Process to resume operations of wide-body aircraft initiated
The Hindu
AAIB suggests only minor changes in functioning of Calicut airport
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) have initiated the process to resume operations of wide-body aircraft at the Calicut International Airport with the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), which probed the Air India Express crash last August, suggesting only minor changes in the functioning of the airport. Sources said the DGCA and the AAI would still have to make some assessments even though the report mentioned that the table-top runway surface characteristics were satisfactory. The AAI had managed to fulfil International Civil Aviation Organisation and DGCA certification requirements at the airport for certain critical areas such as Runway End Safety Area (RESA), runway lights, and approach lights. Besides, major airlines such as Air India, Emirates and Saudia (Saudi Arabian Airlines), which had earlier secured no-objection certificate for operating wide-body aircraft, would also have to make their assessment in connection with safety risk and sticking to the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP), the sources said.Several principals of government and private schools in Delhi on Tuesday said the Directorate of Education (DoE) circular from a day earlier, directing schools to conduct classes in ‘hybrid’ mode, had caused confusion regarding day-to-day operations as they did not know how many students would return to school from Wednesday and how would teachers instruct in two modes — online and in person — at once. The DoE circular on Monday had also stated that the option to “exercise online mode of education, wherever available, shall vest with the students and their guardians”. Several schoolteachers also expressed confusion regarding the DoE order. A government schoolteacher said he was unsure of how to cope with the resumption of physical classes, given that the order directing government offices to ensure that 50% of the employees work from home is still in place. On Monday, the Commission for Air Quality Management in the National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) had, on the orders of the Supreme Court, directed schools in Delhi-NCR to shift classes to the hybrid mode, following which the DoE had issued the circular. The court had urged the Centre’s pollution watchdog to consider restarting physical classes due to many students missing out on the mid-day meals and lacking the necessary means to attend classes online. The CAQM had, on November 20, asked schools in Delhi-NCR to shift to the online mode of teaching.