After CIA, Tamil-speaking 'Lashkar Chief' Threatens Airport Director of Suicide Bombers

Chennai: Last time he was from the CIA. This time he has morphed into the Lashkar-e-Taiba chief. The man who placed a crank call to the Chennai Airport Director on Monday, gave a repeat performance on Wednesday, again at precisely 10 am.

Except this time he identified himself as Akhtar and went on to say that he was the chief of militant outfit Laskhar-e-Taiba.  "The person who received the call recognised his voice as the hoax caller from Monday and so alerted the law enforcement agencies as he transferred the call.

However, even he was surprised to hear a man who claimed to be a terrorist chief speaking in Tamil," said an amused airport source.

CISF tweaks security drill for Indian airports; fliers to be profiled

The CISF has rejiged security of all airports across the country as it has replaced the ritual drill of frisking of passengers with "tactical checking" in order to reduce hassles and ensure a heightened level of protection to civil air operations.

The central paramilitary which secures 59 civil airport terminals and is in the process of taking over more in the future has issued directions to all its Airport Security Group (ASG) units and the personnel therein to increasingly start an intelligent profiling of air fliers rather than deploying the existing time-taking procedure of checking their ticket details.

Lucknow: In terror-ridden times, aviation security body remains headless

Lucknow: At a time the country is on the hit list of global terror networks and terror attacks on airports are escalating in neighbouring countries, mainly Pakistan, the BCAS (Bureau of Civil Aviation Security) has been headless for nearly two years. It may be a matter of great anxiety for forces like the CISF (Central Industrial Services Forces) struggling each day to face the terror threat, but not for the government, either of the past-UPA or the present NDA.
There are nearly 90 commercial airports in different parts of the country, out of which 18 are hyper sensitive and 36 come in the sensitive category. The Chaudhary Charan Singh airport Lucknow too comes in the sensitive category and the staff of the civil aviation and the security expressed their concerned over the negligent attitude of the government towards the BCAS.

India, US to Work Together in Aviation Security

In a first such aviation security initiative, India and the US have agreed to establish an equipment testing and evaluation programme as part of their strategic partnership.

The US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) entered into a cooperation agreement with Airports Authority of India (AAI) and Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) to establish an aviation security equipment testing and evaluation programme.

In a release, the USTDA said the proposed programme, the first security initiative under the US-India Aviation Cooperation Program (ACP), would "help AAI and BCAS develop clear standards, specifications and testing procedures that align with international systems that scan carry-on luggage, checked baggage and airline passengers."

Can India regain Category I aviation safety rating from FAA?

The Indian Government is working towards regaining the country's top aviation safety rating from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). FAA, the American aviation regulator has cut India's safety rating to Category II from Category I causing embarassment for the country as well as for the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). India had enjoyed the Category I rating since 1997 and the downgrade to Category II, the first for the country, places it in same category as Zimbabwe and Indonesia.

Replying to a question asked by independent member of Parliament (MP) Rajeev Chandrasekhar in Rajya Sabha, GM Siddeshwara, minister of state for civil aviation, said, the FAA downgraded India's aviation safety to Category II in January this year and his ministry is working hard to regain the earlier rating.

Aviation expert wins the Brownlow Award

Bangalore: The first-ever Indian to win the International Aviation Safety Award, Captain Samir Kohli was recently presented the Cecil A Brownlow Award by Flight Safety Foundation at the Farnborough Air Show.

 Capt Kohli is an accomplished pilot and air accident investigator who made an independent investigation on behalf of the relatives of the victims of the horrendous crash of Air India Express Flight IX812 on May 22, 2010 at Mangalore. He penned down the reasons behind the crash in his book Waiting to Happen. This was an insightful look into a crash that resulted in 158 fatalities among the 166 passengers and crew.

 According to Flight Safety Foundation, Captain Kohli had focussed on understanding and explaining the causal factors of the crash rather than sensationalising it or assigning blame.

Desi flights’ ladder checks irk Afghanistan

New Delhi: Security concerns over flying in and out of Kabul have become a diplomatic issue between India and Afghanistan. Indian carriers, Air India and SpiceJet, conduct "ladder point" security checks on passengers boarding planes at Kabul — meaning flyers are frisked and checked with metal detectors just before they board aircraft even after clearing checks at the terminal building.

Afghanistan is learnt to have objected to this practice of desi carriers — which is happening at the insistence of Indian aviation security wing because of heightened fears in the strife-torn country. "Afghanistan sees this is as no confidence by India in their airport security and has conveyed this feeling to the latter. But we cannot and will not take any chances with the lives of our passengers and aircraft. The ladder point security has continued in Kabul for people flying Indian airlines," said a source.

Home ministry keen to take over security of Indian airports

New Delhi: The Home Ministry is keen that it should be the nodal agency to look after the crucial issue of security of airports in the country instead of the Civil Aviation Ministry.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday was given a presentation on the matter and he is believed to have asked officials to coordinate with the Civil Aviation Ministry to take the idea forward, official sources said.
It was felt that Home Ministry should be the nodal agency to take charge of the security of airports as the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) was under its administrative control, the sources added.
The security of airports is at present being managed by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS).

Complete team’s training first before safety audit, US consultant tells DGCA

New Delhi: In what could further stretch India's bid to ask the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for an upgrade of its air safety rating to category 1, US-based consultant, The Wicks Group (TWG), has asked the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to first complete the training of all its new technical personnel before it decides to apply for a fresh safety audit.
TWG, which has been hired to work for a year with the DGCA under a bilateral assistance programme funded by the United States Trade and Development Agency, gave this advice after its first survey early June. It will now conduct a second survey this month, a top civil aviation ministry official told FE.
“TWG has completed one survey, and will come back for another this month. They have asked us to finish training of all new appointments. We have to be completely sure that we are ready before we approach the FAA,” the ministry official said.

Exemption from airport security checks may compromise safety of others

New Delhi: With the government still seeing a threat to Priyanka and her family, it is unlikely that Vadra will lose the privilege. The controversy too seems to have subsided after the government's clarification. It also means that we have again missed an opportunity to debate airport security being compromised by a bumped-up VIP list.

Much before the advent of the Global Entry programme, many VIPs in the US gravitated to their own jets or to private jet firms faster than they might otherwise have done, according to an aviation consultant based in Washington. "That said, this country also really does put a huge emphasis on equality before the law. VIP exemptions are literally un-American," he said. India, on the other hand, is stuck with a group of people who will continue to use commercial flights with their privileges intact. And unlike the US, India also happens to be steeped in VIP culture.

Pakistan terror attack: All Indian airports put on high alert

New Delhi: Security at all Indian airports have been put on high alert following terror attack on Jinnah International Airport in Karachi. According to reports, at least 10 people were killed as gunmen stormed an airport terminal used for VIPs and cargo in Pakistan's largest city on Sunday night. Also Read: LeT planned hostage drama in Herat to disrupt Modi's swearing-in: Karzai Military spokesman has claimed that no planes were damaged and all vital assets are intact. While reports quoted Maj Gen Rizwan Akhtar of Pakistan Rangers confirming all terrorists have been killed, reports were also doing the rounds that firing was still on near the airport hangar area. The attackers are believed to be from Uzbekistan. Also Read: Indian fisherman found dead in Karachi jail The heavily armed assailants used forged ID cards of Airport Security Force (ASF), according to The Dawn. The attackers then engaged with security forces in a fierce gunbattle that lasted for hours. The attackers also set an oil terminal and a building on fire.

US-like system to check smuggling at Delhi airport

New Delhi: Enhancing its measures to check smuggling, the customs department has installed a US-like system to keep a track on suspicious passengers.
The Advanced Passenger Information System (APIS), developed by the National Informatics Centre, has been put in place by customs officials at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) here, official sources said.
The system acts as an electronic database of all passengers, crew and other airline staff entering and exiting the international airport here, they said.
The APIS automatically red flags suspicious passengers on the basis of their movement and other parameters, and give a lead to customs officials for follow up, the sources said.
“There is no human interference in the system. The data generated by the APIS is purely on the basis of information of a person’s travel history and his or her antecedents,” a source said.

Priyanka & Robert Vadra to keep enjoying airport security check exemptions

A Senior Government Official Has Said That Priyanka Gandhi And Her Husband Robert Vadra Will Continue To Enjoy Normal Security Checks Exemption At Airports When They Travel Together.
The official said that security is given to any individual on the basis of threat perception and members of the Gandhi family continue to be under high degree of threat.
He said that security agencies have to follow certain protocol and it is not easy to change the protocol just like that.

IATA stresses need to work on security in airline industry following MH370

Doha: The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said on Monday it expects airline companies to record combined net profits of $18-billion (R191bn at R10.66/dollar) this year.
Revenues were forecast to reach $746-billion (R7.9 trillion) IATA director general Tony Tyler said in Doha, pointing out that net margins stood to average 2.4% only.
"It sounds impressive. But the brutal economic reality is on revenues of $746-billion dollars we will earn an average net margin of just 2.4%," he said.
This amounted to less than $6 per passenger, added Tyler, who was speaking at an IATA-organised annual conference of the airline industry in the Qatari capital.

Air India breached security norms, AI cabin crew association says

Mumbai: National carrier Air India (AI) violated airport security norms for close to a month as about 280 of its cabin crew illegally entered Indian airports using passenger boarding cards instead of the mandatory Airport Entry Pass (AEP) meant for personnel in the airport terminal building or in the airside area.

Security swipe at Priyanka

New Delhi: ior home minister Kiren Rijiju today wondered why Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was trying to “politicise security issues”, days after she sought to pre-empt the BJP-led regime by requesting that the exemptions from checks her family enjoys at airports be withdrawn.

Rijiju’s contention came on a day CISF officials claimed the exemption Priyanka’s husband Robert Vadra enjoys from frisking related only to “privilege” and had nothing to do with security.

Rijiju didn’t name Priyanka but left no doubt whom he was referring to. “One should not politicise security issues. I have failed to understand why someone is trying to score a political brownie point. Security does not depend on the whims and fancies of any individual,” he said.