Geetika Sharma death case: Gopal Goyal Kanda surrenders after 13 days
New Delhi: After giving the Delhi Police the slip for 13 consecutive days, former Haryana minister Gopal Goyal Kanda finally surrendered in the wee hours of Saturday morning. The MDLR Airlines owner, a prime accused in the suicide of air-hostess Geetika Sharma, surrendered amidst much chaos and high drama.
But what's most shocking is the cat-and-mouse game that this Sirsa MLA was playing with the police.
Sources said that Gopal Kanda was present in Delhi on Friday evening. At 10 PM, Kanda's lawyers unofficially told the media about his 'surrender' plans. At 10:40 PM, the Delhi Police Commissioner tweeted that Kanda would be nabbed soon.
By midnight, Kanda's brother Govind was detained when he apprised the police of his 'surrender' plans. At 12:40 AM, Kanda's lawyers told the police that he is not absconding.
At 4 am on Saturday, Gopal Kanda surrendered at the Ashok Vihar Police Station in a media van dodging the police.
Geetika's family is now skeptical that Kanda will use his political clout to get away.
Geetika's brother Ankit said, "12 days is enough time to destroy evidence and he has abused his power as much as he could. I hope the investigation is unbiased and recorded."
The delhi Police will never be able to explain why with all the resources at their disposal they couldn't arrest the former Haryana minister.
But now that he's been arrested the only way they can save face is to try and ensure that they gather evidence enough to prove the allegations against Kanda.
While pilots are often cited as having fitness and longevity levels that exceed those who work in non-flying professions, there are certain factors that have raised concerns in the past and need to be considered in the operation of long- haul flights. With modern aircraft promising to increase flight times still further, medical specialists are using previously gathered data in an attempt to foresee problems that may arise when flight times increase.
Over the years, one of the prime health concerns to those who fly regularly has centered on whether flight crew have an increased risk of cancer due to prolonged exposure to high doses of cosmic radiation. This has led to a number of studies into this matter including one carried out by the California Department of Health Services on Cabin crew, which found that there was a twofold increase in the risk of melanoma skin cancer and that breast cancer was 30% higher.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says that while airline crews are subjected to higher levels of naturally occurring radiation than the general public, levels are still low. Dr. Ian Perry, an aviation medical expert who sits on a number of advisory panels, believes that there is too much blame placed on flying and that such illnesses may have more to do with airline crew's "lifestyle and irregular diet over the years." He also says that crews go to more exotic locations and are therefore exposed more frequently to sunlight which in turn means they have a higher risk of skin cancer.
At a seminar on The Aeromedical Challenges of Ultra-long Haul Flying held at the Royal Aeronautical Society (RAes) in London in April 2004, Dr. Michael Bagshaw of British Airways (BA) presented a paper on cosmic radiation. Bagshaw discussed how at low altitudes we are protected from cosmic radiation by the Earth's magnetic field. The area over the equator enjoys the greatest protection with zero protection offered over the geomagnetic poles and - somewhat anomalously - reduced levels of protection over an area in the South Atlantic. Air travel at altitude can take us beyond this protective 'blanket' and increases our exposure to cosmic radiation. With ULH flights setting to favor the use of polar routes in travel, it is clear that exposure on these flights will be even greater.
We are all exposed to 'background' radiation, measured in milliSieverts (mSv), throughout our daily lives and the International Radiological Protection Commission suggests a General Public limit dose of one mSv per year in excess of exposure to background levels. Placed in context, this equates to eight return transatlantic flights or five antipodean return flights in a year. Supersonic aircraft travel at higher altitude and as a result iust 100 hours per year of supersonic flight is enough to expose an individual to the recommended maximum dose. These guidelines are intended for passengers, for Cabin and Flight Crew, an occupational exposure limit of 20mSv per year is set instead.
Bagshaw explained how radiation exposure is calculated by taking a flight, its profile and airports used and then measuring the altitude, latitude and longitude of the flight as well as other contributory factors - such as the solar cycle. This is generally carried out using a range of computer programmes specifically designed for this task. While there have been reports of increased risk during times of solar flare, cosmic radiations itself "is a fairly constant flux," says Bagshaw.
BA has carried out a number of studies into radiation levels in flight crew and continues to monitor this issue. In one such study, flight crew levels were measured against those recorded in people working in other areas of industry. While the maximum levels recorded in flight crew were almost equivalent to those seen in people working in the nuclear fuel industry, the statistical average fell well below this rate.
So how does the overall picture look? Between 1950 and 1992, BA monitored 6,209 pilots and 1,153 flight engineers comprising 143,500 person years of observation. The results were encouraging and revealed that life expectancy for long haul crew was four to five years better than that of the average recorded in members of the public - with short haul crew having an increased life expectancy of two to three years. Although radiation levels are known to present a heightened risk of leukaemia, they were found to be far less than expected in those studied - in fact there was no occupational increase in cancer levels, bar that of melanoma.
Fatigue
The effects of fatigue in flight crew have also been repeatedly flagged up as a health care issue by both the aviation medical professionals and pilots themselves. At the Royal Aeronautical Society seminar, Dr. Ian Hosegood of Emirates Airlines discussed how the airline is looking at this issue.
Also to be brought into use by Singapore Airlines and Canadian Airlines, the four-engine 313-seater aircraft has a range of 8,360 nm (16,000 km) and will enable the airline to extend its operations to the east and west coast of the USA although it is likely to be used on shorter routes initially.
According to Hosegood, "there has been scant data on the medical effects of flying over 14 hours with pilot fatigue having been traditionally viewed as an industrial issue." Hosegood says that for the first time, safety is going to be dependent on flight crew being well-rested and that a paradigm shift in how this matter is approached by regulators is needed as the existing "football team approach" will no longer suffice.
Emirates has been busy reviewing scientific literature on the effects of fatigue using in-house expertise on this matter as well as that of Qinetiq and Harvard University and a number of other organizations conducting research in this area. Within the aviation industry, information from the United Augmented Flight Study, NASA and DERA reports and the results of the Emirates Pilot Questionnaire was reviewed. ULR meetings and workshops provided another source of information particularly as did those held by the Flight Safety Foundation in recent years.
Alternative modelling is to be carried out and Hosegood said, "we need to work out how much sleep crew get and what it's worth - for example we know it's important that crew rest at circadian lows." It has been found that if a rest period is simply split down the middle, crew are often fatigued. Having two sleep opportunities should ensure that at least one is successfully used and this is also said to reduce crew anxiety. Other ways that Emirates is planning to tackle this matter include a "stepwise" increment in sector lengths whereby crew can become slowly accustomed to flying longer sectors, integration into the company Fatigue Risk Management Systems (FRMS) and light exposure - although this is still seen as a tricky thing to get right and may potentially cause more of a problem if done incorrectly.
Educating crew and management and carefully devising rosters is also a key step in improving matters. Flight crew, especially, need to be armed with the knowledge to make "tactical decisions" and devise personal strategies for ensuring they are as well rested as possible and that they look at factors such as exercise, diet and caffeine intake and have a strategic plan for each route.
With plans to eventually use two captains and two first officers on the planned long haul A340 flights, Emirates has initially approved the use of the "City Pair" system whereby crew fly out and back in single sectors. Various designs of crew rest facilities are being looked at for onboard the new aircraft. Flight crew will be segregated from cabin crew and considerations include: noise / vibration, temperature / humidity, bedding, ablutions and relaxation as well as full IFE facilities.
In further fatigue modelling, testing and validation, Emirates will be using data gathered from using wrist actometers such Actiwatch. This "watch like" device can be worn by pilots to test fatigue levels and can be plugged into a laptop computer where data - similar to that seen in an electro-cardiogram - is downloaded and analyzed.
Other ways in which fatigue will be measured include using electro-encephalograms (EEC) and electro-oculograms (EOG), and sleep logs as well getting crew to participate in Psychomotor Vigilance Tasks (PVT).
However, one of the onegoing issues, says Dr. Hosegood, is the recognition that everyone is different and with this in mind it is difficult to know whether to model on the average or the worst case. Another factor to be considered is integrating with current Flight Time Limitation (FTL) schemes.
Recognizing the risks posed by fatigue, a number of organizations have published advice on alertness management. In their Guide, the Air Transport Association provides basic information on the physiological causes of fatigue and also prescribes some preventive and operational fatigue countermeasures. As well as obvious measures such as developing good sleeping habits and trying to minimize sleep loss, there is information on strategies that actively reset the body's circadian clock. Operational countermeasures include increasing social interaction and conversation, taking exercise and also the use of caffeine during a flight.
The Guide also cites ajoint National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) study in which crewmembers who were allowed to take planned naps showed better performance (34 percent) and higher physiological alertness (100 percent) during the last 90 minutes of flight than the control group crewrnembers who had not napped.
The FAA does not currently sanction this practice, but research is ongoing and there are always going to be opportunities for 'strategic naps' outside of the cockpit. Napping is the only operational countermeasure that addresses one of the major physiological causes of fatigue - the need for sleep - and reverses it. While other operational countermeasures primarily mask fatigue, naps actually reduce it.
BA, as with many airlines, takes flight crew fatigue extremely seriously and has been taking steps to address this issue. Representatives from the airline have attended a Fatigue Countermeasure course run by NASA and then devised a training module, which is given to all flight and cabin crew. Flight crew receive this as part of their annual refresher course in aviation medicine, and cabin crew as part of their Crew Resource Management (CRM) training. As well as classroom sessions, printed notes summarize what they have been taught and highlight details on topics such as sleep scheduling, good sleep habits and napping. Long-haul crew also receive "preventative and operational recommendations, individualized to the operations they are flying." This translates as route and time specific advice cards for every long-haul sector flown by British Airways developed from a concept pioneered by Airbus Industries.
Stress
Stress and fatigue can be closely related and there are a number of environmental issues that can contribute to the levels of nervous tension in flight crew. For example, with aircraft travelling at increasingly high speeds it is vital that pilots have a high degree of alertness and are able to concentrate for the long periods of time required. This is especially true in poor weather and night conditions where there is an increased risk of an accident as visual references are lost. During such difficult conditions, pilots need to be extra vigilant and ensure that flight instruments are accurately monitored and this is naturally very tiring.
On long haul operations, the design of the cockpit itself can be an important contributory factor when measuring stress and fatigue levels. As well as ease of instrument use, heating and ventilation are important in maintaining comfort levels thereby reducing stress and areas of distraction.
Altitude can cause stress, particularly below 5,000 feet as this is where the greatest atmospheric changes generally occur and flight crew can suffer from trapped gases within the body. Common health problems such as a common cold can cause significant ear and sinus discomfort during descent.
'Self-imposed' Stress
While fatigue may generally be the main cause of stress amongst the pilot community, the lifestyle itself has much to answer for. A long-haul pilot is less likely to have a stable home life and multiple marriages are common. With divorce and relationship problems being high on the list of life's stressful events, this is a factor that can push an indivdual to a high point of anxiety and potentially into alcohol and drug abuse.
Many flight crew indulge in activities that are not always conducive to promoting good health. These do not only have adverse effects on their physical and mental well-being but can also be a real threat to safety. An acronym often used to list these factors is DEATH which stands for "Drugs, exhaustion, alcohol, tobacco and hypoglycaemia."
Psychological Problems
While the vast majority of pilots are extremely competent people of sound mind, they are not immune to the psychological disorders anymore than any other sections of the working public. A pilot's flying life - especially when flying long-haul routes - can be very stressful and it is important that colleagues or line managers are able to quickly respond to warning signs of psychological distress.
A case of what can happen when these warning signs are not observed is that of Gamil el Batouti, relief pilot of Egyptair Flight 990 who was thought to have crashed the aircraft on purpose. Post accident reports indicate that Batouti may have been an "acute psychotic" and that there were numerous warning signs that should have been noted. He was said to have exhibited frequent mood changes and was argumentative and was also said to have been invoked in a number of high-risk activities.
In light of this tragic event, the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) suggested that it might be prudent for the industry to introduce psychological profiling of pilots. This suggestion caused outrage amongst the US pilot population who thought it would be ineffective and an invasion of privacy.
Aerotoxic Syndrome
While rare, there have been various reports on crew suffering health problems due to cabin vapours caused by either leaking engine oil or faulty air conditioning units. Exposure to such fumes can cause symptoms that range from skin, nose, eye and respiratory irritation through to neurological dysfunction and chronic fatigue syndrome. Chris Winder, from the School of Safety Science at the University of New South Wales, Australia says that any aircraft that leaks oil can cause such problems and said this can include Boeing 757, Airbus A320, BAe146 and MD80 types. A recent report by the Australian Federation of Air Pilots, highlighted the problem and cited details from a number of recent surveys that revealed the extent of the problem.
One of the most recent of these was an analysis of 21 BAe146 pilots who had experienced diarrhoea, recurring headaches, and intolerance to certain types of food and alcohol as well as brain impairment. These toxic vapours are said to range from "light blue to a black cloud and can smell like strong blue cheese," according to members of a research project on this matter.
Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT)
In recent years, Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) has received more coverage - at least in the popular media - than any other air travel related issues. Michael Reynolds has set up 'Airhealth.org', a non- profit-making organization dedicated to educating air travellers on the risks of DVT. Reynolds and his team are quick to point out that the popularly termed 'economy class syndrome' is a condition which has the potential to affect all air travellers, pilots included. Quoting Dr. David McKenas, medical director at American Airlines, the website states that 'the most common causes of sudden pilot incapacitation are cardiac arrest, arrhythmia, and fainting', all of which are often caused by a blood clot in the lung.
Indeed, 5% of DVT sufferers who have contacted the website are pilots. In contrast to flight attendants who exercise enough during a flight to reduce the risk of DVT, pilots tend to move around less and the risk is higher, especially if coagulability is already high from a previous flight and they fall asleep sitting upright.
Airhealth's stance is supported by a number of studies such as Gianni Belcaro's LONFLIT series. However, in a presentation to the Royal Society of Medicine in London in January 2002, Dr. Michael Bagshaw, pointed to Swiss research published in 2001 which found professional pilots were less likely to suffer DVT than the general population, and that 16 out of 27 pilots who did had well recognized, pre-disposing factors.
There are, of course, many acute, short-term conditions or illnesses brought on by working as flight crew. The diet and eating patterns can suffer due to time zone changes and can lead to number of medical issues within individuals. In exotic locations, crew may be more susceptible to food poisoning or may be exposed to contagious illnesses as in the case of the recent Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak. Another very serious health risk is hypoxia which is an issue in its own right and can affect crew on both short and long haul flights.
Also referred to as "mountain sickness", hypoxia is a condition that can be caused by flying at altitude and can cause a pilot's mental coordination to slow down and may potentially reduce night vision. According to Group Captain David Gradwell, Consultant adviser in Aviation Medicine with the Royal Airforce, it is a condition that can affect even the fittest and youngest of pilots and there is no known predictor of susceptibility. Although it is extremely rare for flight crew to be affected by hypoxia, it is a potentially serious condition and there are often no symptoms. Research into this condition is ongoing with much of it being carried out in conjunction with aircraft air quality studies. One of the most notable studies has been instigated by the European Union (EU) and is primarily looking at lowering cabin altitude.
So will the ULH flights of the future pose an increased medical risk to flight crew? Certainly the view of the speakers at the RAeS seminar is that jury is still out on this matter. It is clear that fatigue is the primary concern and that crew on these flights will be carefully monitored. It could even be that ULH flights will prove safer if crews are doubled up and have adequate rest facilities onboard. It will be interesting to see what further research and monitoring on this matter will reveal.
The High Court has temporarily stopped national carrier Kenya Airways from retrenching its employees until a suit brought by the workers union challenging the layoffs is heard and determined.
The airline, which is 26.73-per cent-owned by Air France KLM, said this month it would shed off staff through voluntary retirement, redundancies, and outsourcing of non-core roles to contain soaring operation costs.
“The respondent (Kenya Airways) is hereby restrained by way of temporary injunction from proceeding with any negotiations or any staff rationalisation that may render members redundant pending the hearing,” Judge Onesmus Makau said in court orders seen by Reuters yesterday.
The Aviation and Allied Workers Union filed a lawsuit in the industrial court seeking to stop the airline’s action on the grounds the management had breached the labour relations act that requires a firm to engage workers through their union before laying them off.
The parties will return to the court on September 21 for direction on the case, said Leonard Ochieng’, the lawyer for the workers.
Kenya Airways was forced to raise workers’ pay in 2010 after a strike that nearly paralysed its operations.
Pre-tax profit
High costs caused the carrier’s pretax profit to plunge 57 per cent in the full year that ended last March.
The carrier, one of the largest in sub-Saharan Africa alongside Ethiopian Airlines and South African Airways, did not indicate the level of savings it was targeting or how many jobs would be lost in the exercise. The airline plans to shed staff through voluntary retirement, redundancies and outsourcing of non-core roles to contain soaring costs and protect its bottom line but unions said they would fight the job cuts.
The airline, now owned 26.73-per cent by Air France KLM and 29.80 per cent by Government after the recent Rights Issue, which attracted increased interest from foreign investors said the programme will first offer a Voluntary Early Retirement Package to staff followed by a redundancy programme.
According to Kenya Airways Chief Executive, Titus Naikuni, the decision was informed by long term sustainability of the airline in an environment marked by low passenger volumes, unstable fuel prices and increasing competition.
“Despite various initiatives that we have put in place, our cost base continues to be extremely high. This coupled with other direct operating costs, have put pressure on our contribution margin reducing our overall ability to operate profitably,” he said in a statement explaining the move by the carrier.
Naikuni said employment costs have more than doubled over the last six years, having risen from Sh6 billion in the year 2007 to Sh13.4 billion this year.
Employment act
Kenyan employees have grown from 3,729 to 4,170 during the period, while overseas employees rose from 425 to 664. The total number of employees stood at 4,834 at the end of the last financial year.
New York: AMR Corp’s American Airlines renewed a bid to cancel its contract with Pilots and impose cost cuts, revising a proposal that a bankruptcy judge rejected earlier this week.
American filed a motion in US Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan on Friday seeking permission to void the labour agreement after Judge Sean Lane on August 15 said two elements of American’s plan to reduce expenses weren’t justified.
American’s request extends the Fort Worth, Texas-based airline’s effort to reduce labour costs as part of its restructuring. American blamed its November bankruptcy on labour costs that it said exceeded competitors’ by as much as $800 million a year.
The airline said in a statement it filed the motion “to keep moving forward to achieve the savings and flexibility needed for our successful restructuring.”
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American’s flight attendants are scheduled to finish voting on a new contract with the airline on August 19. If they reject the agreement, Lane will rule on whether American can impose new terms on the union. The Transport Workers Union, which represents mechanics, baggage handlers and other ground workers at American, has ratified new contracts.
Pilots’ Union
Lane’s ruling against American’s plan to impose cost- cutting on pilots came after the Allied Pilots Association on August 8 turned down a sweetened offer that would have eliminated furloughs and given them a 13.5 percent stake in AMR after it emerged from bankruptcy.
Even if Lane allows AMR to void the contract, the company would have to negotiate a long-term deal. The judge scheduled a hearing on American’s request for September 4.
“If you want to have the irrevocable anger of 8,000 pilots, this is the path to go down,” Tom Hoban, a union spokesman, said in an interview. “It doesn’t appear to be a wise strategy.”
The union is hoping American will consider returning to negotiations before Lane rules, he said.
The committee representing unsecured creditors said it “reluctantly” supports equity stakes for the three unions when American emerges from bankruptcy as long as consensual labour agreements “are reached promptly.”
“The committee will not support equity stakes or claims for any labour organization that does not ratify a collective bargaining agreement nor will the committee support any further economic value to labour organizations beyond the current proposals,” the committee said in an August 16 statement.
Potential Mergers
The wrangling over labour contracts comes as American Chief Executive Officer Tom Horton weighs potential mergers for the company’s reorganization. American’s three unions have reached tentative labour deals with US Airways Group, which backs a tie-up with American.
In his decision, the judge agreed that “significant changes” must be made to the pilots’ contract for American to reorganize. Lane said American’s plan to lift restrictions on code-sharing and pilot furloughs wasn’t justified. He invited the airline to make changes and file a new request to reject the contract.
Furloughed workers are those who have been laid off and are offered their jobs back before new employees are hired. Code- sharing is the industry practice of agreements between airlines to put each other’s codes on flights and book passengers on those planes.
Workforce Reductions
American originally said it would cut 13,000 jobs, or about 18 percent of its workforce, under a plan to reduce annual operating expense by $2 billion. Labour made up $1.25 billion of the total, including $990 million sought from union workers.
The airline later modified its demands, agreeing to freeze rather than terminate employee pensions and lowering total cost reductions sought to 17 percent from 20 percent for each work group.
American has dropped any provision on possible pilot furloughs from its revised proposal. The airline will retain existing limits in its current contract, which provides furlough protection to 77 percent of pilots, said Bruce Hicks, an American spokesman.
American said in its court filing that it “materially circumscribed” the circumstances under which it would be permitted to engage in code-sharing.
“American has taken heed of the court’s decision as to deficiencies of its previously open-ended domestic code-sharing proposal and has made a revised proposal that imposes real limits,” the company said.
Europe: Lots of cloud opportunity to tap GigaOM And, in March, results of a Tata Consultancy Services survey showed that, in aggregate, 12 percent of European companies' total applications run in the cloud now, but they expect that percentage to hit 25 percent by 2014. One big question is what's... See all stories on this topic »
LONDON (AP) - Europe is edging closer to recession, dragged down by the crippling debt problems of the 17 countries that use the euro, official figures showed Tuesday.
Eurostat, Europe's statistics agency, revealed that the economies of both the eurozone and the European Union, which has 27 countries, shrank by a quarterly rate of 0.2 percent in the second quarter of the year. In the first quarter, output for both regions was flat. A recession is officially defined as two straight quarters of falling output.
Europe's debt woes have been blamed for the sharp deterioration in the global economic outlook over the last few months. The region is the U.S.'s largest export customer and any fall-off in demand will hit order books - as well as President Barack Obama's election prospects.
The 17-country eurozone is grappling with sky-high debt levels and record unemployment of 11.2 percent. Compared with the second quarter of last year, the eurozone's economy is 0.4 percent smaller.
The region's economy would have slipped into recession had it not been for better-than-expected GDP figures from its two leading economies, Germany and France. Germany, Europe's biggest economy, posted quarterly growth of 0.3 percent, better than the 0.2 percent uptick forecast. France also beat expectations of a small contraction in its output to record no change in its economy for the second quarter.
The European Union, which has a population of 500 million people, recorded a GDP last year of $15.5 trillion - slightly more than the U.S.'s output. It is also a major source of sales for the world's leading companies. Forty percent of McDonald's global revenue comes from Europe - more than it generates in the U.S.. General Motors, meanwhile, sold 1.7 million vehicles in Europe last year, a fifth of its worldwide sales.
The region's stumbling economy is making it harder for other economies to grow. Policymakers around the world are urging more decisive action - particularly from the European Central Bank - to deal with the crippling debt crisis to restore confidence to the global economy.
"The ECB's recent announcement that it will do 'whatever it takes' to save the euro is welcome, but clarity over what will be done is crucial," said Tom Rogers, a senior economic adviser for accounting firm Ernst & Young.
Markets have grown more optimistic recently that Europe's firefighting efforts will pick up the pace. That positive tone continued Tuesday, largely because of the figures out of Germany. The Stoxx 50 index of leading European shares was up 0.6 percent while the euro rose another 0.1 percent to $1.2350.
Germany currently benefits from strong demand for its products, but its high-value exporters are finding it increasingly difficult to tap international markets. Forward-looking surveys, including Tuesday's closely monitored ZEW survey of German investor sentiment, are suggesting that confidence is taking a knock as Europe moves from one crisis point to another.
The other 16 countries that use the euro are Germany's biggest export market and six of them - Greece, Spain, Italy, Cyprus, Malta and Portugal - are in recession. The U.S. recently recorded GDP growth of 0.4 percent in the second quarter, according to Eurostat, which was less than the growth in the first quarter.
Slower economic growth is also making it harder for governments and central banks to control the debt crisis in Europe. Shrinking economies mean less tax revenue while forcing up the cost of social benefits.
"The big picture is that the economic growth required to bring the region's debt crisis to an end is still nowhere in sight," said Jonathan Loynes, chief European economist at Capital Economics.
For those countries at the front-line of Europe's debt crisis, the figures make for grim reading. Unsurprisingly, Greece is faring the worst - its economy is 6.2 percent smaller than a year ago and back at the level it was in 2005.
Portugal suffered a big 1.2 percent drop in output in the second quarter, compared with the previous quarter's modest 0.1 percent drop.
Both Greece and Portugal have received financial bailouts from the other eurozone countries and the International Monetary Fund and were required to adopt tough austerity measures in return.
Italy and Spain, the eurozone's third- and fourth-largest economies, shrank by 0.7 percent and 0.4 percent respectively in the second quarter. Both countries are struggling to convince markets they have a strategy to get a grip on their debts. Spain has even agreed to a bailout of its banks.
Alexander Schumann, chief economist at The Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce, urged Europe's indebted countries to carry on with their reforms and said it won't be long before they start reaping the rewards.
"We need to be patient but there are positive signs that in 18 or 24 months we might see light at the end of the tunnel in Portugal, Spain, Italy and Greece, "he said. "We can get there if politicians don't block the tunnel with ideas that add new uncertainty."
A section of pilots of near-bankrupt Kingfisher Airlines today went on strike, second time in the month, demanding immediate payment of March salaries, leading to cancellation of seven flights from Mumbai.
"A section of Mumbai-based pilots have gone on strike due to repeated failure to keep up with the promises (made by the airline management)," airline sources told PTI. Some flights from Mumbai have already been cancelled due to the pilots strike and many more cancellations are to follow, they said.
Seven Kingfisjer Airlines flights from Mumbai have been cancelled, a Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) spokesperson said. The strike comes after a meeting between a group of pilots and airline Chief Executive Sanjay Aggarwal in the city to enquire about the March salaries, ended without yielding any results, sources said.
"About 15 pilots had gone to meet the CEO to enquire about the March salary since the pilots were promised by the managment that every one would be paid by August 17. They were made to wait for an hour and half and then told that the chairman (Vijay Mallya) has said they will be paid by Tuesday," they said. The pilots did not accept the assurance as the Chairman has repeatedly backtracked on his earlier commitments on payment of salary dues and, therefore, decided to strike work, sources said.
Kingfisher Airlines, whose accounts are under Corporate Affairs Ministry's scanner, has not made payments to majority of its employees since March. The corporate affairs ministry has recently ordered an inspection of the account books of debt-ridden airline after receiving complaints from stakeholders alleging violation of certain provisons of company law.
