In a major development for air travelers under the Biden-Harris administration, the US Department of Transportation (DOT) has issued a mandate for airlines to credit automatic cash refunds to passengers in the event of flight cancelations, significant flight schedule/itinerary changes, and other specific circumstances (defined in the mandate). Termed as ‘final rule by DOT’, the mandate requires airlines to honor passengers’ right to a quick refund in the below scenarios, as evident from what US Transportation Secretary said, “Passengers deserve to get their money back when an airline owes them – without headaches or haggling.”

PC: IndianEagle.com

Canceled or significantly changed flights: Passengers are entitled to a refund if their flight is canceled or significantly changed, and if they do not accept alternative travel arrangement or travel credits/vouchers offered. As defined by the DOT rule for airlines, “significant changes” to a flight include departure or arrival delays beyond 3 hours domestically and 6 hours internationally.

DOT considers departures or arrivals from a different airport than the actual one booked by the passengers as significant changes to a flight. An increase in the number of connections (for instance, changing an itinerary from a one-stop flight to a two-stop flight) is also defined as a significant change to flights. If airlines modify an itinerary to provide connection(s) at different airports than the ones specified in the itinerary at the time of booking, passengers can refuse this significant change and request a cash refund.

A downgrade to the passenger’s ticketed class of travel, to say from business class to premium economy or standard economy, comes under “significant changes” to a flight, according to DOT. A change of planes, which makes a flight(s) “less accessible or accommodating to a person with a disability” is also a significant change, and therefore, a must consideration for a refund against cancelation.

Significantly delayed baggage return: The DOT rule for automatic cash refunds enables passengers to claim a refund of their checked bag fee if they don’t get the checked baggage within 12 hours of their domestic flight arriving at the gate, and 15-30 hours of their international arrival, depending on the length of the flight.

Extra services not provided: The Department of Transportation requires airlines to refund the fee that a passenger pays for Wi-Fi, seat selection, or any other extra service – if they fail to provide the paid service.

DOT underlines a standard refund policy for airlines   

A standard refund policy for airlines operating to, from and through the United States is the other principal objective of the DOT final rule. DOT standardizes the refund process for airlines – which was otherwise cumbersome and full of hiccups such as making a formal refund request, filling out extra digital paperwork, waiting for hours on the phone. Below are the refund norms that airlines are directed to comply with:

Automatic: Airlines must automatically credit refund amounts without passengers having to explicitly request a refund in case of flight cancelation.

Prompt: Airlines must issue refunds within seven business days of refunds becoming due to credit card purchases and 20 calendar days for other payment methods.

Cash or original form of payment: Refund amounts must be credited to passengers in cash or whatever original payment method they used to book flight tickets, like credit card or airline miles. Airlines may not enforce vouchers, travel credits, or other forms of compensation unless the passenger gives his/her explicit consent to accept alternative compensation.

Full amount: Airlines must provide full refunds of the ticket purchase price, minus the value of any portion of transportation already used (partially used tickets). “The refunds must include all government-imposed taxes and fees and airline-imposed fees, regardless of whether the taxes or fees are refundable to airlines,” said DOT.

DOT’s final rule directs airlines to quickly communicate to passengers about their right to a refund of the ticket and extra service fees, as well as any related policies in the event of flight cancelation.

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Over 10 lakh members of the fast-growing Indian Diaspora (4.5 million) in America speak Hindi for everyday communication, thereby making it the first most spoken Indian language in the US. Telugu is the second most spoken language in Indian-origin households across America, having pushed Gujarati to the third position among the top 10 Indian languages spoken in the United States. Many universities including Stanford in California, New York, Michigan, Texas, Illinois, Washington, Atlanta and other US states offer Hindi language programs.

“Why not Hindi being taught as a second language at the school level in the US that we call home away from home?” This question continues to be raised by tens of thousands of Indian-origin families running a decade-long campaign for the teaching of Hindi as a second language from the elementary school level. The demand for their linguistic inclusion into the US education system is nearly as old as the campaign for the festival of Diwali to be declared a public school holiday in America.

PC: Freepik.com | IndianEagle.com

However, it seems that days are numbered for American schools to introduce Hindi as a second language after English if things fall in place as planned. This petition found space alongside the opening of new Indian consulates and the stamping of H1B visa renewals in the US on the agenda of many Indian American state and local elected officials during Prime Minister Modi’s recent official visit to the US Capitol. They supported the petition citing the highly potential socio-economic impact of teaching Hindi in American schools.

Indian American Impact and the Asia Society, two of the leading groups having good relations with the Democratic Party in power, also wrote to President Joe Biden, requesting the creation of a new Hindi language fund. They proposed to get Hindi introduced as a second language in as many as 1000 schools and pledged Rs 816 crore to the fund for the same. Apparently, this is a fulcrum of the Indian American support to Biden in the 2024 presidential election.

The proposal submitted to President Biden for introducing Hindi as a second language refers to S&P Global Ratings’ recent report forecasting that Japan and Germany would fall behind India as the world’s third largest economy by the end of 2030. The Indian economy is likely to exceed $7.5 trillion in 2031. The current foreign language programs in US schools are not aligned to the upcoming global economy.

“The absence of Hindi from the American school curriculum forces thousands of Indian-origin kids to learn the language as an additional after-school activity. Many kids attend online Hindi classes, cutting off a portion of their family time on weekends. They are overburdened,” said Sourav Agarwal, the Editor of Travel Beats, a leading community portal for Indians in America.

The highly anticipated approval to the proposal will be a welcome news to not only Hindi-speaking Indian American families, but also non-Hindi-speaking Indian households in the USA. Arabhi Sundararajan from South India has been part of the campaign for years in Palo Alto, California. Her children learned Hindi as an after-school program at a non-profit language center when they were elementary students. Thereafter, they were enrolled to Madhu Bhasha Kendra in Fremont. Madhu Bhasha Kendra is a nonprofit organization helping kids develop communication skills in Hindi through community-based activities and cultural awareness programs.

“This essential initiative would strengthen the relationship between the US and India, enhancing the long-term economic prospects of both countries and foster greater inclusion and understanding of the rapidly growing Indian-American community,” said Neil Makhija, President of Indian American Impact, backing the proposal for US schools to start teaching Hindi as a second language. Recently, Neil Makhija, a civil rights advocate and law professor, won the Democratic nomination for Montgomery County Commissioner in Pennsylvania.

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Parents should save money for their daughters’ higher education rather than for their wedding. This reformative thought is gaining momentum in Indian society where fathers start dreaming of daughters’ grand wedding and saving for the big day right from the cradling of baby girls. Some parents are exceptions, like Kalpana Chawla’s father. He had taken his daughter to a flying club and requested a pilot to give her a ride. This marked the beginning of her epic journey to having become a legendary astronaut in 1995 when there was no “Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao” campaign by the government of India.

The parents of India’s youngest commercial pilot, Sakshi Kochhar, invested in their daughter’s dream of flying high to the height of 35,000 feet. On 30 May 2023, she celebrated her 18^th birthday and her feat of earning a commercial pilot license. Interestingly, she broke the record of Maitri Patel from Gujarat. Maitri, when 19, became the youngest civil pilot in 2022 and broke the record of Ayesha Aziz from Kashmir. Ayesha Aziz took to skies with her pilot license at the age of 21.

PC: Republicworld.com (left) | TribuneIndia.com (right)

Sakshi, who is now the youngest civil pilot of the world’s second populous nation, made headlines once again on Father’s Day 2023 as she made a wish to give back Rs 70 lakh that her parents spent on her training in India and America. It is nearly impossible for middle-class Indian families to afford lakhs of rupees for fulfilling their children’s career dreams. However, Sakshi’s parents poured out their savings for her training in civil aviation. Indeed, it is financially and psychologically draining for the middle-income group. Sakshi feels indebted to not only her parents, but also grandparents.

Multi-talented Sakshi is from a small town in Himachal Pradesh, where the richest Indian American billionaire – cyber tycoon Jay Chaudhry with a net worth of $12bn – had studied under a tree in his childhood. Himachal Pradesh is not only a place of scenic beauty that begets poetry, but also a place of lofty mountains that make one dream big.

Unlike Maitri Patel, Sakshi Kochhar was not fixated on the idea of flying aircraft in her childhood. She had a penchant for dancing. She was a state-level runner-up in dance before she aspired to make it big in civil aviation. That’s why she took up Mathematics and Physics in her 12^th grade at the Government Model Senior Secondary School, Chandigarh. After having passed the 12^th grade, she joined the Skyline Aviation Club in Mumbai; her maiden step into the world of aviation for basic training.

After 4 months of ground training in Mumbai, she traveled to the USA for advanced training in commercial aviation. She got trained in the dynamics of piloting a passenger aircraft there, completed the program only in 7 and half months, earned a commercial pilot license (CPL), and became India’s youngest commercial pilot. Hope an employment opportunity with IndiGo or Air India that is on a hiring spree for pilots will soon give her thrust to take off.

“Though JRD Tata pioneered civil aviation by piloting British India’s first commercial flight in October 1932, it was Indian women who blazed a trail for next-generation women to become pilots. In 1936, Sarla Thakral was the first Indian woman to enter the cockpit in a saree and fly a double-winged Gypsy Moth aircraft solo. She was a 21-year-old mother with a four-year-old child back then,” said Sourav Agarwal, the Editor of Travel Beats, a leading Indian Diaspora portal by Indian Eagle Travel.

It is a startling fact that India’s share of total female commercial pilots in the world is 12.5%, a little more than double of the United States’. Ireland and South Africa are next to India. Canada and Germany’s share of the world’s female pilot strength stands at 7%. The representation of female pilots is the poorest in Singapore and Japan.

The post Sakshi Kochhar Becomes India’s Youngest Civil Pilot at 18 and Breaks All Records of Maitri Patel, Ayesha Aziz appeared first on Travel to India, Cheap Flights to India, Aviation News, India Travel Tips.

India’s vision of civil aviation 2040 targets 190-200 functioning airports in the country for more than 1 billion passengers by 2040. Reportedly, India’s upcoming international airports, including Navi Mumbai Airport and Noida Jewar Airport, will collectively cost a whopping $45-50 billion. Gujarat’s Dholera International Airport, an upcoming alternative to Ahmedabad International Airport, is a steppingstone towards making India a trillion-dollar economy.

Though a third international airport in Gujarat, Dholera Airport will be next to Ahmedabad International Airport in connectivity and passenger traffic. Upon completion of the construction in a phased manner, the airport is expected to exceed the annual traffic-handling capacity, domestic and international, of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Airport (AMD) and handle 5 million passengers a year. In a cabinet meeting held on June 14, 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved a Rs-1305-cr plan for the phase 1 of Dholera International Airport. Once the first phase of development is completed in 48 months, the airport will serve as a second gateway to Ahmedabad.

Estimated to cost more than Rs 2000 crore, the airport will open for international flights by July 2024 if things fall in place as planned. Gujarat has always been a step ahead when it comes to industrial development, and the Dholera International Airport project is another step in the same direction. A strategic part of the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor project, the airport will link India’s first smart and futuristic city, Dholera Special Investment Region (DSIR), to different parts of the world.

Gujarat’s Dholera International Airport is planned as a Greenfield airport and will be equipped with world-class facilities. In 2012, a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) under the name Dholera International Airport Company Limited (DIACL) was created and an initial budget of INR 2,000 crore was allocated. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) then bought a 51% stake in the company and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in 2019 with the state government to construct the airport. Following a few months of halt in the process due to the pandemic, AAI recently called for tenders for the first phase of the airport at an estimated cost of more than Rs.1000 crore.

The government has already allocated 1426 hectares of land for the airport and an additional 75 hectares for commercial establishments. The airport will have two runways, one of which will measure 4,000 meters in length. The other runway is scheduled to be built in the second phase. Furthermore, the airport will be equipped with facilities including but not limited to car parking, hotels, a convention center, and a cargo terminal. A number of aviation-related activities will be planned to general employment in the area surrounding the airport.

With spacious terminals for international airlines’ next-gen aircraft operating business flights to Ahmedabad, Dholera Airport will be sharing the increasing air traffic load on Ahmedabad International Airport, the seventh busiest airport in the country. Currently, Ahmedabad Airport handles 11 million passengers per annum against its actual capacity of 7 million passengers per annum. Notably, Dholera Airport will be the second gateway for the additional inbound and outbound traffic and help keep the air traffic flow smooth in the eastern region of India.

Another attractive aspect of Gujarat’s Dholera International Airport is its location. The new airport is just 80 kms away Ahmedabad and 20 kms away from the smart city.  The airport’s strategic location in the Saurashtra region will connect it to such major cities as Rajkot, Vadodara and Anand in the state.

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) acquired a 120-meter wide strip of land between Ahmedabad and Dholera to make way for smooth transportation to the upcoming airport. 90 meters of the strip will be used to lay a 6-lane road which will directly lead to Dholera Airport and 30 meters is allocated for a metro rail link.

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Chennai International Airport has recently started offering the meet and greet service to travelers flying in to and out of Chennai. The Meet and Greet facility at major Indian airports, is a passenger-friendly initiative either by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) or some private entity. This payable facility, in addition to basic airport assistance services, is of great help to the elderly, the specially-abled, pregnant women, and unaccompanied minors requiring assistance for hassle-free arrival or departure, expedited immigration, smooth transfer from the aircraft gate/arrivals area to the exit or the from the entry till boarding, etc.

PC: Ahmedabad Adani Airport

You can avail the meet and greet service also at New Delhi IGI Airport, Mumbai CSMI Airport, Ahmedabad Airport (AMD), Hyderabad RGI Airport, Kolkata Netaji Subhash Chandra Airport, and Kochi International Airport. At Chennai MAA Airport, the meet and greet service counters can be found in the departure and arrival halls. Speed Wings which won the bid for Chennai Airport’s meet and greet service contract has put a team of more than 350 members to cater to the travelers opting for the service. The same agency provides the meet and greet service at Kochi Airport too.

At major Indian airports, the meet and greet service comes in different packages, cost wise and feature wise, for both domestic and international passengers. The Chennai Airport Meet & Greet service can be availed in three packages: Bronze, Silver and Platinum. ‘Meet at Aircraft Gate’ is the mainstay of all three packages. While ‘Expedited Immigration’ is unique to the Bronze package, ‘Porter Service’ for baggage assistance is integrated with the Silver package. The most expensive Platinum package comes with all meet & greet services, such as Meet at Aircraft Gate, Expedited Immigration, Porter, and Buggy Transfer.

Mumbai International Airport: Meet & Greet Service

The meet & greet facility at other Indian airports is known as Pranaam Service at Mumbai International Airport. Many senior citizens traveling unaccompanied on flights to Mumbai from USA and other countries opted for the Pranaam Service for hassle-free arrival at Mumbai Airport during the peak of air bubble travel amid the volatile regulations and restrictions induced by the pandemic. “Some of our customers requested booking of the Pranaam Service while purchasing international air tickets to Mumbai from us during the pandemic, but the service can be booked only on the website of Mumbai CSMI Airport,” said the chief ticketing officer of IndianEagle.com.

Mumbai Airport’s Pranaam Service is available in three packages: Elite, Platinum, and Group Platinum. Welcome by a dedicated Pranaam officer, mobility assistance for passengers with difficulty movement, assistance with hand baggage, retrieval of check-in bags from a baggage carousel, immigration guidance, and dedicated porter service are some of the salient features that Mumbai International Airport’s Mumbai Pranaam service packages have in common for arrivals and departures. The Pranaam Elite package costs a little more than the Pranaam Platinum package. While the former is priced at Rs 6859 per (adult) international traveller, the latter costs an international traveller Rs 5850. The packages cost children under 12 years of age lesser than adult travelers.

The Group Platinum package of the Pranaam meet & greet service can be booked for minimum five people traveling together. An additional amount can facilitate the inclusion of more 5 travelers in the group package. The same service is also available for departure and arrival of domestic travelers. The reservation details for Mumbai Airport’s Pranaam Service are below:

• reservations.pranaam@adani.com
• +91 8879992397/98/99 and +91 22 6685 1211

OFFICE ADDRESS
Pranaam Guest Service,
Mumbai International Airport Limited,
Level 4 Terminal 2,
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport

Delhi IGI Airport Assistance: Meet and Greet Service

The Indira Gandhi International Airport Assistance comprises meet and greet service that takes care of an international or domestic passenger’s airport travel needs before departure, after arrival and during transit. With the booking of meet and greet services, you can skip long check-in queues and avoid the hassles of immigration clearance at New Delhi International Airport. This paid service helps minimize the time that airport formalities require certain groups of international travelers to spend at the airport. IGI (DEL) Airport’s Meet and Greet service includes personal multilingual assistance to ease communication between regional language-speaking travelers and the airport staff.

The service can be booked online here.

Ahmedabad International Airport: Meet and Greet Service

Sardar Vallabhbhai International Airport offers Pranaam Meet and Greet Service inspired by India’s cultural ethos for guests. Designed to provide travelers a unique experience at Ahmedabad Airport, the service packs in a lot of warmth and care. Available in customized packages, the Pranaam Meet and Greet service is rendered by a dedicated guest relations officer with keen attention to travellers’ needs.

• reservations.pranaam@adani.com
• +91 8879992398/99

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International travel continues to remain the most complicated phenomenon even though we are heading into 2021. In India alone, the entry requirements and quarantine regulations vary from state to state making it difficult for international arrivals during the pandemic. For instance, Chennai and Kolkata require international travellers to arrive with a negative RT-PCR certificate, whereas asymptomatic people flying into Bangalore, Kerala, or Odisha directly from abroad don’t need an RT-PCR test. Normal/regular international travel will not resume until the unprecedented regulations for US to India travel or travel to some other country are eased.

Picture Credit: IATA

A digital travel pass is underway to facilitate safe resumption of air travel across geographies. The IATA Travel Pass is all set for a pilot trial early in 2021. On successful completion of the trial period, the IATA Travel Pass will be implemented worldwide in a bid to end the impasse that currently exists due the scattered information about international travel amid the pandemic. Expected to be a most vital travel app, the travel pass will give seamless access to the information about country-specific entry requirements, visa restrictions, travel regulations, etc. It will also be a key source of information about where and how to take a COVID test for hassle-free travel in 2021.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is a major driving force catapulting international air travel beyond the restrictions and reinstating the flying public’s confidence. The objective of the Travel Pass that IATA worked on in collaboration with International Airlines Group (IAG) is defined as below:

“Informing passengers on what tests, vaccines and other measures they require prior to travel, details on where they can get tested and giving them the ability to share their tests and vaccination results in a verifiable, safe and privacy-protecting manner is the key to giving governments the confidence to open borders.”

IATA says that the Travel Pass will be an all-in-one solution to the chaos existing in global field and that the app will secure the user’s personal information against unauthorized access. Decentralized block chain technology will be used to ensure that the IT infrastructure for the digital travel pass does not integrate a central database and thereby preventing hacking of the user’s personal details. The global implementation of the IATA Travel Pass depends on successful completion of the trial period – which will convince all partners that the app is safe and secure.

“The IATA Travel Pass is expected to be a revolutionary solution both for travelers and aviation authorities. In a country like India where COVID testing guidelines, entry requirements and quarantine regulations are so volatile that we struggle to keep our customers informed about do’s and don’ts related to their departure, transit and arrival. Though we are striving to dish out the latest information through our travel news portal, many travelers are puzzled over what forms to be filled out, what apps to be installed, what portals to register on, what COVID tests are considered valid, etc. Hence, a uniform solution such as IATA’s digital travel pass is a boon to everyone,” said the chief information officer of Indian Eagle.

The Travel Pass in question will also mitigate the risks of importing the Novel Coronavirus once borders reopen for normal international flights. While supporting the travel pass, the Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism and Hospitality (FAITH) has requested Indian Government to revoke the suspension of e-visa and tourist visa for the countries with which India has established an air bubble travel corridor. IATA elaborates on the benefits of its digital travel pass:

“It will travelers to create a ‘digital passport’, receive test reports and vaccination certificates and verify that they are sufficient for their itinerary, and share test reports and vaccination certificates with airlines and authorities to facilitate travel. This app can also be used by travelers to manage their travel documentation digitally and seamlessly throughout their journey, improving travel experience.”

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Good news for thousands of those stuck or stranded in India due to the Coronavirus-induced lockdown and travel restrictions! Air India flights for repatriation for Indian nationals stranded in the US and other countries will not take off with empty seats from India. The civil aviation ministry has called for the registration of foreign citizens, green card/OCI card holders, and Indians (holding a valid visa of the country of destination with at least one-year validity) who are seeking to travel out of India before regular flight operations are resumed. Indian nationals whose foreign visa is valid for only six months can travel on AI special flights if there is a medical emergency in the family abroad.

Air India has opened the booking window for special flights from India to the USA, the UK and Singapore. The national carrier will operate 17 special flights from New Delhi and Mumbai to Newark Liberty Airport, Washington DC, San Francisco, Chicago ORD Airport, London and Singapore over a week starting May 7. Air India’s repatriation flights from India to USA are priced at INR 1.4 lakh and INR 3.03 lakh per traveler in economy and business respectively. Many Indian nationals who had been seeking to repatriate to the country of residence found the one-way fares exorbitantly high.

Picture Credit: Rediff.com/news

List of Air India Special Flights from India:

May 8 and 12: Mumbai to London

In a disclaimer, Air India makes it clear, “It is the sole responsibility of the passenger to ensure his/her eligibility to enter the destination country. Air India accepts no liability in this regard.” The airline adds that passengers of special flights, in case of deportation from the country of destination, will have to pay the deportation penalty, return airfare and the cost of quarantine requirements (if any). They are required to sign and submit an undertaking for deportation charges during checking in for Air India special flights from India.

Air India requires them to ensure that they meet certain travel and health requirements of the country of destination before they book special flights to the US, Singapore and London.

Neither some of the travelers seeking to exit India nor those waiting to repatriate to India from USA are pleased with the exorbitant costs of special Air India flights. Repatriation flights from USA to India, under Vande Bharat Mission, are capped at INR 1 lakh per traveler. Indian nationals who have registered for Vande Bharat Mission flights to India from USA will have to shell out nearly INR 2 lakhs including the cost of 14-day quarantine, the cost of onward travel arrangement upon arrival in India, and the cost of transfer to the departure airport in the US.

Indian nationals stranded in the US have divided themselves into two groups over the costs of special Air India flights for repatriation under Vande Bharat Mission. One group feels indebted to the government of India for arranging their evacuation, irrespective of airfares and other costs. The other group is vexed at the monetization of their helplessness in the unprecedented situation.

India’s Civil Aviation Minister, Hardeep Singh Puri said unambiguously that the money charged from Indian nationals stranded in the US is lower than what it takes to operate flights for evacuation. He added that Air India is already receiving government subsidies to stay afloat, and hence it would strain the national carrier further if the cost of evacuating them is subsidized by the government.

Travel Beats is a leading overseas Indian community portal by Indian Eagle, a most trusted travel partner of Indian Diaspora in the United States. Subscribe to our free newsletter and tune in to our Facebook page for NRI community stories and latest updates on travel to India.

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The future of middle seats on planes is at stake in the post-Coronavirus world of air travel. Middle Seats – the not so beloved of flyers – are rather a pet hate even on the cheapest economy flights. Much to the pleasure of travelers, middle seats may remain unfilled for some time once flights are resumed to India and other destinations, as some airlines are not booking middle seats considering it a need of the hour for social distancing on board.

While the booking of middle seats is temporarily suspended for Alaska and Delta Airlines flights, American Airlines and JetBlue are blocking off nearly 50% of their total middle seats. Reportedly, Air India is supposed to operate flights keeping a seat vacant between every two passengers. Though it is financially not viable for most airlines, making passengers feel safe and reviving their confidence in booking international flights is a topmost priority in the post-Coronavirus world of air travel.

Picture Credit: Aviointeriros

The anticipated financial impact of not selling middle seats on planes has put forth a question, “Will cheap economy flight tickets be available in the post-Coronavirus world of aviation?” Either the traveler will have to shell out extra bucks for flights with no middle seats assigned to them or airlines will have to incur the losses of flying with vacant middle seats. However, just like the proverb, “Something is better than nothing,” flights with some passengers and no middle seats are better than flights with middle seats and no passengers.

Recently, Qantas Airlines officially announced to join the no-middles club and continue operating flights with low occupancy unless the COVID19 pandemic hits rock bottom.

However, empty middle seats on planes do not ensure 6 feet of social distancing that public health officials strictly recommend to contain the transmission of tiny respiratory droplets released during coughing, sneezing and exhaling. Doing more than leaving not-so-appealing middle seats unoccupied to spread out passengers at six fee of social distancing between each other will be not only challenging but also financially damaging for airlines, according to the CEO of International Air Transport Association (IATA).

There is always a middle-of-the-road solution. With new cabin designs having emerged for economy class flights in the post-COVID19 era, neither do airlines need to block off middle seats, nor do travelers have to pay more for flights with empty middle seats.

Aviointeriors, an Italian firm, has unveiled two economy travel cabin designs, one of which projects middle seats facing opposite aisle seats and window seats. All three passengers seated next to each other in every row have their space isolated and shielded with a hygienic plastic screen, either opaque or transparent, on three sides – which leaves no room for physical contact. The screen will also not let people walking through the aisle come in contact with those occupying aisle seats.

The other cabin design ‘Glassafe’, for safe air travel in the post-COVID19 world, can easily be installed on existing layouts of economy seats. It will not only isolate passengers from each other sitting in close proximity, but also cover the top of their seats. Both the designs are aesthetically conceptualized for aircraft cabins and primarily aimed at preventing transmission of any virus in the air of a confined setting, according to Aviointeriors.

“The future of air travel is being redefined in the aftermath of the Novel Coronavirus pandemic. Social distancing being the first and foremost need of safe travel in high density aircraft cabins is an offset to the present-day claustrophobic experience of economy flights with reduced seat pitch, width, recline and legroom. In the post-COVID19 world of air travel, the current model of regular economy cabins with space crunch should be reversed to help passengers abstain from getting into a tiff over reclined seats on board,” said the chief aviation market analyst of Indian Eagle, a leading international air-ticketing agency.

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President Trump’s tweet about temporary suspension of immigration into the United States, on April 20, sent jitters to immigrant communities amid the COVID19 pandemic. After critics labeled it as a hysterical reaction to the COVID19 impact that has stripped the US economy of over 20 million jobs, Trump dispersed the clouds of misgivings and fears around his ‘vague’ announcement on Twitter during a White House press briefing yesterday.

The new executive order temporarily banning immigration into the US as a means to save American jobs during the COVID19 crisis will apply to the issuance of new green cards for 60 days. He said, “The temporary suspension will be in effect for 60 days, after which the need for any extension or modification will be evaluated by me and a group of people, based on economic conditions then,” at the White House briefing on Tuesday.

Trump’s sudden announcement about suspension of immigration was felt just like a bolt out of the blue. It pressed the panic button for laid-off H1B visa holders in the US and H1B professionals stuck in lockdown across India. Many of those who are breathlessly waiting for India’s lifting of COVID19 travel restrictions hit Google and social media forums trying to know whether they are eligible for repatriation flights from India to USA. Indian nationals on H1B visa, whom the impact of COVID19 on the American economy left unemployed, started pleading with the Indian Embassy in USA and the Ministry of External Affairs India for evacuation from the US, under the fear of accruing unlawful visa overstay.

Much to the relief of the H1B community, the US President excluded temporary visa holders from the grip of the upcoming executive order banning immigration for 60 days or more. An official close to the Trump administration said (on condition of anonymity) that foreign nationals seeking employment based green cards and relatives of green card holders will be in the loop of the temporary ban on immigration. US citizens of foreign origin planning to bring their immediate family members to the country are, most probably, exempted from the immigration suspension, according to the official.

Alongside H1B visa, other temporary US visas including E2 for a category of investors, B1 for business visit, B2 for foreign tourists, and L1 visas for employees of foreign companies are also immune to President Trump’s temporary ban on immigration amid the COVID19 pandemic. However, immigration analysts opine that the ‘Trump’ card may flip over in the current volatile situation.

Trump’s supporters of stringent immigration policies said that President could have taken this opportunity to cut the number of foreign workers on H2B visa for seasonal jobs in the US. They called the temporary suspension of immigration ineffective and insubstantial, as all visa processing services have been suspended for weeks. Besides, the temporary ban on issuance of green cards will only increase the wait time for green card applicants by 60 days or more.

The US Tech Workers, an anti-immigration body advocating for Americans’ rights to dignified employment, described Trump’s temporary ban on immigration as a do-nothing immigration moratorium. They interpreted it in other words, “Feel free to come into America & take these American jobs so long as you will work for cheaper & remain loyal to the employer. Don’t worry about the 60 days temporary green card suspension. That’ll be lifted in no time & won’t affect you.”

According to New York Times, Trump softened his call for temporary suspension of immigration for guest visa programs under the pressure exerted by business groups from different industries where H1B and H2B workers are employed. Notably, there are Indian American CEOs and business honchos in Trump’s Great American Economy Revival Industry Groups that he recently formed to make the US economy overcome the COVID19 impact.

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While Indians worldwide are busy tuning to Nobel Laureate Abhijit Banerjee’s view on the sluggish economy of India, and India is busy rejoicing in its new Guinness World Record for the Deepotsav of Ayodhya; two Indian American researchers have made a breakthrough in artificial intelligence for accurate detection of the most complex brain hemorrhage cases. The AI system developed by them can help save lives in seconds by facilitating accurate detection of brain hemorrhages in the nick of time.

Professor Jitendra Malik from the University of California, Berkeley and Dr. Pratik Mukherjee from the University of California, San Francisco are the Indian American researchers whose years of collective research on artificial intelligence has increased chances manifold to save lives even in deadly cases of brain hemorrhage.

Picture Credit: UC Berkeley/ UCSF

When it comes to saving lives in case of medical emergencies, even a split second matters. Professor Jitendra Malik and Dr. Pratik Mukherjee’s AI-based convolutional neural network, fed with the data of over 4396 CT scans, is potential enough to detect hemorrhage and identify abnormalities in the brain with such remarkable accuracy that it can give a run to highly trained radiologists.

Given the number of people suffering from traumatic brain injuries and succumbing to hemorrhage before it is detected, the Indian American researcher duo from the University of California took up it as a major subject of research on AI in medical diagnosis.

Born in Mathura, Jitendra Malik is the Arthur J. Chick Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences at UC Berkeley. A PhD alumnus of Stanford University, he is also the director of AI research at Facebook’s headquarter in Menlo Park where he mentors an in-house team of researchers and engineers in computer vision, robotics and machine learning.

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A Presidential Young Investigator Award 1989 winner, Professor Jitendra Malik has been a mentor of over 60 PhD students and postdoctoral fellows, most of who are on the faculty at leading universities in the US and beyond. Known for his research on computational modeling of human vision, he is a fellow of the American Academy Arts and Sciences, and a member of the National Academy of Sciences.

Dr. Pratik Mukherjee, a PhD alumnus of New York’s Rockefeller University, is best known as a pioneer in the study of the brain. He is the Director of the Center for Imaging of Neurodegenerative Disease and the Neural Connectivity Lab at the University of California, San Francisco. His primary field of research is advanced imaging of neurocognitive disorders caused by traumatic brain injury and such conditions as Alzheimer’s disease. He has also studied advanced imaging methods and their clinical applications for mapping the structural details and mechanism of human brain.

His research is also focused on how to tailor treatments that people with varying levels of traumatic brain injury require. He studies patients over a period of time to learn how traumatic brain injury affects their cognitive abilities including thinking. Most of his studies have been conducted at the San Francisco VA Medical Center, the United States’ best place for brain surgeries.

“Is AI better in finding brain hemorrhage than radiologists” is the question that Professor Jitendra Malik and Dr. Pratik Mukherjee’s AI-based system has brought to the fore. However, they have assured that their AI development is neither a replacement of nor an alternative to human experts. Rather, it is aimed at helping doctors detect hemorrhage in no time and save lives with timely treatment.

Travel Beats, a subsidiary of Indian Eagle, publishes latest visa, immigration, passport, aviation and Indian American community news. A leading travel booking partner of Indians in USA, Indian Eagle not only books confirmed flights to India for cheapest airfare deals but also strives to promote achievements of Indian Americans.

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