Bids for commercial auction of coal blocks can be submitted till January 13

Nine Years on Operations from Bathinda Airport Yet to Take Off

Nearly nine years after its inauguration, Bathinda airport in Punjab’s southwest continues to face limited air connectivity and low utilisation of its routes. Situated in Virk Kalan village, around 30 kilometres from Bathinda city, the airport currently operates only two routes—Delhi and Hindon in Noida.While the Delhi route has shown relatively better passenger numbers, the Hindon route records low occupancy, according to official data. Alliance Air runs the Delhi service with a 48-seater aircraft and occasionally deploys a 72-seater when demand increases. Flybig, which operates a 19-seat..

User Traffic Surges on Chennai Airport's Free Wi-Fi Service

The newly introduced free Wi-Fi service at Chennai airport has seen a steady increase in user engagement, with logins rising from 421 on the launch day, June 26, to 636 by the following Saturday. Passengers are allowed up to 500 MB of data or 45 minutes of free internet usage, whichever limit is reached first.Indian travellers can access the service through OTP verification, while foreign nationals are required to scan their passports and tickets at designated kiosks to gain access. With approximately 18,000 international passengers passing through the airport daily, the facility caters to a l..

Steel Ministry Issues Clarification on Quality Control Order

The Ministry of Steel has issued a clarificatory order dated 13th June 2025 regarding the enforcement of existing Quality Control Orders (QCOs) under the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). Although 151 BIS Standards have already been brought under QCOs, with the last such order issued in August 2024, no new QCO has been released since then. The recent order aims to clarify that intermediate materials used in the manufacture of final steel products must also comply with the relevant BIS Standards.This clarification was deemed necessary to ensure parity between domestic and imported steel product..