Latest news with #FAL
Time of India
28-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Tata is giving wing to Make in India aviation dream
India's aim to achieve self-sufficiency in aerospace manufacturing is taking wings. Though India is rapidly developing as an exporter of aerospace components and services, manufacturing its own civil aircraft seems distant. However, one of India's largest conglomerates, Tata Group , is well on its way to make India a manufacturer of civil aircraft. Tata Group has taken a significant step on this journey. European aviation major Airbus and Tata Advanced Systems (TASL), the aerospace arm of the Tata group, will set up the Final Assembly Line (FAL) for the H125 helicopters in Kolar, Karnataka, as per an ET report. The facility is India's first privately-led helicopter assembly facility. It will produce Airbus' best-selling H125 helicopter from its civil range for India and the neighbouring countries and will be the fourth such facility in the world after France, US and Brazil. Also Read: Karnataka wins Tata-Airbus helicopter manufacturing unit The Karnataka helicopter manufacturing unit will be the second such venture by the Tata Group. Last year, the TASL set up a new C-295 aircraft manufacturing facility in Vadodara, Gujarat jointly with Airbus. The facility is India's first private-sector Final Assembly Line for military aircraft. These two ventures coming in less than 12 months underline India's resolve to start building civil aircraft indigenously which very few countries do. After inaugurating the Vadodara complex with his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the Tata-Airbus aircraft complex, which will produce the C295 military transport aircraft, can pave the way for developing and manufacturing civil aircraft too. "We are already working to make India an aviation hub. This ecosystem will pave the way for Made-in-India civil aircraft in the future... This factory is going to play a major role in the design and manufacturing of civil aircraft to meet the future needs of India and the world." Live Events You Might Also Like: Tata-Airbus plant: India's dream of making a civil aircraft taking off? Now with TASL building a civil helicopter factory in Karnataka, India is taking sure steps towards its ultimate goal to build a passenger aircraft. India's lofty dream For long, the commercial aircraft manufacturing industry has been in the grip of a strong duopoly of Boeing and Airbus, which hold between them nearly 90% of the market share because building a commercial aircraft is a complex process not easy to master. That's why India's lofty dream of building commercial aircraft indigenously is an ambitious goal. Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. already makes fighter jets and is also in the process of making a 19-seater civil aircraft. But making a full commercial aircraft is much more difficult. For instance, China was able to put in air its first mainline commercial aircraft, COMAC C919, last year after decades of arduous development journey. Though the C919, which competes directly with the Airbus A320neo and Boeing 737 MAX 8, and is part of China's strategic push to secure a foothold in the global passenger jet market, it still falls short on international certifications and is reliant of Western technology. While China started its journey to build a mainline commercial aircraft decades ago, India is starting just now. Last year, Civil Aviation Minister KR Naidu indicated that India would soon enter into civil aircraft manufacturing. He talked about plans to create a special team in the form of a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), drawing in industry experts, technicians and government representatives. He, however, acknowledged that there might be a need to source certain components or engines from other players initially, but the end goal was to develop a self-sustaining ecosystem where every part could eventually be manufactured within the country. The aim of the SPV was not to make a business model but rather to address broader concerns and bring in necessary reforms. Boeing and Airbus could be part of the SPV plans. Why India should manufacture commercial aircraft India's plans to build commercial aircraft indigenously come at an opportune time when demand and supply both bode well for such an enterprise. As India boasts a 1.4 billion population with dreams of being a developed nation by 2047, its economy will grow the fastest among the G20 nations, and a burgeoning middle class will spend more on air travel, as per an Airbus report. As a result, passenger traffic in India will grow exponentially at 6.2% per annum by 2040, the fastest among the major economies and well above the global average of 3.9%. To meet the growing need of the country's middle-class, Indian companies have placed an order of over 1,200 aircrafts but would need a total of 2,210 new aircraft over the next 20 years. India, like most other major economies, depends highly on sourcing aircrafts from Boeing and Airbus which have a duopoly in the industry. However, with growing demand for commercial aircraft in India as well as many other parts of the world such as Latin America and the Gulf region, supplies have not been able to keep pace. When demand is soaring and supply is unable to catch up in a sector dominated by just two giant manufacturers, the time is right for India to plan its foray into commercial aircraft manufacturing. It's not as easy as it may sound What will it take to start building an indigenous commercial plane? India's aviation manufacturing industry, which involves making of parts and components, has started growing. Both Boeing and Airbus have set up dedicated research, technology and development centres in India. In January last year, Prime Minister Modi inaugurated Boeing India Engineering & Technology Center in Bengaluru. The Rs 1,600 crore, 43-acre campus, known to be Boeing's largest such investment outside the United States, will 'help develop next-generation products and services for the global aerospace and defence industry'. While India has been supplying components of aircraft to companies including Boeing and Airbus, the country currently contributes a mere 5% to the global supply chain, lacking super-critical, high-complexity parts and technology to build a commercial aircraft from scratch. 'While manufacturing your own aircraft from scratch sounds great, and several have tried to, I don't see that as a near-term priority even with strong government-to-government involvement and the deepest of pockets,' Anuj Jhunjhunwala, CEO, JJG Aero, had told ET last year. Jhunjhunwala pointed out that the Japanese stopped at making business jets, several western military aircraft makers could not transition to commercial planes, and even the Chinese, who came close with the Comac, have been at it for nearly two decades and are still reliant on western technology. Instead of making a whole plane, the Indian ecosystem should focus on grabbing a larger share of the components supply chain first, he said. Commercial aircraft production demands scale, complexity and technological sophistication that far surpasses those required for military aircraft and even spacecraft, Pragya Priyadarshini, Vice-President at Primus Partners, had told ET last year. 'This entails meeting stringent international certification standards, extensive testing, and the development of cutting-edge innovations across multiple disciplines.' Maneck Behramkamdin, SVP & Business Head, Godrej Aerospace , had told ET that the skills (designing and making) for aircraft are fragmented at various levels — the Defence Research and Development Organisation, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, MSMEs and startups. A national-level programme has to first integrate the stakeholders, especially as it is not a 'one-industry programme'. Possibly, the SPV being planned by the government will try to accomplish that first. Behramkamdin said only a government-funded programme will bear fruit as developing a new commercial aircraft requires tens of billions of dollars in capital. Else, there has to be a mechanism for payback. As per a PwC-CII report, the cost of forming the industry line runs into billions of dollars. In the case of China, C919's development received between $49 billion and $72 billion from the government between 2008 and 2020. Besides huge investment, India would also need tie-ups with global giants since it's impossible to start out with a completely indigenous aircraft built from scratch in India. The Tata-Airbus plants, despite one for a defence transport venture and another for a civil helicopter, could contribute to the Made-in-India civil aircraft project by strengthening the local manufacturing ecosystem.
Sky News AU
13-05-2025
- Business
- Sky News AU
Former 'Coco Joy' boss Tim Xenos facing 18-months jail-time after being found guilty of misusing more than $100,000
The former boss of a health foods company behind coconut water brand Coco Joy is facing jail time after misusing more than $100,000 to pay for personal bankruptcy and legal expenses. Tim Xenos, the former chief executive of FAL Healthy Beverages, was sentenced to 18 months in prison after being found guilty of an array of crimes in February. He was first charged by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) in 2021 where the corporate watchdog claimed Mr Xenos had misused the companies' funds and was running the business despite being disqualified due to bankruptcy. Court Magistrate Susan Horan found Mr Xenos had committed these offences between November 2013 and September 2015 when he was FAL's CEO. Mr Xenos was found to have used his position dishonestly to 'gain a financial advantage of approximately $111,392 … by using company funds to pay for personal legal fees and to seek to annul his bankruptcy", according to a statement from ASIC. He also deliberately failed to disclose his income (US$14,500 per month) and bank accounts to his bankruptcy trustee. Mr Xenos had pleaded not guilty to the crimes on three occasions between November 2023 and October 2024, but failed to succeed on any occasion. 'In sentencing Mr Xenos, Magistrate Horan said Mr Xenos demonstrated a lack of contrition and insight into his offending and that no other sentence but imprisonment was appropriate,' ASIC said. The former FAL boss will have to serve 200 hours of community service alongside his prison time and has been automatically disqualified from managing companies until February 2030. Mr Xenos' personal website, which appears to have last been updated in September 2023, says he takes 'an imaginative approach toward the beverage scene'. It references a now closed company called Bevpax where multiple types of beverages were produced including coconut water, aloe vera drinks, protein drinks, cold brew coffee and tea, and CBD beverages. 'Tim Xenos has been focusing on producing CBD-infused beverages including functional waters, isotonic beverages, and ice teas,' Mr Xenos' website reads. 'Tim prides himself on being a leading innovator in the beverage industry, and he continues to research new possibilities that are not currently being explored. 'The key to entrepreneurship is the ability to fill gaps in an industry, and Tim is doing exactly that.'
CNA
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CNA
Cargo: The Weight of Freight - Cargo: The Weight of Freight
46:53 Min Crisscrossing the oceans 365 days a year, they carry 90% of everything we buy. Taller than a 15-storey building, longer than 3 soccer fields, container ships are the invisible giants of globalization - its essential but forgotten cogs. How do they operate? And how come we so largely ignore everything about them? With the agreement of the world's 2nd largest shipowner Maersk, we board on one of these steel giants and follow its day-by-day trajectory along a shipping lane known as the backbone of world trade: the "FAL" (French Asia Line). We fully immerse ourselves alongside the crew, becoming aware of what it is to be a seafarer in the midst of a relantless race for profitability. From the Straits of Shanghai to the gates of Rotterdam,this journey on the high seas will serve as the main thread of an investigation to question the strenghts and weaknesses of global commerce, and explore the means to improve the human, technological and environmental impact of maritime transport. Cargo: The Weight of Freight About the show: Crisscrossing the oceans 365 days a year, they carry 90% of everything we buy. Taller than a 15-storey building, longer than 3 soccer fields, container ships are the invisible giants of globalization - its essential but forgotten cogs. How do they operate? And how come we so largely ignore everything about them? With the agreement of the world's 2nd largest shipowner Maersk, we board on one of these steel giants and follow its day-by-day trajectory along a shipping lane known as the backbone of world trade: the 'FAL' (French Asia Line). We fully immerse ourselves alongside the crew, becoming aware of what it is to be a seafarer in the midst of a relantless race for profitability. From the Straits of Shanghai to the gates of Rotterdam,this journey on the high seas will serve as the main thread of an investigation to question the strenghts and weaknesses of global commerce, and explore the means to improve the human, technological and environmental impact of maritime transport.
The Hindu
29-04-2025
- Health
- The Hindu
CAG audit finds lapses in functioning of FSSAI, Food Analysis Laboratory in Coimbatore
A compliance audit (Civil) report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India for the year ended in March 2023 (No. 1 of 2025) has flagged serious lapses in the functioning of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and the Food Analysis Laboratory (FAL) in Coimbatore. The report said that only 73% of the 40,139 anganwadis in the State were registered with the FSSAI as on June 30, 2023. As many as 51 out of 1,697 anganwadis in Coimbatore district were not registered with FSSAI. 'The Department could not ensure the safety and standard of the food provided by the unregistered anganwadi centres to very young children who would be at high risk, if substandard or contaminated food were to be served to them,' it said. The audit found that FSSAI officers did not inspect all the food business operators licensed and registered with it in Coimbatore as stipulated under Section 36(3)(f) of the Food Safety and Standards Act during 2020-2023. The number of licensed FBOs and inspections made by officers stood at 7,965 (1,553) in 2020-21, 9,952 (7,296) in 2021-22 and 11,790 (6,684) in 2022-23. The number of registered FBOs and inspections were 21,546 (64), 26,256 (423) 30,073 (640) in the same period. With regard to the testing of dairy and meat samples, the tests done in Coimbatore and Madurai FALs checked only 20% of the mandatory parameters and five to nine per cent of the total characteristics. As per the audit, Coimbatore topped among five districts for pendency in the collection of penalty levied on FBOs for violations. A total penalty of ₹139.82 lakh was imposed in 1,392 cases from June 2014 to March 2023. Collection of penalty to the tune of ₹68.30 lakh in 719 cases were found to be pending during the audit. It also observed that even after the delegation of powers by District Collector, the Designated Officer (DO) in Coimbatore had not effected any recovery of penalty from defaulters. As per the report, 30 equipment for chemical analysis, 15 equipment for microbiological analysis and 33 general equipment for both chemical and microbiological analysis are required for the basic functioning of FAL as prescribed by the FSSAI. However, FALs in Madurai and Coimbatore were functioning with 15 and nine equipment each for chemical and microbiological analysis respectively. Further, only 20 and 21 equipment were available with FALs in Coimbatore and Madurai respectively for both chemical and microbiological analysis. 'The shortage of mandatory equipment adversely impacted the FALs in completing the analysis in time with quality and completeness besides the assurance of 'Food Safety' envisaged in the FSS Act', it said. The audit found that some of the high-end laboratory equipment remained unutilised or underutilised in FALs. In Coimbatore FAL, non-availability of technical personnel and consumables affected the usage of coupled plasma mass spectrometer and high performance liquid chromatography machine, which are used for detecting presence of heavy metals and trace level elements. Functioning of gas chromatography machine, which is used to detect caffeine content, aflatoxin and pesticide levels, was affected due to non-availability of manpower, auto sampler and consumables, the report said. With regard to the utility of the sample management system by the DO, static cabinets of 20°C and 4°C and for ambient temperature were found uninstalled and used for keeping remaining samples in Coimbatore FAL. Mobile freezer unit, portable chill boxes, backpack style bags for carrying samples were found unpacked. The report recommended the government to take all possible steps to ensure that all the high-end laboratory equipment are utilised optimally with adequate skilled manpower, ensuring that the test results complete in all aspects are communicated to the stakeholders within the prescribed time limit.
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Yahoo
1982 bombing suspect arrested after living under assumed name for years: Prosecutors
He's been on the run for decades, wanted for attempted murder after a bomb he allegedly planted injured his estranged wife in Wyoming in 1982, according to authorities. Now, 76-year-old Stephen Craig Campbell -- who has been living in New Mexico under the name and assumed identity of Walter Lee Coffman, according to the FBI -- is in custody after a dramatic arrest last week. Authorities said Campbell's double life began unraveling after a 2019 renewal of his driver's license tipped off investigators that something wasn't right. Campbell had originally been arrested for attempted murder in 1982 after authorities said he planted a bomb in a toolbox on the doorstep of his estranged wife's boyfriend. The bomb exploded when his wife opened the toolbox, causing her to lose a finger and suffer other injuries. Campbell, who was also facing a federal firearm charge in connection with that incident, was released on bond in 1983 -- and then disappeared. That's when, authorities now say, Campbell took on Coffman's identity. Coffman, according to authorities, died at age 22 in 1975 and was buried in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Investigators believe Cambell and Coffman were both engineering students at the University of Arkansas in the mid 1970s, "suggesting a likely connection between the two," according to a court filing. Over the years, Campbell was able to obtain a driver's license, U.S. passport and even a Social Security card in Coffman's name, authorities said. In the 1990s, investigators said, "Campbell attempted to remove Coffman's death status from Social Security records by contesting the agency's record of Coffman's death" and by 1995, "succeeded in obtaining a replacement Social Security card in Coffman's name, using a Muskogee, Oklahoma address." Campbell, living as Walter Coffman for decades, even applied for and received Social Security benefits to the tune of $140,000, according to court records. It was a 2019 New Mexico driver's license renewal by Campbell, using Coffman's name, that apparently tipped off authorities, according to court documents The renewal eventually triggered a check by agents from the National Passport Center's fraud detection unit. In 2024, those Diplomatic Security agents discovered Coffman had been long dead and suspected his identity had been used fraudulently for decades. Last week, an FBI SWAT team, with support from Social Security Administration agents, Customs and Border Protection aircraft and Otero County Sheriff's deputies, executed a search warrant at a 44-acre plot of land in southern New Mexico that Campbell is believed to have owned in Coffman's name. As agents approached the residence, Campbell allegedly greeted them dressed in camouflage, hearing protection and armed with a scoped .302 caliber FAL rifle, according to a detention memo filed in federal court in New Mexico. Campbell "positioned himself in an elevated, partially concealed spot" along a tree line as SWAT agents approached in BearCats and deployed flashbangs. Campbell was initially unresponsive to callouts, but eventually was detained, court record said. Prosecutors said the rifle was loaded with high-powered ammunition capable of piercing body armor, with the scope caps open, and was ready to fire. Upon searching the property, FBI agents recovered a cache of weapons, including 57 firearms and large amounts of ammunition. Authorities also recovered fraudulent documents in Coffman's name, including a Social Security card and multiple passport cards. An examination of his fingerprints after his arrest later confirmed Campbell's true identity, authorities said. In addition to the original charges from 1982, Campbell is now charged with misuse of a passport. However, prosecutors said they are evaluating the possibility of additional charges against Campbell. At a detention hearing on Wednesday, Campbell was ordered detained pending trial, with the judge citing Campbell as a flight risk 1982 bombing suspect arrested after living under assumed name for years: Prosecutors originally appeared on
