The government has approved the proposed bill to amend the Aircraft Act, 1934. In this, it is proposed to increase the existing penalty of one million to one crore in addition to punishment on persons convicted for carrying weapons, ammunition or dangerous objects in the aircraft or endangering the safety of the aircraft in any way. The proposed bill will be introduced in Parliament under the name of Aircraft (Amendment) Bill 2019. This approval was given in the meeting of the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Aircraft Amendment Bill proposes to bring the regulations of all areas of air navigation within the ambit of the Act. The amendment will also fulfill the International Civil Aviation Organization ICAO's security conditions. In addition, it will help all the three aviation regulators of India-Directorate General of Aviation (DGCA), Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) and Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) to play their role better.
The cabinet has also allowed the Center and the Delhi government to change the modalities for financing Phase-4 of the Delhi Metro. Under this, the Central and Delhi governments will also share 50:50 percent of the cost of the land required for the construction of the three Phase-4 corridors. These corridors include Aerocity-Tughlakabad, RK Ashram-Janakpuri (West) and Mukundpur-Maujpur corridors.
These steps have been taken only for Delhi under the Supreme Court's order in view of the amendment in the Metro Rail Policy, 2017. It is considered important in view of the next year's assembly elections in Delhi. As a result, the total cost of the fourth phase, which is 24,948.65 crore, will not be affected. But the contribution of the central government will increase from the current 4,154.20 crore to 4,643.63 crore. That is, the center will have to give 489.43 crore more. While the amount of loan to be returned by DMRC to multilateral agencies will increase from Rs 11462.60 crore to Rs 12,930.91 crore. That is, an increase of 1468.31 crores. At present, the central and Delhi government contribute 50:50 percent of the total cost of the metro projects.
The cabinet has also allowed NHAI to set up an Infrastructure Investment Trust. This will also facilitate NHAI in monetization of such completed road projects which have been collecting tolls for at least one year.
