As certain as the change in seasons every year is the thick fog that descends over large parts of northern India come winter. And with equal regularity every year, airports, especially Delhi’s busy Indira Gandhi International Airport, turns into a battle zone with harried passengers and airlines officials cursing each other and the weather.
This time, airport officials can thank the weather gods as the fog has not descended. At least not for now.
Even if the fog does set in, the airport authorities are a more confident lot this time. For years now, the civil aviation authorities have promised to crack the whip and direct private airlines to train their pilots on the ILS Cat-III systems that help them fly in poor visibility and foggy conditions.
The authorities have now promised to deliver. Watch this space for more.
Tailpiece: Guess who walked away with the lucky dip prize at the annual year-end do at the India Habitat Centre Saturday evening by external affairs ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash? It was the Hindi-speaking correspondent of China Radio International. Despite protestations that the draw was not fixed, sceptical scribes were ready to believe that this was a gesture by the foreign ministry, especially since the name was announced by none other than Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao.
