AirAsia and AirAsia X introduce 139 new Fly-Thru routes!

11 07 2014

>AirAsia and AirAsia X introduce 139 new Fly-Thru routes! (with BM & Mandarin translation)

Nazatul Ekma Bin Mokhtar

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AirAsia and AirAsia X introduce 139 new Fly-Thru routes! Guests may enjoy multiple-city flights on Fly-Thru routes without transit visas and the added convenience of a single check-in service   SEPANG, 11 July 2014 – AirAsia and AirAsia X introduce 139 brand new Fly-Thru routes, making flying on multiple-city flights a seamless travel experience without the hassle of numerous check-ins, transit visas or multiple baggage transfers.    Effective immediately, AirAsia / AirAsia X Fly-Thru guests will receive an onward flight boarding pass from the first point of embarkation and will be allowed to bypass immigration clearance at the airline’s Fly-Thru hubs—Kuala Lumpur (klia2) or Bangkok-Don Mueang (DMK)—with all check-in baggage tagged for automatic transfer to the consecutive flight, all the way to the final destination. With these brand new routes, AirAsia guests could enjoy more than 700 Fly-Thru routes, via the airline’s Fly-Thru hubs in Kuala Lumpur (klia2) and Bangkok-Don Mueang (DMK), with the initial and consecutive flights’ connecting time of between 90 minutes to six hours. Among popular AirAsia and AirAsia X Fly-Thru routes includes Phuket – Melbourne, Phuket – Sydney, Melbourne – Ho Chi Minh City,Bangkok-Don Mueang – Melbourne, Bangkok-Don Mueang – Osaka-Kansai, Jakarta – Tokyo-Haneda, Adelaide – Phuket and many more. In Malaysia, Fly-Thru routes include Penang – Taipei, Kota Kinabalu – Beijing, Kuching – Melbourne, Langkawi – Melbourne and others. For a complete list of routes where Fly Thru is available, visit AirAsia’s website at www.airasia.com.

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Categories : Business

Events as happens

11 07 2014

Kerry meets with presidential candidates in Afghanistan

US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Afghanistan for meetings with the country’s two presidential candidates, Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani, as well as current Afghan President, Hamid Karzai. The country’s election results remain in dispute following a second round of voting on June 14, when the Independent Election Commission declared Ghani the winner with 56.44 percent based on preliminary results. A final tally is due on July 22, while Abdullah — who carried the first round of voting — rejected the runoff results as a “coup” against the Afghan people, reports Reuters.

De Mistura replaces Brahimi as UN’s Syria envoy

UN General Secretary Ban Ki-moon has confirmed the rumored appointment of 67-year-old Arab-speaking Italian diplomat Staffan de Mistura as Syria envoy in place of Lakhdar Brahimi, who failed to preside over a significant rapprochement between the warring sides in the conflict during his two-year stint. Unlike his predecessor, De Mistura will only answer to the UN, not the Arab League. The diplomat’s previous destinations as UN envoy included Afghanistan and Iraq.

​UN evacuates dozens of employees from Libya

The United Nations has evacuated more than half of its foreign staff from Libya to Italy over worsening security in the North African country, a UN spokesman said on Thursday. “They will return if the security situation improves,” said Samir Ghattas, spokesman for the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), but he didn’t say how many employees had left the country. The current crisis started in Libya with “the people’s revolution,” which resulted in the toppling of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

​Greek far-right Golden Dawn spokesman jailed pending trial

Greek far-right Golden Dawn lawmaker and party spokesman, charged with gun possession, was jailed on Thursday pending trial. Ilias Kasidiaris is the ninth of the party’s 17 lawmakers to be held in captivity while awaiting trial. Criminal investigation into the party and its leaders’ activities was triggered by the killing of a popular anti-racism rapper, Pavlos Fyssas, in September 2013.

12:07

3 Israelis confess to Arab teen killing – police

Three of the six people arrested on Sunday in connection with the murder of East Jerusalem teen Muhammed Abu Khdeir have been deemed not guilty and released to house arrest, Times of Israel website reports. The three remaining suspects were almost certainly behind the fatal assault on the Arab teen, police asserted. An adult from the West Bank settlement of Adam and two minors from Jerusalem have already confessed to the crime, they added. Investigators believe the murder was carried out in revenge for the killing of three Israeli teenagers in June.

11:52

​Drone kills six in NW Pakistan, army now controls most of key city

A US drone killed six suspected militants and injured two in northwestern Pakistan on Thursday, security officials said. The Pakistani military said it had “cleared” 80 percent of the regional capital, Miranshah, and its adjoining areas from the Taliban. An air campaign in the remote region of North Waziristan, aimed at driving Taliban militants out, started on June 15, and since then 400 militants have been killed and 130 injured.

​Turkey PM calls on Islamic militants to release diplomats

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called on ISIS to release 49 people, who were seized from the Turkish consulate in Mosul, before the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Erdogan appealed to Islamic militants late on Wednesday, during a Ramadan fast-breaking dinner. Diplomats, children and special forces police were seized from the consulate on June 11, when the group took the country’s second-largest city, Mosul, in northern Iraq.

​China, US to push ahead with military, counter-terrorism ties

US and China have agreed to cooperate on military-to-military and counter-terrorism relations, China’s top diplomat Yang Jiechi said on Thursday. This statement was made at the end of annual high-level talks -‘Strategic and Economic Dialogue’ - between the two countries. The Chinese State Councilor added that there must not be any strategic misjudgments between the partners, as they are establishing a new-model relationship.

01:55

3 dead as Typhoon Neoguri makes landfall on Japan’s Kyushu island

Three people died as Typhoon Neoguri hit Japan’s southwestern Kyushu island early on Thursday, bringing with it heavy rains and raging winds, Japan Today reported. “It landed near Akune City shortly before 7 a.m.,” a Japan Meteorological Agency official said. The typhoon is expected to move through Kyushu and then continue along the Japanese archipelago. The typhoon came from Okinawa, where it injured dozens of people.

Train carrying 1,300 migrants to US derails in Mexico

A train carrying 1,300 migrants towards the United States has derailed in Oaxaca, Mexico, leaving everyone stranded in what could be a storm-related accident. According to Reuters, local officials stated that there have been zero injuries. The nationalities and ages of those onboard is unclear at this point, but there has been a surge of unaccompanied minors making their way towards the US over the last nine months, leaving American officials debating their next move on border control.

Police in standoff with gunman who killed 6 near Houston

At least six people died during a shooting in a Houston, Texas suburb on Wednesday afternoon. The suspected gunman remains in a standoff with law enforcement, KPRC reported. The suspect shot and injured several people – a child and an adult – before fleeing the scene. The shooter is a relative of the seven victims, Harris County deputy constables said. Police believe he was going to another residence to possibly attack more family members when he was spotted, and then led them on a slow-speed chase before driving into a cul-de-sac about three miles from the scene of the shooting, according to the Houston Chronicle. The suspect is currently sitting in a grey Honda sedan, surrounded by deputies with their guns drawn. There are at least a dozen patrol cars around him as well. Authorities are now working to evacuate homes around the cul-de-sac, KTRK reported.

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Categories : Business, world News

TRAI amendment bill introduced in Lok Sabha

11 07 2014

Updated on : 11-07-2014 01:42 PM

Telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Friday introduced Trai amendment bill to appoint its former chief Nripendra Misra as Prime Minister Narendra’s Modi’s principal secretary in Lok Sabha amid chaos in the House.

Misra was appointed as the principal secretary in May after the government promulgated an ordinance to amend a law that could have prevented him from getting the key post. “We are pushing this bill based only on merit,” Prasad told the House while tabling the bill. The Bharatiya Janata Party had issued a whip to its MPs to be present in the House for discussion on the bill. The TRAI Act prohibits its chairman and members from taking up any other job in the central or state governments after demitting office. “The chairperson or any other member ceasing to hold office as such, shall — (a) be ineligible for further employment under the Central government or any state government or (b) not accept any commercial employment, for a period of two years from the date he ceases to hold such office,” says the TRAI Act of 1997 available on the law ministry’s website. To circumvent this section which would have barred Misra from taking up the assignment of principal secretary to PM, the Modi government had promulgated an ordinance amending it. The ordinance amended this section to read as: “The chairperson and the whole-time members shall not, for a period of two years from the date on which they cease to hold office as such, except with the previous approval of the Central government, accept — “(a) any employment either under the Central government or under any state government; or “(b) any appointment in any company in the business of telecommunication service.” Under Misra’s chairmanship, TRAI had recommended in August 2007 that spectrum should be auctioned. After the 2G spectrum scam broke out, Misra had deposed as a prosecution witness before a Delhi court hearing a matter in which former telecom minister A Raja was an accused. Misra will succeed Pulok Chatterjee, who served in Manmohan Singh’s PMO. The principal secretary to the PM is a key post and acts as main link for coordination among Prime Minister’s Office, cabinet secretariat and secretaries of ministries. Misra is a post-graduate in political science and public administration and belongs to Uttar Pradesh. He has served in several key posts in central government ministries during his tenure. Edit : Edit Comments : Leave a comment Categories : CSR, Law, Legal, Media ANANTH KUMAR, On GENERAL BUDGET 2014-15 11 07 2014 GENERAL BUDGET 2014-15 from the office of : SHRI ANANTH KUMAR, UNION MINISTER FOR CHEMICALS & FERTILIZERS. Shri Ananth Kumar congratulated Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley, for presently a growth oriented and people friendly budget today. He said that the Hon’ble Finance Minister has presented a revival budget which will restore confidence in Asia’s third-largest economy. The Maiden Budget of Shri Narendra Modi’s Government presented by the Hon’ble Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitely today, is Growth Oriented, Pro-Poor and Middle Class, giving fillip to Infrastructure and Agricultural Growth, Investment Friendly while addressing the stagnation in a large number of critical development areas such as Education, Health, Upliftment of SCs & STs, Women’s safety, Gender issues and Care of Children and is with special focus on the Agricultural Sector and Rural Economy. It removes the cobwebs that had gathered around economic decision-making and shows that Shri Narendra Modi Government means business and is willing to walk the talk. The previous UPA Government had left the economy in shambles – this Budget is the beginning of an action plan to make the Indian Economy one of the most vibrant in the world. The proposals to contain the fiscal deficit and the CAD to manageable levels, creation of an Expenditure Management Commission, Better Targeting of Subsidies to the poor and the socially and economically backward, curbing the growth of Black Money in the economy, are steps indicating the seriousness and capability of this Government to put things back on track. The increase in FDI limits in the Defence & Insurance Sectors will save much needed foreign exchange. As Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers I am happy about the proposed New Urea Policy, increase in Fertilizer Subsidy and the move to correct the current imbalance of the use of fertilizer mix which will greatly benefit the farmers and soil health. The composite measures of making Crucial Medicines more affordable will provide succor to the poor. The long-pending increase in Income Tax slabs and the reliefs given to the salaried class to promote savings and investments are greatly welcomed. I personally thank the Hon’ble Finance Minister for the same. The new concept of developing smart cities is a welcome step which will cope up with speed of migration which are taking place from the rural areas to the city. Besides meeting the pressure on the existing cities, this concept will give birth to new cities which will facilitate in the growth of the economy of the country and generate employment opportunities. Our country has an ancient artistic and cultural history with substantial manpower. Skill Development is one of the important aspect to generate employment and provide sustainability to budding artists. The Skill India programme announced in the budget will be a good platform which will provide training and support for traditional professions. Karnataka and Bangalore have got a prominent share in this Budget by the allocation of the Bangalore-Chennai and Bangalore-Mumbai Industrial Corridors. Not only will these give a boost to the investment and employment opportunities but the proposal to set up Smart Cities, creation of Expressways will compliment this in terms of requires infrastructure.