Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport bags world's second best airport award

New Delhi - Indira Gandhi International Airport has been named the world's second best airport in the 25-40 million passengers category by the Airport Council International.

The airport also has been adjudged as the fourth best in the world among 199 airports across all categories.

A nine-member team, comprising representatives from airport operator Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), Central Industrial Security Force, Airport Operations Control and Air India received the 'ACI ASQ Award' at an award ceremony organised by the Airport Council International (ACI) in Istanbul, Turkey yesterday.

"This recognition is testimony to the efforts of all our employees and partners who have consistently met the expectations of the industry," DIAL CEO I Prabhakar Rao said.

IGI airport scored 4.83 out of 5 on the Airport Service Quality (ASQ) scale.

IGI has managed to retain its position of second best airport in the 25-40 million passengers per annum category for 2012 year.

The airport had an ASQ score of 3.02 in 2007 and ranked last among the 101 participating airports of the world.

The airport has an annual capacity of over 60 million passengers, but in 2012, around 34.2 million passengers passed through it.

IGI handled around 550,000 tonnes of cargo and over 300,000 aircraft movements during the same period.

Since its inception in 2006, the ASQ Awards have become the world's leading airport passenger satisfaction benchmark with over 275 airports participating in it.

The ASQ Awards recognise and reward the best airports in the world based on ACI's ASQ passenger satisfaction survey done on uniform format worldwide and represent an opportunity to celebrate the commitment of airports worldwide to continually improve passenger experience.

Prince William Has Indian Heritage? DNA Test Of Princess Diana's Lineage Indicates So

London - Prince William, second-in-line to the throne, will be first British king with proven Indian ancestry, DNA analysis has revealed. The DNA analysis of saliva samples taken from the Duke of Cambridge’s relatives has established a direct lineage between the 30-year-old prince and an Indian housekeeper on his mother Princess Diana’s side.

It is his only non-European DNA and means he will become the first Head of the Commonwealth with a clear genetic link to its most populous nation — India.

William is now likely to be encouraged to make his debut mission to India soon after the birth of his baby next month.

Researchers have uncovered the details of his lineage via a doomed relationship of William’s Indian great-great-great-great-great grandmother.

Eliza Kewark was housekeeper to Prince William’s great grandfather Theodore Forbes (1788-1820), a Scottish merchant who worked for the East India Company in the port town of Surat in Gujarat.

Eliza’s mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) was passed on by her daughters and granddaughters directly in an unbroken line to Princess Diana and then on to Prince William and Prince Harry.

Eliza is claimed to have been Armenian, possibly because her surname is rather like the Armenian name Kevork and letters from her to Forbes have been found which contain Armenian script. “But we believe that all the evidence we have gathered shows that her genetic heritage through her motherline is Indian,” BritainsDNA, a DNA ancestry testing company, said in a release.

Decoding Ancestry
DNA analysis of saliva samples taken from Prince William’s relatives establishes his direct lineage to Indian housekeeper Eliza Kewark on Princess Diana’s side
Eliza was housekeeper to William’s great grandfather Theodore Forbes, a Scottish merchant who worked for the East India Company in Surat, Gujarat
Tests indicate Eliza’s mtDNA was passed on by her daughters and granddaughters to Diana and then on to her children
The two princes carry Eliza’s markers but will not pass this Indian mtDNA on to their children, as it is only passed from mother to child.

MD of Silver Oaks Hospital, wife booked for Rs 26-crore fraud for duping an NRI

Mohali, June 13
 The Delhi Police has booked the managing director of Silver Oaks Hospital, Phase IX, Mohali, Dr Akhil Bhargav, his wife Dr Manjari Bhargav and five others for allegedly duping an NRI of Rs 26 crore. The NRI is the chairman of a US-based firm.

The other accused have been identified as Rajnish Rametra, Surinder Rametra, Vijay Rametra, Amardeep Singh Sidhu and HS Cheema.

A case under Sections 420, 406, 468, 471 and 120-B of the IPC has been registered at the economic offences wing of the Delhi Police against the accused following a complaint by Dr Aditya Khindaria, chairman and director of Kare Partners India Private Limited.

Dr Akhil Bhargava said last year they had lodged a complaint against the US-based firm. “The case is pending with the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Company Law Board and Arbitrator. The company wants to buy shares but is not ready to shell out money. It is an arm twisting tactics to create pressure on us,” said Dr Bhargava.

In his complaint, Dr Khindaria said he had paid Rs 26.20 crore to the Bhargava couple and others for 63,03,281 shares, which were equivalent to 51 per cent of the paid up share capital then.

“My company had started negotiations with the doctor couple in 2011 for acquiring 100 per cent shareholding in Kamesh Bhargava Hospitals and Research Centre Private Limited (Silver Oaks Hospital) for about Rs 52 crore. The couple signed the contract on the behalf of other persons, the minority shareholders, with us. We had transferred Rs 26.20 crore in their account to acquire 51 per cent shares and signed the transaction documents. As these persons (the accused) did not fulfil their commitments as agreed in the documents, we gave them more time, but to no avail,” alleged Dr Khindaria in the FIR.

He alleged that the accused forged some important documents, including the annual returns and filing of the share holding patterns, which resulted in reducing the shareholding pattern of Kare Partners from 51 per cent to 35.92 per cent.

“With this, we have been cheated of 18,63,357 shares of the company which is equivalent to 15 per cent of the paid up equity,” alleged Dr Khindaria, while claiming that one of the accused had also threatened him.

Singer Nachattar Gill booked for rape

Ludhiana, June 13
Noted Punjabi pop singer Nachattar Gill and three others have been booked for allegedly raping and duping an aspiring model.

The city police claimed that the accused develpoed physical ties with the girl on the pretext of helping her become a top model and sending her abroad. They have been booked under Sections 376, 420, 506 and 120-B of the IPC and the IT Act 2000, for rape, fraud and criminal conspiracy.

Gurveer Singh Station House officer (SHO), PAU police station, said the accused were booked last night following a thorough investigation by senior officers.

Questions are being asked at the outgoing Commissioner of Police, Ishwar Singh, ordering an FIR against the singer on his last day in office.

The girl, a resident of Haibowal, told the police that the singer took her to a hotel in Chandigarh, where he gave her a drink laced with sedatives and took objectionable pictures of her. She alleged that the three other accused raped her in a similar fashion at a hotel in Singapore.

The matter first came to light in February when the victim approached the Commissioner of Police and the latter marked an inquiry into the case. At first Additional DCP- I Nilamberi Jagdale and ACP- West Gurpreet Kaur Purewal were asked to investigat the case. The inquiry was later shifted to ACP-North J Elanchezhian.

Gill allegedly told the investigating officers that a friend of the aspiring model was pressuring him into settling the issue by paying him Rs 1 crore. The girl alleged that she came in contact with the pop singer during a beauty pageant at Jalandhar in 2006 where Gill was one of the judges. She was adjudged the first runners-up at the pageant.

She claimed that during the function they exchanged mobile numbers. The two started talking to each other frequently and soon their friendship turned intimate. The girl met the singer at hotels in Phillaur and Ludhiana.

The girl said her ties with the singer turned sour after she asked him why she was not being featured in his music albums. She alleged that city residents Charandeep Singh of Hambra Road and Jagdeep Singh and Raja of Waddi Haibowal took advantage of her plight.They took Rs 20 lakh from her parents promising to send her abroad.

She claimed that when they were in Singapore, Raja and Jagdeep raped her and also made an MMS.

She alleged Charandeep established ties with her on the pretext of helping her seek legal action against those

Indians advised to avoid visiting three Nigerian states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa

The Indian High Commission in Nigeria has issued a warning to Indians to avoid visiting the states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa where security forces are battling militancy.


Accra: Indians have been advised to avoid visiting three states in Nigeria where emergency has been declared to combat militancy. With the Nigerian security situation showing no signs of improvement, the Indian High Commission in Abuja has issued a warning to Indians to avoid visiting the states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa where the Nigerian government has declared a state of emergency. On May 14, Nigerian authorities declared emergency in the three north-eastern states to battle militancy.

The high commission said that "following this measure, some areas in these states have witnessed higher level of violence and the security outlook appears to be uncertain at this stage". It asked "Indian nationals living in these three states to carefully weigh their options and consider relocation until the security situation settles down. Similarly, those planning to visit these three states are advised to consider postponing their visits until security situation settles down".

There are a total of 35,000 Indians in Nigeria. In general, Indians in Nigeria are well off and enjoy a largely non-controversial existence. The community has two temples in Lagos and a number of cultural and ethnic associations, most prominent of which is the Indian Cultural Association. The high commission cautioned Indian nationals who decide to continue living in or visit these states to be extra vigilant and take all possible security measures for their protection.

It recalled the death of two Indian nationals and one other person who was seriously injured in an attack by an unidentified armed group on an Indian owned Gum Arabic factory in Maiduguri, Borno, July 25, 2012. It took up the "matter of safety and security of the Indian community and their properties in Nigeria, with the concerned authorities in Nigeria". The high commission said, over the past few months, the "security situation in some parts of Nigeria has deteriorated. A sharp increase in cases of kidnappings in coastal belt, particularly by pirates in the Gulf of Guinea, has also been noted. The high commission said that "these instances of insecurity have occasionally involved Indian nationals as unfortunate victims".

'While in most cases they were passive victims of a situation or a criminal conspiracy, there are cases when they were specifically targeted for kidnapping or physical harm. Either way, a more prudent and cautious conduct could have avoided a calamitous outcome,' it added. On June 4, gunmen assassinated Alhaji Murtala Attahiru, a Sokoto state assembly member representing Gada West constituency.

State Commissioner of Police Alhaji Lawal Gambo said a number of assailants on motorbikes killed Alhaji Attahiru while he was on his way home and took away his car. 'Investigation carried out at the scene revealed that the slain lawmaker struggled with the hoodlums when they wanted to snatch the car - his shirt was torn. Thus, it was during the struggle that he was killed by the miscreants,' Gambo added.

As the situation escalates, the US has posted a $23 million reward to help arrest five known militant leaders who are suspected to be behind the terrorist attacks that have spread from Nigeria to other part of the West Africa region. Anyone who provides information that leads to the arrest of Nigeria's Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, who has openly invited Islamists from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran to join the group to create an Islamic State, will receive $7 million.

The US has also targeted Malik Abou Abdelkarim, a senior fighter with Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, and Oumar Ould Hamaha, the spokesman for Mali's Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa, for rewards of up to $3 million each for information leading to their arrest.