Low recovery of fees led to Kerala airport fare hike

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Tariff hike details

Tariffs for passengers and airlines were raised at Thiruvananthapuram airport on July 1 due to low recovery of fees during the Covid-19 pandemic and delay in revision of charges after privatization.

The June 21 order of the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) has increased the user development fee (UDF) for domestic passengers by 50% from ₹506 to ₹770 for a year.

A new user fee has been introduced for international passengers and the landing fee for aircraft has been increased threefold from ₹309 to ₹890 per metric tonne.

Reasons for hike

Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol said the pandemic led to a sharp drop in traffic, leading to under-recovery of ₹789.29 crore for the second control period.

After the airport was handed over to Adani Enterprises Ltd in October 2021, the fixation of new tariffs has been delayed as the concessionaire was barred from seeking tariff hikes for 365 days from the date of takeover.

3 new MLAs took oath in Himachal Pradesh

New MLAs took oath

On Monday, Himachal Pradesh Assembly Speaker 'Kuldeep Singh Pathania' administered oath to 3 newly elected MLAs including Chief Minister 'Sukhwinder Singh' Sukhu's wife 'Kamlesh Thakur'. The Chief Minister, Leader of Opposition 'Jai Ram Thakur', Cabinet Ministers and other members were present at the ceremony.

New Assembly Structure

The MLAs who took oath include Congress MLA 'Kamlesh Thakur' from Dehra assembly seat, 'Hardeep Singh Bawa' from Nalagarh seat and BJP MLA 'Ashish Sharma' from Hamirpur seat.

After the joining of these MLAs, the Congress party now has 40 seats in the Assembly, while the BJP has 28 seats.

For the first time in history

For the first time in the history of Himachal Pradesh, there is no independent MLA in the Assembly. Apart from this, this is the first time that Mr Sukhu and his wife are working together in the same House.

Spotless swine: A new dimension in human organ production

Groundbreaking transplant

The first gene - edited pig organs transplanted into humans came from a research farm in the Blue Ridge Mountains, where strict biosafety measures are enforced. This includes vehicle washing, changing clothes and boot disinfection.

Precious animals

‘These are precious animals,’ according to David Ayres of Revivicor Inc., who has devoted decades to perfecting the cloning of genetically modified pigs.

A new herd of pigs is being raised under even stricter biosecurity for future animal - to - human transplant studies in Christiansburg, Virginia.

Controlled environment

This state - of - the - art facility resembles a pharmaceutical plant rather than a farm, with a highly controlled environment to prevent infection. The pigs breathe filtered air, drink purified water and eat disinfected feed.

Possible solution to organ shortage

With thousands of people dying each year waiting for transplants, animal organs offer a promising solution. Four ‘compassionate use’ transplants using pig organs have already provided valuable lessons.

Next Steps

The FDA is evaluating promising results from human body and baboon studies to determine next steps. Revivicor scientists continue to refine genetic modifications, with the goal of making xenotransplantation a viable alternative to organ donation.