COMMENT: Something is not up and up. For several weeks now overcrowding and serpentine queues during peak hours have been reported at immigration and security checks from major airports like Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru. Passengers are missing flights. On Monday also Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia rushed to Terminal 3 of the IGI Airport in Delhi to see for himself what is amiss.

Peak hour or no peak hour, the airport gives permission for airlines to schedule their flights according to its capacity. And, only those passengers who have booked their tickets will go to the airport. No issue about that. (And, the volume is less than that of pre-covid) The crowding is at the check points. But the ruling clerks decided that the number of flights should be reduced to solve the problem of overcrowding at the check points!!!

Where is the catch? A simple and honest Minister, Scindia looks flummoxed. There is also a multiplicity of 'cross-purpose' authorities at the airport and various remote power centres are pulling the strings!

Tailpiece: Sack the Ministry of clerks, first. We need airport operator, airlines and an aviation regulator, who will be directly answerable to the Minister. Neither the legions of clerks, nor the remotely controlled security personnel. We had done it once in the past, elsewhere.

Let a work culture usher in on its own, as the Americans had prescribed to us decades ago!

NEW DELHI, Dec 12: As the chaos due to overcrowding continued for the second week, Union Minister for Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia made a surprise visit to Terminal 3 of Delhi’s IGI airport (Indira Gandhi International Airport) on Monday also.

As the overcrowding at several airports during busy hours has become unmanageable ostensibly due to increase in air traffic, the Aviation Ministry last week asked the airlines to reduce flights at peak hours and reschedule them. (In fact, the air traffic volume has not reached the pre-covid levels.) The airports affected by the reported rush, especially because of the holiday season, are Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru.

In Delhi, passengers said they had to wait for two to three hours in the clearance area before the final departure of the flight. This is going on for over a week.

Having to wait for hours in the clearing area, some passengers missed their flights on Saturday.

The Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) said, "Additional manpower requirements will also have to be addressed by all stakeholders, including CISF and Immigration, to further improve the situation.” That includes deployment of additional systems. T3 operates 500 domestic and 250 international flights with a daily passenger load of around two lakhs. On its side, DIAL wants Phase 3A expansion plan to be expedited.

The airlines were also asked by the Ministry to increase the strength of their ground staff. Additional two X-ray machines have been installed at the T3 Terminal in Delhi. There are currently 14 X-ray screening machines. Additional manpower has also been deployed in the Automatic Tray Return Systems (ATRS) area. Two more entry gates will also be opened for passengers at Terminal 3. More traffic police will be deployed at the departure forecourt to avoid vehicular congestion.

Speaking at an event in Indore on Saturday, the Aviation Minister said some airports are facing congestion and the bunching of flights during peak hours will be avoided by rescheduling. He asked the airports to increase the number of security officials and trolley capacity at entry points.

The use of DigiYatra (face recognition) for seamless and contactless travel through the airport need to be encouraged. The more people use DigiYatra, the less will be the congestion at the airports, the Minister said.

The Minister had also held a detailed discussion with the heads of all major Indian airports, CISF and immigration officials on the issue of decongesting the airports. He had also visited Delhi T3 terminal with a team of officials on Friday.

According to a TOI report, the Delhi airport operator, Delhi International Airport Ltd, is planning to reduce 33 flights - 14 from Terminal 3, 11 from Terminal 2 and eight from Terminal 1 - of rush hours. Some flights may be shifted from T3 to T1 or T2. T3 terminal handles 503 domestic and 253 international flights daily. The traffic is, in fact, only just close to the pre-covid levels.

Air passengers have been complaining of undue delays and long serpentine queues at major airports.

"Delhi Airport is becoming one of the world’s most disorganized and frustrating airports for international travel, with very long lines before immigration and security. Politicians and senior bureaucrats don’t see the nightly scenes of chaos as they use VIP facilities," one of the twitteratis posted.

"Delhi airport is just crazy... it resembles fish market, Serpentine queue at every level n non cooperating Staff of @airvistara Inspite of reaching one n half hour early they did not let me board the flight," another one wrote.

The new offer will enable H-1B speciality occupation visa holders in the US to apply for a Canadian work permit, while also offering study and work permit opportunities for their family members accompanying them.

The selected applicants will be granted an unrestricted work permit for a maximum period of three years. The IRCC will entertain 10,000 applications. The window is open for one year.

However, drinking alcohol in the trains and metro premises is strictly prohibited. Violators can be booked under the provisions of the Excise Act and the Indian Penal Code.

• Curfew was clamped on areas in Paris on Thursday lasting till Monday. The police apprehend an escalation of volence in the coming days. There will be "actions targeted at the forces of order and the symbols of the State", they said.
• Under present law, the police have brute powers to deal with traffic violators. Young Nahel was shot point-blank by a cop for purported traffic violation and an anticipated crime.

Way back when on June 20 EST after searches were launched, India Travel Times had, on an analysis of the data available, indicated the probability of Titan undergoing a sudden and massive implosion (inward collapse) at great depths. (SEE: Titanic expedition goes missing: A ray of hope from sounds of bang) Now videos taken by a Canadian robot that reached the floor on Thursday evening, June 22, has confirmed it. The fragments are lying scattered. Horizon Arctic's ROV robot found the debris 1600 ft from Titanic bow.

The submersible imploded at 500 metres above sea bed, if we go by our calculations. The water pressure it had to withstand at that point was 2,345 kg per sq inch. The hull was not built to take that, as per the court cases fought by concerned people at the time of building the sub and going by the details revealed in the cancellation of booking by at least one ocean expert.

Sources said some people shifted places on the decks of the boat crammed with over 500 migrants and that tilted the vessel, while others said engine failure. It sank about 75 km from Pylos peninsular jetty on the Greek coast in the Ionian Sea bay in the international waters of the Mediterranean Sea on the intervening night of Tuesday-Wednesday.

ChatGPT has 'duped' a New York lawyer of a federal court. A first-time user, Schwartz asked the bot to do the laborious research work on his behalf and bring out cases similar to the suit he was filing against Avianca airline. About six non-existing cases the chatbot "hallucinated" and Schwartz promptly submitted them. The judge could not find these "legal gibberish" in records and the lawyer stands thoroughly discredited and humiliated. What was all the excitement about ChatGPT? When we approach ChatGPT does it introduce itself as what it is and what it is not?

After reaching New York, the Cessna made a hairpin turn and flew back over Washington DC for inexplicable reasons. But why was the pilot unresponsive to air traffic controllers FAA for two hours in the air and the fighters' flares later? It is said the plane, flying at 34,000 feet, likely lost cabin pressure, the pilot slumping due to hypoxia that sets in in about 20 to 30 seconds! Did the auto pilot take over till fuel lasted? Why did it make a 360 deg turn? The moot point is, how secure is the White House!

• Angered over President Tsai Ing-wen's visit to the US last week, China has launched a three-day military drill to intimidate Taiwan and as a warning to the US. The patrol also has a standby nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarine (see pix below).
• Meanwhile, Tsai's meeting with Kevin McCarthy indicates a bipartisan move in the US, probably a Biden plan for legislation to end the ambiguity over official relations with Taiwan.
• And, next year's election in Taiwan will be fought by the US and China by proxy.
• The US seeks to check the growing Chinese military presence in the Pacific with new alliances.

ANALYSIS: The underlying crime that defendant ex-President Donald Trump, is said to have concealed by falsification of business records - which only will make the whole thing a felony and stand up in the court - is not specified in the indictment which is sketchy: may be because prosecutors can withhold details at this stage. Yet, the hush-money payment being federal election law violations, it cannot come under the jurisdiction and scope of State prosecutors. Deprived of substantial documentary evidence, how will the veteran District Attorney Alwin Bragg navigate through this complexity and prove the intent is to be seen. He will have an option to invoke State tax laws, where violation is serious crime. But that is another case. The trial will drag on for years, anyway!

What next: His fingerprints and mugshot will be taken like any defendant in criminal cases. Arrest is unlikely (Florida Governor can block any warrant, complicating matters). Trump's attorney Tacopina said Trump will turn himself in.

Can Trump contest presidential election? Yes. There is no existing US law to bar him. He can even serve as President from prison.

The loophole: The Grand Jury has no documentary evidence as the NDA was not signed either by Trump or Cohen (Trump's attorney who turned hostile) on his behalf. It is depending on the testimony of Cohen and Daniels.

Where do Republicans stand: At any rate, the 'stormy petrel' has cooked Donald Trump's presidential goose, although he thinks otherwise. The Republicans are a divided lot.

• The shooter, a former student of the school., entered through a side door, after breaking the glass door. She was shot dead by the police, but only after six lives were lost.
• Every time a shooting takes place in the US, every time the White House makes a statement: “Enough is enough.” It's funny, painful and cruel!. Mostly the mass shootings take place in the schools.

In a related development, the USCIS issued a clarification that those who have lost jobs in the ongoing layoffs in the tech sector can apply for a change of non-immigrant status or for a "compelling circumstances" employment authorization document and stay back. This followed an appeal to Biden by thousands of Indians who have been affected by the layoffs.

"Enough!" - In a sheer lack of sense of proportion, President Biden had reacted to yet another boy, just of 15 years, shooting dead five people in North Carolina some time ago, besides sounding like he is going to put an end to American gun violence instantly! After the latest LA episode, he is yet to react! Biden presents a brilliant comparison to Indian Chief Ministers for their stupid reactions in similar circumstances of recent months!

For sure, gun violence will continue as long as the gun is there! Primarily meant for self-defence, how many times - or what percentage of all firings - it has successfully defended the carriers and saved lives and how? Has there been a survey?

Cricketer Rishabh Pant had an attack of sleep at the wheel. The situation of a sudden attack of sleep during travel is not a sleep disorder like narcolepsy but a common occurrence when one does not get enough rest and, surely, is not preventable. Because no driver really knows the moment when sleep attack will come over, says a US study. The consequence can be disastrous, especially in long distance driving.

Darkness has descended on most of the US from the Great Lakes to Mexican border and from the Appalachian mountains in the east to the Rockies mountains in the west without power, and large swathes have gone under the snow. Several thousands of flights have been cancelled due to the howling blizzards and zero-visibility in the past few days and medical services are unable to operate sans accessibility. A fast-moving Guv Kathy Hochul has already declared emergency in New York and closed vulnerable airports. Christmas is washed out.

The story is no different in Canada, coming nearer to the pole where the cold vortex cycle has been blasted off (Arctic blast) by the hot winds from an Atlantic, warmed up due to climate change.

The life-threatening situation will continue for several days more. Too taxing for the hypothalamus!

A half-baked British media report has laid the 'blame' at the Indian High Commission's door for the assumed losses of the British tourists, who have en masse cancelled India trips for want of visas. In the first place, why one must book tour package and then look for visa in a busy season? Because that has been the practice with the tour operators and nothing new. They refund money if visa is not comimg. However, the article is silent on this and implicates the mission alleging it changed the visa rules, while that is contrary to the fact. The UK report, duplicated in India mindlessly, has defamed the Indian High Commission. However, there are some missing links!

A million visitors are queuing up to attend the longest-reigning Queen Elizabeth II Lying-in-State, making history; while a galaxy of world leaders land in London for the State funeral at Westminster Abbey at 11 am (3:30 pm IST) on Monday. It will be a huge gathering of world leaders never seen before. King Charles III hosted a reception at Buckingham Palace for them on Sunday evening. There were 500 dignitaries.

The queue from Southwark Park touches Tower bridge, London bridge, Southwark bridge, Millennium bridge, Blackfriars bridge, Waterloo bridge and Westminster bridge before crossing the Lambeth bridge to enter a zig-zag near the entrance.

The BBC gave a calculation of the length of the queue. The distance from Westminster to Southwark Park, the starting point of the queue, is 11 km. Then there is the zig-zag section of nearly 5 km to rough in. So the queue is meandering slowly up towards Westminster for a total of 16 km! (which in theory becomes a constant). Although, 16 km is quite a lot for standing and moving without any chance to cool your legs for a moment. "Very little opportunity to sit down as the queue will be continuously moving” - the Government itself cautioned a swelling stream of mourners pouring into London from across the kingdom day and night. The time taken can easily be 14 hours! Yet the determination keeps everyone fit as a fiddle.

The calculation doesn't take into account a queue to join the queue that has come up and the last-minute doubling of the official queue into a double lane.

The masses in the queues looked extremely solemn and serious too and displayed an amazing natural discipline that illustrated a national character evolved partly from a thousand years of democratic tradition.

The spectacle was an engineering marvel that took India to the world club of demolitions, even as in less than ten seconds it created a gap up in the sky incomprehensible for the layman. Where has it gone!

WHAT TO DO, WHEN... : IndiaTravelTimes does not guarantee the authenticity of the video (above) of the episode of the flight turbulence at Durgapur airport on May 1, yet this is being put out with a view to familiarising the ordinary fliers with such probabilities lest they are caught unawares and fail to react rationally to handle such terrible situations. The 'eternity' can last up to 15 minutes. Tighten your belts, believe in your pilot and shift your thoughts to reduce disabling anxieties! Rest assured, the aircraft can rock and fall but not more than a hundred feet anyway.