India's Generosity

[Guest guest]

India gifts second plane to Afghan airlines, Waives Uganda Debt and

sends 10 New Buses to Seychelles and will Launch Satelites for Europe

Monday, 23-Dec-2002, 5:40pm

 

Dec 23 (Hoovers) -- Air India today delivered its second Airbus 300-

B4, ``Cauvery, to Ariana Afghan Airlines in Kabul.

 

Some spare parts were also given with the plane, which has been

reconfigured to carry 260 passengers.

 

A ``C check was carried out before the craft was delivered in view

of the limited technical manpower available with the Afghan

airlines. This will enable the craft to be flown without

interruption for 4,000 hours.

 

AI had handed over the first Airbus A300-B4, ``Godavari, painted in

Arianas colours, on September 17. It is being used for operation of

commercial services to Sharjah, Turkey and Germany.

 

AIs operating crew and maintenance engineers were deputed to Ariana

to assist in the operations.

 

The third aircraft, also a gift, Airbus A300-B4, ``Ganga, will be

delivered in January 2003 after a ``C check.

 

India Waives Uganda Debt

New Vision (Kampala)

 

December 23, 2002

Posted to the web December 23, 2002

 

Geoffrey Kamali

Kampala

 

India has waived off a debt of US$5.23m (about sh945b) owed to her

by Uganda under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC)

initiative.

 

The cancellation also applies to six other countries regarded as

HIPCs and includes interest accrued on the debts.

 

A press statement from the Indian High Commission in Kampala said

the waive was to help in economic development.

 

"This has been done to strengthen bilateral economic and commercial

relations with Uganda," the statement, signed by the Indian High

Commissioner to Uganda, Deepak Ray, said.

 

"It is India's hope and wish that with the cancellation of the

Government debt, the process of further consolidation of India-

Uganda economic and economic cooperation will be significantly

facilitated," the statement said. Ends

 

10 new buses arrive from India

To go on road on Monday December 23

 

 

 

Ten new buses arrived from India last Thursday and are being been

deployed in the Seychelles Public Transport Corporation's (SPTC)

operation schedules as from Monday December 23.

 

The buses, all TATA 713, are the first consignment of a fleet which

will see ten other buses arrive in mid January.

 

SPTC's assistant traffic manager, Mr Desire Payet, said the ten

thirty-seater buses would serve on different routes on Mahe where

they were expected to improve on the efficiency of the company's

operations. The buses can also take ten passengers standing.

 

According to Mr Payet, those buses have very strong engines and are

also of very high quality. He pointed out that under their agreement

with TATA International Limited, a container of spare parts also

arrived with the consignment which will allow SPTC to undertake

major repairs on some buses from its current fleet which are in the

workshop.

 

At the same time, he added, there were also spare parts for the new

TATA 713 buses.

 

"We have received very good response from countries who have either

tried out or actually using TATA 713 buses in their fleet and SPTC

is confident that the new buses will do very well here too," he said.

 

Noting that SPTC would gradually remove some of its ageing buses on

the road and replace them with new ones, Mr Payet explained that

TATA 909 was no longer a popular model and it was also becoming very

difficult to get spare parts for it.

 

In addition, he noted, the cost of maintenance of TATA 909 had also

gone up.

 

Mr Payet went on to explain that some of those buses in question

(TATA 909) had already lost their power and could no longer go up

steep hills like Mont Plaisir or Mont Buxton.

 

Meanwhile, Mr Payet also confirmed that 15 buses of the Ashok

Leyland make are expected in the country during the third week of

January.

 

The Ashok Leyland buses would be on a trial basis here and 30 more

would be requested if the vehicles proved suitable for Seychelles.

 

The Ashok Leyland buses, known as state-of-the-art vehicles, had

been modified to suit local requirements following a survey carried

out by the Indian company and SPTC.

 

It is to be noted that these developments follow the signing of two

agreements in October between SPTC and the two international

companies based in India – TATA International Limited and Ashok

Leyland – for the supply of over 100 new public buses and spare

parts over the next three years.

 

 

India to launch satellite with Europeans in February

New Delhi, Dec 24

 

 

 

 

 

India's INSAT-3A satellite, which will provide meteorological forecasts, will be

launched in February by European consortium Arianespace, the head of the Indian

Space Research Organisation said Tuesday.

 

"INSAT-3A is expected to be launched in the second half of February. We are

ready with the satellite," K. Kasturirangan said in Bangalore, quoted by the

Press Trust of India.

 

He said the satellite will carry equipment to conduct meteorological forecasts

and advanced communications.

 

Kasturirangan added that the second test flight of India's own satellite launch

vehicle will take place in March.

 

The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) went on a mission in April

2001 that placed a 1.54-tonne experimental satellite into orbit.

 

Kasturirangan said India was also working on a 2,000-kilogramme satellite that

would beam education progamming around the country, including remote areas that

do not have quality schools or colleges.

 

"It will be a unique project worldwide," he said.

 

The space programme plans to launch a series of other satellites in the coming

two years and aims to send a mission to the moon in 2007.

 

By international standards, India's space programme runs on a shoestring budget

of around 400 million dollars annually.