NEW DELHI: A roof collapse at New Delhi’s main airport highlights Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s challenges to make India a global aviation hub and raises questions about the rapid pace of infrastructure development in India.
A part of the roof and pillars outside the departure area of Delhi’s domestic T1 terminal, one of the nation’s busiest, collapsed after heavier than average rainfall, killing one person, crushing cars and leading to indefinite suspension of operations.
The collapse joins a growing list of incidents involving infrastructure over the past year that has prompted questions from opposition party politicians and experts about the risks of lax regulation and the fast pace at which projects are completed.
“Quality should not be compromised to chase speed,” said Ameya Joshi, an independent aviation analyst. He also called for mechanisms to audit existing infrastructure, pointing out that the Delhi roof which collapsed was an older structure.
Modi has for years bet big on infrastructure development.
The Indian government, along with private companies, wants to spend $12 billion building new airports and expanding existing ones as it seeks make air travel as accessible and affordable as the country’s vast rail network.
This is part of Modi’s broader, $1 trillion infrastructure push across the country which has been the cornerstone of his pitch to boost India’s economy and increase jobs.
Modi’s plans include making India a rival to big aviation hubs like Dubai and Singapore.
Since Modi came to power in 2014, India’s operational airports have nearly doubled to 140 and the government plans to increase this to 220 before the end of the decade.
A video titled “Revolutionizing Airports” posted by Modi on his YouTube account earlier this year explained that an upgrade of Delhi T1 had cost $553 million, though the roof that collapsed was not part of it. The video also said how many more new terminals, like one in Jabalpur in central India, have been built.
But problems are emerging.
Earlier this week, part of a canopy at Jabalpur airport in Madhya Pradesh also collapsed after heavy rains, posts on social media showed. The new building cost $50 million and was inaugurated by Modi in March.
Last year, a Himalayan tunnel that was under construction collapsed, trapping 41 workers for 17 days and raising questions over the build process. The tunnel is part of a $1.5 billion highway project.
On Friday, an underpass in Delhi near the G20 summit venue was waterlogged after heavy rains.
Mallikarjun Kharge, president of India’s main opposition Congress party, said on X following the Delhi terminal roof collapse: “Shoddy infrastructure (was) falling like a deck of cards, in the past 10 years of Modi Govt.”
India’s aviation minister Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu on Friday said Modi was closely monitoring the situation at the Delhi terminal and the government would have a “thorough examination of the terminal’s structure” done by experts to ensure safety. He said an inquiry has been ordered into the collapse.
“Every airport in the country must undergo an immediate safety inspection and a periodic review cycle should be set up,” Arghya Sengupta, a research director at Vidhi Center for Legal Policy said on X.
Delhi airport roof collapse highlights Modi’s infrastructure challenges
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Delhi airport roof collapse highlights Modi’s infrastructure challenges
- One killed as roof outside departure area of Delhi’s domestic T1 terminal collapsed after heavier than average rain
- Collapse joins a growing list of incidents that have prompted widespread questions about risks of lax regulation
18 inmates escape after overpowering guard in Pakistan-administered Kashmir
- Prison’s chief and some other officers dismissed from their post while some officials had been arrested for question
- Six of the prisoners were on death row, while another three were serving life sentences
Local police chief Riaz Mughal said one of the prisoners was shot and killed in the breakout from Rawalakot prison the previous day.
A massive search has been launched to trace and arrest all those inmates who fled the prison, Mughal said, authorities opened an investigation into what lead up to the prison break. The prison’s chief and some other officers have already been dismissed from their post while some officials had been arrested for question, he said.
Mughal said six of the prisoners were on death row, while another three were serving life sentences. Such jail breaks are rare in Pakistan, he said.
Officials say one of the inmates had a pistol that was used to overpower a guard and snatch the keys to the prison cells.
The disputed Himalayan region is divided between India and Pakistan, both armed with nuclear weapons. The South Asian neighbors have fought three wars since their independence from British colonial rule in 1947.
Japan launches advanced Earth observation satellite on its new flagship H3 rocket
- ALOS-4 is capable of monitoring military activity, such as missile launches, with an infrared sensor developed by Japan’s defense ministry
- Japan sees a stable, commercially competitive space transport capability as key to its space program and national security
TOKYO: Japan deployed an upgraded Earth observation satellite for disaster response and security after it was launched on a new flagship H3 rocket Monday.
The H3 No. 3 rocket lifted off from the Tanegashima Space Center on a southwestern Japanese island and released its payload about 16 minutes later as planned, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, said during a livestream.
The Advanced Land Observation Satellite, or ALOS-4, is tasked primarily with Earth observation and data collection for disaster response and mapmaking. It’s also capable of monitoring military activity, such as missile launches, with an infrared sensor developed by the Defense Ministry.
The rocket appeared to fly as planned, and JAXA is expected to give further details at a news conference later Monday. The launch was initially planned for Sunday but was delayed due to bad weather at the launch site.
The ALOS-4 is a successor to the current ALOS-2 and can observe a much wider area. Japan will operate both for the time being.
The launch was the third of the H3 system, after the successful one on Feb 17. and the shocking failed debut flight a year earlier when the rocket had to be destroyed with its payload — a satellite that was supposed to be the ALOS-3.
Japan sees a stable, commercially competitive space transport capability as key to its space program and national security.
JAXA and its main contractor Mitsubishi Heavy Industries have been developing the H3 launch system as a successor to its current mainstay, H-2A, which is set to retire after two more flights. MHI will eventually take over H3 production and launches from JAXA and hopes to make it commercially viable by cutting the launch cost to about half of the H-2A.
Britain’s Labour aims for closer EU ties without reopening Brexit wounds
- Starmer’s reward is polls that now predict him sweeping into Downing Street as prime minister at the end of this week, possibly with a historic majority
LONDON: For a decade, leaving the European Union was the question that dominated British politics. These days it barely comes up. Which is clearly how Labour Party leader Keir Starmer likes it.
He has worked diligently to win back the support of working class voters, millions of whom were lured away five years ago by Conservative Boris Johnson’s promise to “get Brexit done,” when Labour campaigned to leave a path open to stay in the EU.
Starmer’s reward is polls that now predict him sweeping into Downing Street as prime minister at the end of this week, possibly with a historic majority. But if he does get there, he won’t be able to keep Brexit out of the news for long.
His mandate will be to spur economic growth. Businesses say that would require lifting some of the barriers that Britain’s exit from the EU has left in the path of their trade. And that, in turn, is likely to mean reopening contentious negotiations with Brussels.
Britain finally left the EU in January 2020 under Johnson. In its determination to turn the page on Brexit, Labour has ruled out rejoining the EU single market or customs union. But it says it is still possible to remove trade barriers with the 27-nation bloc, to help companies, particularly smaller ones, which have struggled with higher costs and paperwork.
Labour does not want to “reopen the wounds of the past,” said Jonathan Reynolds, the Labour lawmaker who is in line to become business secretary in a Starmer cabinet.
“Clearly, we need to get a better deal, and there are real improvements we could achieve,” he said at an event on Thursday hosted by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), the business lobby group which has said parties should stop “treading on eggshells” over EU ties.
A survey by accountancy firm Menzies showed that 1 in 3 British businesses want to reopen the Brexit deal reached under Johnson, and 1 in 5 want a new government to rejoin the single market, with 20 percent citing barriers as a result of Brexit as a factor limiting international expansion.
’LIKE-MINDED PARTNER’
One early pledge from Labour is to seek a veterinary agreement with the EU that would reduce border checks on animal products, a hindrance for British farmers and importers. It also wants the mutual recognition of certain professional qualifications, and easier access for artists on tour.
Labour has presented these as comparitively simple gains it can make without reopening the Brexit agreement reached under Johnson.
But even such small steps would require tough choices, said an EU source, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss hypothetical future negotiations.
A veterinary agreement would require Britain to submit to resolving disputes through the European Court of Justice (ECJ) the EU source said. That is anathema to Brexit campaigners who consider it an infringement of British sovereignty.
“Working with a like-minded partner, friend and ally is what everybody wants,” said the EU source. “But the idea of having the same benefits you get as a member of the club becomes a little bit trickier.”
Anand Menon, a politics professor and director of the UK in a Changing Europe think tank, said Labour might be misjudging how enthusiastic the EU would be about renegotiating after years of clashing with British governments.
The bloc already has a lot on its plate, he said. And while Britain may want to improve technical issues on areas like food, Brussels would want to talk about mobility — making it easier for people to live and work in Britain, especially young people.
“I think we’ll have a massive change in style, and a bit of tinkering in substance,” Menon said.
The Conservatives say Labour’s policies would “unravel Brexit,” including by making Britain again subject to rulings from the ECJ.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in a debate this week accused Labour of planning to accept a return to free movement of people under its plans to strike a better Brexit deal with the EU. Starmer said he would reject any deal with the EU that increases immigration.
Labour’s Reynolds said he wanted to improve the trade situation while offering benefits to the bloc: “It’s not necessarily easy, but there’s a negotiation, there’s a process I can see delivering those things.”
North Korea test-launches 2 ballistic missiles, after end of new US-South Korea-Japan drill
- Missiles launched 10 minutes apart in a northeasterly direction from the town of Jangyon in southeastern North Korea
- South Korea maintains a firm readiness to repel any provocations by Pyongyang
SEOUL: North Korea test-fired two ballistic missile Monday but one of them possibly flew abnormally, South Korea’s military said, a day after the North vowed “offensive and overwhelming” responses to a new US military drill with South Korea and Japan.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement the missiles were launched 10 minutes apart in a northeasterly direction from the town of Jangyon in southeastern North Korea.
It said the first missile flew 600 kilometers and the second missile 120 kilometers, but didn’t say where they landed. North Korea typically test-fires missiles toward its eastern waters, but the second missile’s flight distance was too short to reach those waters.
Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesperson Lee Sung Joon later told a briefing the second missile suffered a possible abnormal flight during the initial stage of its flight. He said if the missile exploded, its debris would likely have scattered on the ground though no damages was immediately reported. Lee said an additional analysis of the second missile launch was under way.
South Korean media, citing unidentified South Korean military sources, reported that it was highly likely the second missile crashed in an inland area of the North. The reports said the first missile landed in the waters off the North’s eastern city of Chongjin.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff condemned the North’s launches as a provocation that poses a serious threat to peace on the Korean Peninsula. It said South Korea maintains a firm readiness to repel any provocations by North Korea in conjunctions with the military alliance with the United States.
The launches came two days after South Korea, the US and Japan ended their new multidomain trilateral drills in the region. In recent years, the three countries have been expanding their trilateral security partnership to better cope with North Korea’s evolving nuclear threats and China’s increasing assertiveness in the region.
The “Freedom Edge” drill was meant to increase the sophistication of previous exercises with simultaneous air and naval drills geared toward improving joint ballistic-missile defense, anti-submarine warfare, surveillance and other skills and capabilities. The three-day drill involved a US aircraft carrier as well as destroyers, fighter jets and helicopters from the three countries.
On Sunday, North Korea’s Foreign Ministry issued a lengthy statement strongly denouncing the “Freedom Edge” drill, calling the US-South Korea-Japan partnership an Asian version of NATO. It said the drill openly destroyed the security environment on the Korean Peninsula and contained a US intention to lay siege to China and exert pressure on Russia.
The statement said North Korea will “firmly defend the sovereignty, security and interests of the state and peace in the region through offensive and overwhelming countermeasures.”
Monday’s launches were the North’s first weapons firing in five days. On Wednesday, North Korea launched what it called a multiwarhead missile in the first known test of a developmental, advanced weapon meant to defeat US and South Korean missile defenses. North Korea said the launch was successful, but South Korea dismissed the North’s claim as deception to cover up a failed launch.
In recent weeks, North Korea has floated numerous trash-carrying balloons toward South Korea in what it has described as a tit-for-tat response to South Korean activists sending political leaflets via their own balloons. Last month, North Korea and Russia also struck a deal vowing mutual defense assistance if either is attacked, a major defense pact that raised worries that it could embolden Kim to launch more provocations at South Korea.
Meanwhile, North Korea opened a key ruling party meeting Friday to determine what it called “important, immediate issues” related to works to further enhance Korean-style socialism. Observers said the meeting was continuing Monday.
Ukraine says Russian missile attack on Dnipro injures seven
DNIPRO: A Russian ballistic missile attack on Ukraine’s city of Dnipro injured seven people, including a 15-year-old boy, and damaged scores of residential buildings, Serhiy Lisak, governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region said on Monday.
One of the injured was hospitalized, Lisak said on the Telegram messaging app.
He added that Russia’s drone and artillery attack on the Nikopol district of the Dnipropetrovsk region, which lies in Ukraine’s southeast, late on Sunday damaged five residential buildings, power and gas lines and other infrastructure.
Reuters could not independently verify the report. There was no immediate comment from Russia.
Both sides deny targeting civilians in the war, which Russia launched against its smaller neighbor in February 2022.
