Vegetables exported from Calcutta rejected by European and Gulf countries because of staleness

Nearly 60 per cent of the 100-odd tonnes of vegetables that had been exported through Calcutta airport to Europe and the Gulf countries during the 11-day window before Puja had been sent back because they reached the destination in stale condition.
This is due to an unserviceable X-Ray scanner at the airport that had been lying defunct for 11 days. It is the only X-ray scanner in the airport's perishable cargo handling and it malfunctioned from September 24 to October 4. AS a result, exporters were forced to keep the vegetables in the non-perishable cargo section for a few hours till they were loaded on flights.
This has been reported in telegraphindia.com dated 19 October 2016.

The rejected cargo consisted of gourds, long beans, papayas, fresh turmeric, ridge gourds and flat beans and is worth nearly Rs 80 lakh. Heathrow airport in London had rejected 15 tonnes of vegetables that had sent before Puja. The state exports approximately 2,500 tonnes of vegetables every year and 30 per cent go to Europe.
Officials of international airlines have indicated that, at times, consignments booked for a flight during the September 24-October 4 window had to be flown out the next day because of the delay related to the X-ray scan. The airport authorities have assured that two new X-ray machines would be installed by the end of November in the perishable cargo unit and, one of these will be on stand-by, thereby such problems will be averted.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org


Some more interesting links -

Calcutta Tramways Company to increase frequency of tram service at night from November

Tampara wetland, a tourist spot in Ganjam district, to get a facelift

Durga idol of 2016 to be preserved in Park Street metro station


Moody becomes moody after surgical strike (satire)

Lord Shiva in the world of deodorants (satire)

Three cheers for Didi – the Jill of all trades (satire)


Terrorist attacks and suicide bombing kill at least 46 in Iraq

21 school girls of Chibok, abducted by Boko Haram in 2014, return home

Indications are there that both United States and Russia are preparing for war


Power Rangers to return after a decade and hit the screens on March 24 next year

Bob Dylan, the 75-year-old American folk singer, wins Nobel Prize for literature

Antonio Banderas gifted a pair of monkeys to Salma Hayek on her birthday

British Airways resumes flights to Tehran after four years

With the lifting of sanctions against Iran after four years, direct flights to the country has been resumed by British Airways. The airline has described Tehran as "an important destination" and it will operate six return flights per week between London Heathrow and the Iranian capital of Tehran. This could increase to a daily service later this year.
It may be recalled that the service had been suspended in October 2012 due to instability in the Middle Eastern country.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 1 September 2016.

Sanctions had been imposed on Iran because of its involvement in the field of nuclear related activities and, in January, the sanctions were lifted after the international nuclear watchdog confirmed that the Tehran government had met all its obligations under a deal with six world powers.
The first BA flight to Iran will be a Boeing 777 that will take off from Heathrow on Thursday at 9.10pm. It had been expected that flights would resume in July, but it was delayed while the route was established. Air France had resumed flights between Paris and Tehran in April after an eight year hiatus.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org


Some more interesting links -

Cannes bans burkinis on its beaches due to terror threats

Street vendors in Bengaluru want to remain open and do business till 1am

Karnataka bans selfies in specific tourist spots like waterfalls, dams, cliffs etc


Didi’s naughty boys tie her up in knots (satire)

Lord Shiva loves and enjoys dancing (satire)

Moody discusses women’s fashion with Baba Someday (satire)


War waged on ISIS by the US and UK has destroyed 26000 targets

France to impart lessons in schools on survival techniques in case of ISIS attacks

Suspected chlorine gas attack in Aleppo kill at least four


Action hero and Rustom star Akshay Kumar talks about daredevil stunts

'Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah' crosses 2000 episodes - enters Limca Book of Records

Next James Bond movie would not come before 2018

Air India has plans to start a Kolkata-London direct flight from 2017

Air India has plans to restart the Kolkata-London direct flight with a Dreamliner flight by mid-2017. Once it starts, it would be six years after Lufthansa snapped the city's last Europe link. It may be recalled that Air India had withdrawn its Calcutta-London flight in October 2008. Subsequently, next year, British Airways pulled out from the city followed by German airline Lufthansa - it was Calcutta's last direct connection to Europe and it withdrew its Frankfurt flight in 2010.
This has been reported in telegraphindia.com dated 5 August 2016.

For any airline to operate on a new route, it has to plan at least a year in advance. It has to take into consideration various factors like a market survey, apart from requests for landing and parking slots at both destinations. Foreign airlines had left Calcutta because of inadequate load. Calcutta did not provide enough business for operations to remain viable and, usually, profitability is defined by demand for high-yield seats.
Anyway, for any airline to operate on a new route, it has to plan a year in advance, starting with a market survey and requests for landing and parking slots at both destinations.The tentative plan appears to be to start a Dhaka-Calcutta-London flight. It can hopefully be launched by the middle of next year with a Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft. The flight would possibly operate non-stop between Calcutta and Heathrow, where the national airline operates from Terminal 4. It would probably be restricted to a maximum of one flight in this sector.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org


Some more interesting links -

EU imposes ban on water hyacinth which is Britain's best-loved pond plant

US First Lady Michelle Obama wants Hillary Clinton to be the first woman president of the US

Prince Harry in Africa to save 500 elephants and relocate them


Moody has too many women around (satire)

Didi’s naughty boys tie her up in knots (satire)

Lord Shiva feels rains are the best option for cleaning (satire)


Mass stabbing in a Japanese care home in Sagamihara leaves at least 15 dead and 28 injured

ISIS carries out suicide bombing in Qamishli - death toll at least 44

Jihadist kills 85-year-old priest in a church Normandy - churches in Britain to tighten security


Next James Bond movie would not come before 2018

Wonder Woman celebrates 75th anniversary - trailer of latest film released

Bollywood actress Dia Mirza turns director with film on tigers on World Tiger Day

Storm Katie heaps miseries on Easter holiday crowd in Britain

Storm Katie heaps miseries on Easter holiday crowd in Britain as flights were cancelled and pilots battled to land planes while police warned motorists to remain indoors as the storm brought chaos to transport networks. Passengers narrated stories of "scary" aborted landings that left people in tears when planes tried to land at the runways at Gatwick and Heathrow and had to get diverted to other airports because of winds of up to 106mph that battered the south of the country.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 28 March 2016.

Those who were motoring home from the Easter weekend were advised to delay their journeys until later following issue of weather warnings for London and the South East. As per reports, 900 engineers had been at work to restore power to more than 80,000 homes across the south of England after the strong winds caused outages across Surrey, Kent, Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Hampshire, Dorset, West Sussex, Wiltshire and the Isle of Wight.
As to Heathrow Airport, as many as 61 flights were cancelled and 20 were diverted, while the corresponding figures for Gatwick Airport were 26 flights cancelled and 23 diverted.
London Fire Service had to deal with 110 incidents that included collapsed chimneys and scaffolding while the Port of Dover suspended shipping movements because of the severe weather conditions as there were 29 flood warnings and 148 flood alerts across the country - mainly in the South. In Staffordshire, Storm Katie resulted in snowfall.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

Some more interesting links -

Didi rolls out the red carpet (satire)

Moody’s cleanliness drive - free soap for all children (satire)

Lord Shiva cannot relate to today’s Shivaratri (satire)


Teenage girl jumps off moving bus in Mehsana to avoid molestation

Transgender candidate to contest against Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal polls

Japan kills 333 whales in its latest Antarctic hunt - the figure was 252 whales in 2014


ISIS claims responsibility for Brussels attack and warns Britain of more severe attacks

Tragedy in chicken eating contest in Indonesia - a competitor chokes to death

Terror attack in Ankara kills at least 37 - one suicide bomber was a 22-year-old woman

Star Wars Episode VIII to get delayed till December 2017

Antonio Banderas gifted a pair of monkeys to Salma Hayek on her birthday

Frieda Pinto talks about 'Jungle Book - Origins'