Narendra Modi to visit Japan from Sunday, meet top bosses of Suzuki

July 21, 2012

Ahmedabad, July 21: Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi will be on a five-day tour of Japan from Sunday to expand business ties with that country and will also meet auto major Maruti Suzuki's top brass, official sources said.

Modi, who will be accompanied by a business delegation will visit Hamamatsu to meet Maruti Suzuki Corporation managing director Shinzo Nakanishi.

His visit comes in the wake of the violent incidents in Maruti Suzuki's plant at Manesar in Haryana.

Even though the Modi-led delegation will not pitch for expanding the production capacity of the company in Gujarat, if the company on its own decides to expand its production capacity, it is welcome, Gujarat officials said.

"The view of the Gujarat government is very clear on attracting corporates in the state. We do not want to harm anybody's interests. However, whosoever wants to come here and expand his production capacity is welcome," Gujarat principal secretary (industries) Maheshwar Sahu told PTI.

Modi's visit to Japan, however, has sparked off speculation that during his meeting with the Maruti Suzuki representatives, he would try to convince them to expand the carmaker's production capacity in Gujarat from the proposed 2,50,000 units annually.

Maruti Suzuki has already proposed to invest Rs 4,000 crore in Gujarat to set up a green field project, having an annual production capacity of 2,50,000 cars near Becharaji in Mehasna district.

"Modi has been officially invited by the government of Japan. Normally, they invite the head of country, but Modi being the chief minister of a state in India, is going to Japan as a state guest," official sources said.

Besides Hamamastu, Modi will be visiting Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and Kobe prefectures of Japan. He will be addressing three seminars, one round-table and also interacting with top functionaries of Japanese government during the visit, they added.

Modi will also be travelling by a bullet train and study the reconstruction done by that country following the earthquake in Kobe prefecture, they added.

This is likely to be Modi's last foreign trip before the state elections scheduled to be held in December this year.

The purpose of the visit is to expand business ties between Gujarat and Japan, they said adding that the large area of Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) passes through Gujarat and the state sees huge potential of investment from Japan.

Japan had also partnered last year in the biennial 'Vibrant Gujarat Global Investor Summit', they said.

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Indian Air Force’s Tejas fighter jet crashes during Dubai air show

News Network

November 21,2025

An Indian Air Force (IAF) Tejas fighter jet crashed on Friday, November 21, afternoon during its aerial demonstration at the Dubai Air Show, plunging to the ground at around 2:10 pm local time while performing a manoeuvre before thousands of spectators.

The IAF confirmed the incident, stating that a Tejas aircraft participating in the show had crashed and that further details were being gathered. An Air Force spokesperson said more information would be shared after initial assessments.

The crash sent thick black smoke billowing into the sky near the airport, causing panic among visitors, including families and children who had gathered to watch the display. Authorities have not yet confirmed whether the pilot managed to eject before the aircraft went down. Emergency response teams rushed to the scene, and officials have not released information on casualties or damage so far.

The Tejas is a 4.5-generation, multi-role fighter aircraft developed indigenously by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). Designed for versatility, it is capable of offensive air support, close combat, ground attack missions and maritime operations. The aircraft family includes single-seat fighters and twin-seat trainers for both the Air Force and Navy.

HAL describes the latest version, the LCA Mk1A, as the most advanced in the series, featuring an AESA radar, an upgraded electronic warfare suite with radar-warning and self-protection jamming, smart multifunction displays, a digital map generator, a combined interrogator–transponder system and a modern radio altimeter. These enhancements significantly improve the aircraft’s combat capability and survivability.

Further updates from IAF and UAE authorities are awaited.

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Chaos continues as IndiGo cancels more flights including 73 from Bengaluru airport

News Network

December 4,2025

Domestic carrier IndiGo has cancelled over 180 flights from three major airports — Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru — on Thursday, December 4, as the airline struggles to secure the required crew to operate its flights in the wake of new flight-duty and rest-period norms for pilots.

While the number of cancellations at Mumbai airport stands at 86 (41 arrivals and 45 departures) for the day, at Bengaluru, 73 flights have been cancelled, including 41 arrivals, according to a PTI report that quoted sources.

"IndiGo cancelled over 180 flights on Thursday at three airports-Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru," the source told the news agency.

Besides, it had cancelled as many as 33 flights at Delhi airport for Thursday, the source said, adding, "The number of cancellations is expected to be higher by the end of the day."

The Gurugram-based airline's On-Time Performance (OTP) nosedived to 19.7 per cent at six key airports — Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad — on December 3, as it struggled to get the required crew to operate its services, down from almost half of December 2, when it was 35 per cent.

"IndiGo has been facing acute crew shortage since the implementation of the second phase of the FDTL (Flight Duty Time Limitations) norms, leading to cancellations and huge delays in its operations across the airports," a source had told PTI on Wednesday.

Chaos continued at several major airports for the third day on Thursday because of the cancellations.

A spokesperson for the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) in Bengaluru said that 73 IndiGo flights had been cancelled on Thursday.

At least 150 flights were cancelled and dozens of others delayed on Wednesday, airport sources said, leaving thousands of travellers stranded, according to news agency Reuters.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has said it is investigating IndiGo flight disruptions and has asked the airline to submit the reasons for the current situation, as well as its plans to reduce flight cancellations and delays.

It may be mentioned here that the pilots' body, Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP), has alleged that IndiGo, despite getting a two-year preparatory window before the full implementation of new flight duty and rest period norms for cockpit crew, "inexplicably" adopted a "hiring freeze".

The FIP said it has urged the safety regulator, the DGCA, not to approve airlines' seasonal flight schedules unless they have adequate staff to operate their services "safely and reliably" in accordance with the New Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms.

In a letter to the DGCA late on Wednesday, the FIP urged the DGCA to consider re-evaluating and reallocating slots to other airlines, which have the capacity to operate them without disruption during the peak holiday and fog season if IndiGo continues to "fail in delivering on its commitments to passengers due to its own avoidable staffing shortages."

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