Akasa Air inducts two Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, fleet rises to 22 

The 22 aircraft includes 21 Boeing 737 MAX 8 and one Boeing 737 MAX 8 200.

Published Date – 03:54 PM, Wed – 3 January 24


Akasa Air inducts two Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, fleet rises to 22 


New Delhi: Budget airline Akasa Air has inducted two Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, reaching a fleet size of 22 aircraft within 17 months of commencing operations.

The 22 aircraft includes 21 Boeing 737 MAX 8 and one Boeing 737 MAX 8 200.

“The additions to our fleet will help us bolster the strength of our operations as we expand our footprint and foray into international skies in the coming months. Each addition to our fleet brings us closer to our purpose of connecting people, places, and cultures, and we hope that as we step into the next phase of growth, we will be able to serve millions of satisfied travellers across the globe,” said Vinay Dube, Founder and CEO, Akasa Air.

“We are grateful to our employees and our partners for their unwavering support that catalysed Akasa Air’s unmatched trajectory and look forward to building a world class airline that transcends generations,” he said. The airline spokesperson said that as the airline steps into the next chapter of its growth story with plans to expand its domestic presence and commence international operations in the coming months, the fleet expansion will support seamless and reliable connectivity to travellers across the globe.

“Aligning with the airline’s commitment to sustainability, the 737 MAX family provides greater range and fuel efficiency, reducing fuel use and carbon emissions by 20% compared to those it replaces. In addition, the 737 MAX is a quieter airplane with a 50 per cent smaller noise footprint than replacement airplanes,” said the spokesperson.

Hyderabad’s office return inches up, lagging behind Bengaluru, Mumbai’s full-scale revival-Telangana Today

While Hyderabad is not yet hitting the 100 per cent mark like its counterparts Bengaluru and Mumbai, recent reports suggest a resurgence, signaling a steady return to office work.

Published Date – 04:19 PM, Wed – 3 January 24


Hyderabad’s office return inches up, lagging behind Bengaluru, Mumbai’s full-scale revival


Hyderabad: Hyderabad is treading steadily towards a balanced transition from remote work culture to the revival of physical office spaces. While the city is not yet hitting the 100 per cent mark like its counterparts Bengaluru and Mumbai, recent reports suggest a resurgence, signaling a steady return to office work.

Vivek Rathi, the National Director of Research at Knight Frank India, said the return to office spaces in Hyderabad is gradually inching closer to pre-pandemic levels. In 2023, he said, approximately 55 to 60 per cent of employees had already resumed working from physical offices, marking a substantial improvement from the preceding year.

In Knight Frank India’s comprehensive report detailing the office market trends from January to December 2023, the Hyderabad office leasing sector witnessed 32 per cent year-on-year growth, boasting an impressive 8.8 million sft of transactions. This surge in demand was largely attributed to the presence of Global Capability Centers (GCCs) firms, indicating a robust push for employees to return to their workplaces.

“The city is anticipated to move closer to the pre-pandemic in-office presence, potentially reaching it by the first or later part of 2024,” remarked Vivek Rathi, highlighting the trajectory towards achieving higher in-office presence, which stood around 75 per cent even before the pandemic.

The report highlighted the dominance of offshore units of multinational corporations as key players in leasing office spaces. These GCCs accounted for a substantial 46 per cent of leased office spaces in 2023, compared to 40 per cent in the previous year.

Joseph Thilak, National Director of Occupier Strategy and Solutions, Knight Frank India, commended Hyderabad’s allure, citing its stellar quality of life, robust infrastructure, and consistent influx of top-tier talent and corporate entities.

The office rental scenario in Hyderabad maintained stability, witnessing 1 per cent year-on-year increase during the latter half of 2023. Interestingly, prime office leasing areas like Hitec City and the Financial District experienced stagnant rental growth during this period.

Hyderabad’s Suburban Business District (SBD), encompassing Kondapur, Manikonda, Kukatpally, and Raidurg, remained a hotspot with the highest average transacted rental range recorded between Rs 68-75 per sq ft per month.

Earthquake causes severe damage to northern tip of Japan's Noto Peninsula

The 7.5-magnitude quake on January 1 that rattled Ishikawa prefecture on the main island of Honshu triggered tsunami waves more than a metre high, sparked a major fire, and tore apart roads.

The Noto Peninsula on the Sea of Japan coast was most severely hit, with buildings ravaged by fire and houses flattened in several towns, including Wajima and Suzu.

(Source: AFP)


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Leader says election participation ‘duty’, censures attempts to disappoint Iranians


Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei meets a group of religious eulogists and elegists in Tehran on January 3, 2024. (Photo by khamenei.ir)

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has highlighted the importance of people’s participation in the country’s elections, calling it a “duty” of Iranians.

Ayatollah Khamenei made the remarks in a meeting with a group of religious eulogists and elegists on Wednesday, as Iran is gearing up for parliamentary elections slated for March 1, 2024.

“Anyone who opposes the elections is opposing the Islamic Republic and Islam,” the Leader stated.

“[Participation in] the elections is a duty. It is the duty for those following the path of jihad of clarification to create a sense of duty [among people] towards elections,” he said, invoking a term used to describe a campaign aimed at educating people on the conspiracies of the enemy. 

Ayatollah Khamenei also denounced “hostile” attempts to undermine the nation’s role in the country’s management, which proves the realization of religious democracy in Iran.

He further censured attempts aimed at demoralizing the people and making them distrustful by claiming that the elections in Iran are meaningless.

[This item will be updated.]


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"Miyan Magic": Internet Erupts As Siraj Makes SA Shiver In Cape Town Test

Mohammed Siraj made early inroads as India struck four times inside the first 10 overs to leave South Africa reeling on Day 1 of the ongoing second Test in Cape Town. As the Proteas won the toss and opted to bat, Siraj proved to be the wrecker in chief for India, who had lost the first Test by an innings and 32 runs in Centurion last week. Siraj dismissed Aiden Markram (2), Dean Elgar (4) and Tony de Zorzi (2), respectively in his first spell.

Watch the dismissals here:

Taking to social media, fans hailed Siraj for his magical spell. The pacer faced harsh criticism during the Boxing Day.

Here’s how internet reacted:

Siraj then dismissed Kyle Verrynne and Marco Jansen to complete his 3rd five-for in Test cricket.

South Africa made three changes, including the inclusion of new cap Tristan Stubbs, who was listed on the team sheet to bat at number four in place of Keegan Petersen.

Left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj and fast bowler Lungi Ngidi were named in place of the injured Temba Bavuma and Gerald Coetzee.

India selected a fit-again Ravindra Jadeja, coming in for fellow spin bowler Ravichandran Ashwin while seam bowler Mukesh Kumar replaced Shardul Thakur.

“We’re in a great position after winning the first Test, but we’re very mindful of starting well,” said South African captain Dean Elgar, who is playing in his last Test match.

Indian captain Rohit Sharma said he would also have batted first.

“We are quite upbeat about what we can achieve here,” he said.

(With AFP Inputs)

Topics mentioned in this article

Four years on, Gen. Soleimani continues to inspire Free Palestine movement


By Mohsen Badaksh

As the world marks the fourth anniversary of the US assassination of Iran’s top anti-terror commander, General Qassem Soleimani, pro-resistance voices dedicated to exposing US-Israeli war crimes in Gaza are growing louder and pushing for a free Palestine

This new international trend to form activist groups closely resembling the IRGC Quds Force in mission and objectives was sparked by the heroic operation of the Gaza-based Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, against the Israeli military fortresses built on illegal Zionist settlements.

The Palestinian operation, which came in response to decades of Israeli occupation and oppression, was followed by the Israeli genocidal war on the blockaded territory with US approval and weaponry.

The American military’s terror operation in early January 2020 against Gen. Soleimani — widely recognized as the region’s leading anti-terror commander — was ordered by then-US President Donald Trump, and fully supported by his then-top political opponent from the rival Democratic Party and eventual successor, Joe Biden.

The act of terrorism was clearly aimed at appeasing the Israeli regime, which had made no secret of how much it dreaded the IRGC Quds Force and its commander, as admitted by many                 Western observers.

This year’s anniversary of Gen. Soleimani’s terror assassination comes as more than 22,000 Palestinian civilians in Gaza – mostly women and children — have been slaughtered by US-supplied Israeli bombs and other armaments in less than three months, triggering a remarkable international outcry against the apartheid regime in Tel Aviv, and its top sponsors in Washington and other Western capitals.

This global outcry has also been marked by the formation of activist groups dedicated to exposing the criminal history of the Israeli regime’s occupation of Palestine and waging a massive campaign for its freedom from decades of US-led oppression.

Such activist groups can best be described as the new variations of Gen. Soleimani’s Quds Force in terms of their core objectives – ending the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian lands.

Quds Forces of the US

There has been a remarkable show of support for Palestine by activists from all walks of life across the United States, whose government has persistently served as the prime backer of Israeli atrocities against Palestinians over the decades and has even engaged in wars and terror operations on its behalf, including the assassination of Gen. Soleimani.

Recent months have seen massive demonstrations in all major US cities and even in relatively smaller cities where protest rallies are quite rare – such as Salt Lake City, the capital of a historically very conservative state of Utah, in support of the Palestinian people and resistance.

Protest rallies, debates and discussions on the Israeli genocide in Gaza and the active US role in it have also been widely held on campuses of major American universities and other higher learning institutions, which eventually led to the congressional subpoena and grilling of presidents of three prominent universities by pro-Israel lawmakers.

These academic institutions were blasted for allowing criticism of the Israeli regime as what they falsely described as “anti-Semitism.” The political ploy to silence criticism of the apartheid regime has since backfired amid more assertive protests censuring official measures to limit the constitutional right of the freedom of expression.

In the very political system that regards any criticism of Israel as a major taboo, there have also been reports of numerous legislators openly condemning Israeli atrocities against Palestinians while challenging official American support for the regime’s war crimes as well as continued shipments of weapons to the occupying entity.

Despite that, the Joe Biden administration arranged for rapid delivery of artillery shells and other lethal weapons to the Israeli regime twice in the past month without required congressional approvals under supposed presidential emergency powers.

Yet another notable campaign by the US-based “Quds forces” has targeted the mainstream media conglomerates having close ties with Washington’s government agencies, slamming them for censoring news items related to the massive US-Israeli genocidal war crimes in Gaza and attempts to justify that.

Remarkably, I have personally witnessed the great and very active participation of American youth and students in protest activities for Palestine, most of whom do not appear to be of West Asian descent.

This, I believe, spells a major development in the United States in terms of demanding justice from politicians and media operatives and promises even better developments in the nation’s political landscape in the forthcoming general elections. 

Quds Forces of Western Europe

Activist groups across Western Europe — whose governments have also played active roles in supporting the Israeli regime and its decades-long atrocities against Palestinians – also stand out in the massive expression of outrage against the US-Israeli genocide in Gaza as well as demanding a permanent end to the occupation of Palestine, objectives again resembling those of the Quds Force.

Capitals and major cities across Europe have played host to numerous protest marches and rallies to condemn the latest war crimes committed by the Tel Aviv regime against Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank using mostly American armament.

Most of these massive demonstrations and rallies have been held in major European cities such as London, Paris, Berlin, Madrid, Rome and Amsterdam.

People in many European countries have been particularly active in promoting the boycott of products manufactured by corporations doing business with the Israeli regime or financing their atrocities in the occupied territories.

This is while several European lawmakers and government officials have also blasted outrageous Israeli war crimes in Gaza in open remarks leading to the forced resignation of a minister in Spain.

However, in the face of the new assertiveness of European activists and politicians in their criticism of Israeli atrocities and persisting demands for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, their governments have been silent about developments in occupied Palestine and no longer express support for the Zionist regime.

Again, the new pro-Palestine activist groups and politicians in Europe also appear unrelenting and dedicated to challenging the long-persisting Israeli terrorism through protests, boycotts, and legal and political measures – much unlike the past decades of silence and passivism.

Quds Forces of Asia, Africa and Latin America

Even in regions of the world never particularly supportive of the US-backed apartheid regime occupying Palestine, such as Africa, Asia and Latin America – which have experienced Western-led oppression, occupation and colonialism in their recent history – activist groups have held huge protests and taken diplomatic measures against the Israeli regime like never before.

Among Latin American countries severing ties with or recalling diplomats from Tel Aviv following the Gaza genocide were Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Honduras, and Belize.

Cuba and Venezuela had already broken ties with the occupying regime to protest its rampant oppression against Palestinians in their homeland.

Protest rallies against the Israeli regime also have been held in many other Latin American nations.

In Africa, countries such as South Africa, Chad, Mali, Niger and Mauritania also severed ties or recalled diplomats from Tel Aviv to protest the regime’s war crimes in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

Massive rallies in support of ‘Free Palestine’ were also held in several African countries and even in the Muslim-majority Morocco, which is ruled by a Western-backed dictator who recognizes the illegitimate Israeli regime and has refused to sever ties with it despite its latest atrocities.

In the Pacific and South Asian regions, news outlets in Muslim and non-Muslim countries such as Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, Australia, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan among others have also reported protests against Israeli war crimes, pointing to new activism in this part of the world.

Quds Forces of West Asia region

In the West Asia region, where the occupied Palestine is located, however, Quds force-like activism has also included military measures against US and Israeli terrorist forces and assets by the ‘Axis of Resistance’ in countries such as Lebanon, Yemen, Syria and Iraq, which have been and continue to be top targets of American-Israeli aggression.  

While Lebanon’s Hezbollah and the Yemeni military have engaged Israeli regime forces since the genocidal war against Gaza began last October, Syrian resistance forces have been engaged in retaliatory strikes against Israeli aerial and drone attacks and the Iraq-based resistance fighters have been targeting occupying US military forces doing Israeli regime’s dirty works in Iraq and Syria.

Additionally, the resistance forces in these countries closest to Palestine have threatened to expand their operations against both Israeli and American forces in the region if their genocidal measures against Palestinians persist.

Quds Force-like activism has even been widely reported in West Asia’s Western-backed dictatorships of Bahrain and Jordan, as well as Turkey — all of which had maintained diplomatic ties with the apartheid Israeli regime despite popular opposition to the move – forcing their respective governments to recall their diplomats from Tel Aviv.

This comes amid US-based press reports that the Tel Aviv regime has evacuated all of its embassies in the region in fear of being targeted by the emerging Quds forces in the respective countries.

US terror of Soleimani backfires

While Washington and its Zionist ally boasted and widely publicized the terror assassination of Iran’s top anti-terrorist commander as a major victory for US and Israeli interests in the region, the reality remains that since Gen. Soleimani’s martyrdom, determination and conviction of IRGC Quds Force have immensely multiplied in their persisting efforts to free Palestine from Zionist occupation for good.

This is while countless volunteers and military officers from across the globe have reportedly expressed interest in joining Iran’s Quds Force and other military forces not only to avenge the assassination of Gen. Soleimani but to also develop skills to resist foreign interference in their respective nations.

Additionally, American and Israeli officials, complicit in ordering, planning and executing Gen. Soleimani’s assassination, remain fearful of potential retaliation vowed by Iranian military commanders as well as the forces of the region’s Resistance Axis.

The recent and continuing emergence of activism across the globe to free Palestine will serve as the death knell and final blow to all those who foolishly celebrated the assassination of the top commander.

Mohsen Badakhsh is an educator and freelance journalist.

(The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of Press TV.)

S Korean Opposition Leader "Could Have Been Killed" In Attack: Party

S Korean Opposition Leader 'Could Have Been Killed' In Attack: Party

Lee, who suffered a wound to his jugular vein, was first taken to hospital in Busan (File)

Seoul, South Korea:

South Korean opposition leader Lee Jae-myung narrowly escaped death when he was stabbed in the neck, a party lawmaker said Wednesday, as police were granted a warrant to search his assailant’s property.

Lee was surrounded by journalists in southern Busan city Tuesday when a man pretending to be a supporter pushed through a crowd and then lunged at him, stabbing him on the left side of his neck with a knife.

Lee, who suffered a wound to his jugular vein, was first taken to hospital in Busan, then flown to the capital Seoul where he underwent a two-hour surgery. He is currently recovering in the intensive care unit.

“Busan medical staff stated that if the attacker’s knife had struck Lee’s carotid artery he could have been killed instantly at the scene,” Democratic Party lawmaker Jung Chung-rae said during a party meeting Wednesday.

“Lee is currently recovering in intensive care but the situation is so serious that visiting is difficult,” he added.

Kang Cheong-hee, a medical doctor and a member of the Democratic Party, later said Lee suffered “a severe injury”.

According to the Yonhap news agency, police said Wednesday that they planned to seek an arrest warrant for the 66-year-old suspect, identified only by his surname Kim, who was detained at the scene. 

The warrant would allow police to continue to hold the suspect.

A district court issued a warrant to search the suspect’s house and office as part of the investigation, Yonhap said, adding that police will focus on finding the exact motive behind the attack.

South Korean authorities plan to bring attempted murder charges against the assailant, and the attacker told the police, according to Yonhap, that his intention was to kill Lee.

“The assailant’s confession that he had meant to kill is utterly shocking,” lawmaker Jung said.

In footage aired on South Korean television stations, police were seen wrestling the suspect, who displayed a pro-Lee slogan, to the ground.

The 59-year-old politician was “walking to his car while talking to reporters when the attacker asked for his autograph”, a witness told local broadcaster YTN.

According to Yonhap, suspect Kim had been working as a real estate agent in South Chungcheong Province, around 115 kilometres south of Seoul.

Citing delivery messages for registered mail from banks at his office, among other materials, Yonhap reported Kim had been facing financial difficulties and was unable to pay the monthly rent for the office for seven months.

Misinformation

South Korea is gearing up for a crucial election on April 10, in which Yoon’s conservative party aims to regain a parliamentary majority for the first time since 2016.

For the opposition democratic party, a victory in the general election is seen as a critical prerequisite for preparing for the next presidential election in 2027.

Lee has faced some calls from within his own party to step down as its leader ahead of the April general election. 

Misinformation about the attack on Lee was circulating online, with some claiming the entire incident was staged — claims that lawmaker Jung said were “cruel and corrupt”. 

“Headlines such as ‘Fake blood with a fake knife’ and ‘YouTubers bring up conspiracy theories’ make me question how much more cruel and corrupt people can be,” he added.

Several high-profile South Korean politicians have been attacked in public in past years.

An elderly man hit Song Young-gil, who led the Democratic Party before Lee, in the head with a blunt object in 2022.

In 2006, Park Geun-hye, then the leader of the conservative party and who later became president, was assaulted with a knife at a rally. The attack left a scar on her face.

Lee lost in 2022 to conservative Yoon Suk Yeol in the tightest presidential race in South Korea’s history.

A former child factory worker who suffered an industrial accident as a teenage school drop-out, Lee rose to political stardom partly by playing up his rags-to-riches tale.

He is widely expected to run for president again in 2027, and recent polls have indicated that he remains a strong contender.

But his bid for the top office has been overshadowed by a string of scandals, and he still faces trial on charges of bribery in connection with a firm that is suspected of illicitly transferring $8 million to North Korea.

Five individuals connected to Lee’s various scandals in the past have been found dead, many in what appeared to be suicides.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)