The Hindu Business Line : High on speed

Indian aviation companies have splurged on as many as 150 new aircraft at Le Bourget, France. Obviously so many aircraft hovering over Indian skies have raised safety concerns.

In India, the skies are just about opening up and discussion at the consumer end is probably centred more on the safety and affordability of flying. But global aviation circles are in the throes of implementing FANS — future air navigation system. Future Perfect, a series on Discovery Channel, offers an insightful account of how FANS is gaining acceptance, and the political issues that posed stumbling blocks in its implementation. The programme mentions how the global aviation industry needs to make the switch from air traffic control to air traffic management.

Air control operations continue to use voice-based communication, leading to problems of language and dialect differences across the world. Computerised messages offer the comfort of uniformity. But there is resistance to adopt this mode of communication, even though much of the operations have already been computerised, the programme quotes specialists as saying. FANS, as the name suggests, is the future of air traffic system that provides efficient navigation facilities and is primarily meant to manage the increasing volume of air traffic. Brazil has one of the most sophisticated air space management systems. Is India anywhere close to this?

But, clearly, implementing FANS would remain a challenge in the geo-political world where countries are wary of losing their sovereign airspace.

Probing a high-speed crash

Not many of us in India would have known of the crash of a high-speed Inter-City Express (ICE) train in Germany in 1998. The train crashed into a bridge, travelling at 200 kmph. Over a hundred people died.

An hour-long programme Nat Geo Investigates on National Geographic tells the story of this crash. Why would anyone sit through this programme, especially if one is in mortal fear of such accidents back home? Investigating the ICE accident, many theories emerged; finally it was discovered that one of the wheels had snapped due to a metal fatigue, sending the train veering off the track.

The most ludicrous aspect, found by the investigation, was that inspectors carried out regular checks of the wheels and the underbelly of the high-speed train using a simple flashlight. But this may not come as a surprise to us in India, as we constantly hear of rail accidents caused by avoidable lapses.

The news

What is it about news channels that has every broadcaster, existing or new, bent on launching one? One reason, points out an industry representative, is that entry barriers for news channels are low. The initial investment needed is not much and the continuing costs are also considerably low in comparison to other broadcasting genres. At present, there are 24 news channels and many more are slated to enter the fray and partake of the small advertisement revenue pie. Most of these channels seem to adopt the Hindi film industry's `me too' formula for staying in the race.

At an intellectual level there is consensus over the need for unique programming but the ground reality is that everyone is rushing to the same spot for the `breaking' news. In the country's developing broadcasting scenario, one thing is certain — increasing fragmentation of viewership.

Grass is greener...

We are in the thick of the Wimbledon season. There is no other tennis property that is as exciting as the Wimbledon. One can never tire of watching re-runs encapsulating famous victories and stunning defeats. Quite recently, ESPN Star Sports featured some of the amazing victories at Wimbledon. A welcome break from the staple fare of cricket!

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