Mills and Keshavlal Textile Research Institute started in honour of Keshavlal Mehta. “We are trying to correspond with administrators of the mills established by members of United Bengal Home so that we know how many mills were set up by the organisation.”
The Samiti is also researching the sepoy mutiny of 1857, says Bhatt.
Source : Expressindia.com
Prominent members of the organisation included people like MN ROY, MN Ghose, SN Roy and JN Dasgupta who played an important part in the freedom struggle. The home, which closed down in 1909, is now a charity home. But, nearly a century after the national song was sung in open defiance of the British Raaj, opinions have changed. Ashutosh Bhatt, convenor of the Khadia Itihas Samiti says singing it should not be made compulsory.
Bhatt thinks that the song should be sung so that the next generation understands its importance. “I don’t think singing Vande Mataram should be made mandatory, but one needs to generate the spirit of the freedom struggle in the young generation, and so the song needs to be sung,” he feels. According to Bhatt, “The United Bengal Home was primarily established to teach textile manufacturing to our own countrymen. However, the organisation also played an important part in promoting the national song and spreading the idea of swadeshi.”
Bhatt says the song used to be sung in street corners during evenings. “Vande Mataram used to echo in the bylanes of Khadia, sung by members of the United Bengal Home. Very often, the members used to draw small crowds to explain to them the idea of swadeshi. Later on, the song was sung as a mark of respect to the motherland.”
Chunilal Bhatt and Keshavlal Mehta, Congress members who attended the party’s Benares session in 1905, were instrumental in starting the home, says Bhatt. “Bhatt and Mehta were a part of the Gujarat delegation that attended the Benares session. They asked presiding chairman Rajbihari Ghosh to send people from Calcutta to Gujarat so that they learnt the art of manufacturing textiles to promote swadeshi goods,” he says.
Bhatt says the United Bengal Home also brought out a magazine called ‘Vanaspati’ which had ways to make a bomb and its members were also the first to hurl a bomb at Lord Minto. “Mohanlal Pandya and Krupashankar Shastri who were members of the United Bengal Home threw bombs at Lord Minto outside the Sarangpur Gate during the rebellion.”
The Khadia Itihas Samiti is now busy corresponding with current administrators of textile mills which were originally built by members of United Bengal Home. These mills based in West Bengal include Chitranjan Textiles, Akeshwari Cotton Mills, Keshavlal Textile Mills and Keshavlal Textile Research Institute started in honour of Keshavlal Mehta. “We are trying to correspond with administrators of the mills established by members of United Bengal Home so that we know how many mills were set up by the organisation.”
The Samiti is also researching the sepoy mutiny of 1857, says Bhatt.
Source : Expressindia.com
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