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The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
Air India audit finds 51 safety lapses, from unapproved simulators to training gaps
The findings come as Air India faces renewed scrutiny after the deadly Boeing 787 crash in June. - Photo: Reuters NEW DELHI: India's aviation watchdog found 51 safety lapses at Air India in its July audit, including lack of adequate training for some pilots, use of unapproved simulators and a poor rostering system, according to a government report seen by Reuters. The annual audit was not related to the deadly Boeing 787 crash last month that killed 260 people in Ahmedabad, but its findings come as the airline faces renewed scrutiny after the accident. The Tata Group-owned airline is already facing warning notices for running planes without checking emergency equipment, not changing engine parts in time and forging records, along with other lapses related to crew fatigue management. The 11-page confidential audit report from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) noted seven "Level I" significant breaches which need to be fixed by July 30, and 44 other non-compliances classified which need to be resolved by August 23. Officials said they found "recurrent training gaps" for some unspecified Boeing 787 and 777 pilots, saying they had not completed their monitoring duties - where they don't fly but observe functioning of instruments in the cockpit - ahead of mandatory periodic evaluations. Air India's fleet includes 34 Boeing 787s and 23 Boeing 777s, according to Flightradar24 website. Flagging operational and safety risks, officials wrote in their report that Air India did not do "proper route assessments" for some so-called Category C airports - which may have challenging layouts or terrain - and conducted training for such airfields with simulators that did not meet qualification standards. "This may account to non-consideration of safety risks during approaches to challenging airports," the DGCA audit report said. In a statement to Reuters, Air India said it was "fully transparent" during the audit. It added it will "submit our response to the regulator within the stipulated time frame, along with the details of the corrective actions." A preliminary report into the June crash found that the fuel control switches were flipped almost simultaneously after takeoff and there was pilot confusion in the cockpit. One pilot asked the other why he cut off the fuel and the other responded that he hadn't done so, the report said. The DGCA has often flagged concerns about Air India pilots breaching the limits of their flight-duty periods, and the audit report said an AI-787 Milan-New Delhi flight last month exceeded the limit by 2 hours and 18 minutes, calling it a "Level I" non-compliance. The audit was conducted by 10 DGCA inspectors, and included another four auditors. It also criticised the airline's rostering system, which it said "doesn't give a hard alert" if a minimum number of crew members were not being deployed on a flight, adding that at least four international flights had flown with insufficient cabin crew. Tata acquired Air India from the government in 2022. While it has aggressively expanded its international network, it faces persistent complaints from passengers, who often take to social media to show soiled seats, broken armrests, non-operational entertainment systems and dirty cabin areas. Reuters reported last week that Air India's senior executives, including the airline's director of flight operations and its director of training, were sent notices on July 23 flagging 29 "systemic" lapses, pulling up the airline for ignoring "repeated" warnings. Air India has said it will respond to the regulator. The audit report noted that "door checks and equipment checks" showed inconsistency with procedures and there were gaps in training documentation. Further, it said no chief pilots were assigned for Airbus A320 and A350 fleet. "This results in a lack of accountability, and effective monitoring of flight operations for these aircraft types," the report said. Last year, authorities warned or fined airlines in 23 instances for safety violations, with 11 involving the Air India Group. The biggest fine was $127,000 on Air India for "insufficient oxygen on board" during some international flights. - Reuters
The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
Microsoft in advanced talks for continued access to OpenAI tech, Bloomberg News reports
FILE PHOTO: A man looks at his phone in front of the Microsoft logo during the 2025 Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain, March 3, 2025. REUTERS/Albert Gea/File Photo (Reuters) -Microsoft is in advanced talks for a deal that would give the Windows maker continued access to critical OpenAI technology in the future, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, citing two people familiar with the negotiations. The companies have discussed new terms that would allow Microsoft to use OpenAI's latest models and technology even if the ChatGPT maker declares it has achieved artificial general intelligence (AGI), or AI that surpasses human intelligence, the report said. A clause in OpenAI's current contract with Microsoft will shut the software giant out of some rights to the startup's advanced technology when it achieves AGI. Negotiators have been meeting regularly, and an agreement could come together in a matter of weeks, Bloomberg News reported. Microsoft and OpenAI did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. OpenAI needs Microsoft's approval to complete its transition into a public-benefit corporation. The two have been in negotiations for months to revise the terms of their investment, including the future equity stake Microsoft will hold in OpenAI. Last month, The Information reported that Microsoft and OpenAI were at odds over the AGI clause. OpenAI is also facing a lawsuit from Elon Musk, who co-founded the company with Sam Altman in 2015 but left before it surged in popularity, accusing OpenAI of straying from its founding mission — to develop AI for the good of humanity, not corporate profit. Microsoft is set to report June quarter earnings on Wednesday, with its relationship with OpenAI in the spotlight, as the startup turns to rivals Google, Oracle and CoreWeave for cloud capacity. (Reporting by Deborah Sophia in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed)
![[9pm] Legal weed brings peace of mind to Moroccan farmers, but black market pays more, faster](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.malaymail.com%2Fmalaymail%2Fuploads%2Fimages%2F2025%2F07%2F29%2F290927.jpg&w=3840&q=100)
![[9pm] Legal weed brings peace of mind to Moroccan farmers, but black market pays more, faster](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fall-logos-bucket.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fmalaymail.com.png&w=48&q=75){kind=small}
Malay Mail
an hour ago
- Malay Mail
[9pm] Legal weed brings peace of mind to Moroccan farmers, but black market pays more, faster
More farmers cultivating cannabis legally this year Illegal market still dominant due to profits, lack of red tape Recreational cannabis farming remains banned BAB BERRED (Morocco), July 30 — Beneath the blazing summer sun, Abderrahman Talbi surveyed the neat rows of flourishing cannabis blooms in compact fields, reflecting on how his life has changed since he joined Morocco's burgeoning legal cannabis industry two years ago. Like many farmers in the northern Rif mountains who have long grown the crop illegally, Talbi is relieved that raids and seizures by the authorities are no longer a worry. 'I can now say I am a cannabis farmer without fear,' Talbi told Reuters. 'Peace of mind has no price.' Talbi's pivot to legal farming is an example of what Morocco, one of the world's biggest cannabis producers, hoped to achieve when it legalised cultivation for medical and industrial use, but not for recreational purposes, in 2022. Regulating cannabis farming brought with it hopes for fresh revenue and economic revitalisation in the impoverished Rif region. The step made Morocco a forerunner among major producing countries and the first in the Middle East and North Africa to join a global trend that has seen countries like Canada, Germany and Uruguay legalise production and use. It also hoped to lure farmers away from the illegal economy in the restive Rif mountains, where cannabis production has long been tolerated to facilitate social peace. Al Hoceima, a major city in Rif, saw the largest protests in Morocco in 2016-17 over economic and social conditions. A Moroccan farmer checks on a bundle of dried cannabis in Ketama, in the northern Rif mountains. — Reuters pic Black market's lure persists Legalisation efforts have gained traction, with about 5,000 farmers joining the industry this year, from just 430 in 2023, says Morocco's cannabis regulator, or ANRAC. And legal production surged to nearly 4,200 tonnes last year, a 14-fold increase over the first harvest in 2023. Still, the black market remains dominant and lucrative due to demand for recreational use from Europe and regionally in Africa, potentially undermining efforts to fully regulate the sector. Morocco has 5,800 hectares (14,300 acres) of legally planted land, according to ANRAC. That's dwarfed by illegal cultivation spanning over 27,100 hectares, Interior Ministry data shows. While many farmers still choose illicit cultivation, they face the risk of increased crackdowns by authorities, which led to the seizure of 249 tonnes of cannabis resin by September last year, up 48 per cent from all of 2023, according to the Interior Ministry. Mohammed Azzouzi, 52, spent three years in hiding for cannabis-related charges before receiving a royal pardon along with over 4,800 others last year. Now, he is preparing for his first legal harvest and hopes to earn more than the 10,000 dirhams (US$1,100) he used to make in the illegal economy each year. Red tape The country's prohibition on growing cannabis for leisure use, along with bureaucratic red tape, limit legal farming, with every stage of the supply chain requiring a specific license from ANRAC, discouraging many a farmer from making the switch. A grower who wants to cultivate legally needs to join a licensed cooperative, which buys the farmer's product and processes it into derivatives or sells the resin to other licensed manufacturers. Talbi's cooperative, Biocannat, near the town of Bab Berred, 300 km (186 miles) north of Rabat, bought about 200 tonnes of cannabis last year from some 200 farmers, processing it into resin, supplements, capsules, oils and powders for medical and cosmetic purposes. About 60 km east of Biocannat, in the main producing area of Issaguen, farmer Mohamed El Mourabit was initially hopeful about the legalisation plan in 2021, but is less so now. 'The process is too complicated,' he said. And money talks, as well, for many farmers, who are lured by the higher rewards of the black market, despite its risks. While cooperatives take months to pay farmers about 50 dirhams per kilogram for the raw plant, on the illicit market, processed cannabis resin can fetch up to 2,500 dirhams per kilogram, farmers and activists say. To close that gap, legalisation advocates say growing for recreational use should be allowed, too. But it's not clear whether that will happen soon. Mohamed Guerrouj, head of ANRAC, said legalising recreational use would only be considered within a medical framework. 'The goal is to develop Morocco's pharmaceutical industry ... not coffee shops,' he said. — Reuters
