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Time of India
5 days ago
- General
- Time of India
Flyers spot peacocks near airport runway, IAF assures safety measures
Pune: Passengers raised concerns about potential bird strikes after spotting three peacocks near the runway at the city airport on Saturday morning. Pune resident Gaurav Chattur was travelling with his son on a SpiceJet flight (SG937) to Delhi. He noticed the three peacocks approximately 40 metres away from the runway when the aircraft was taxiing towards the runway around 7.20am and later expressed his concern through a post on "X". Chattur, the SpiceJet flight's passenger, told TOI, "I was seated in seat number 1A and couldn't have missed the birds because they were large. But I didn't inform the crew because I didn't want to cause any panic." You Can Also Check: Pune AQI | Weather in Pune | Bank Holidays in Pune | Public Holidays in Pune Pune airport director Santosh Dhoke said any queries regarding the sighting of peacocks should be directed to the Indian Air Force (IAF) because it managed the runway area. The IAF confirmed the presence of peacocks in the Airport Force Station (AFS) in Pune. A senior IAF officer at the station told TOI, "The presence of peacocks or peahens at the station does not pose a threat to flight operations. All necessary measures are in place to ensure that birds are cleared from the operating area. An ornithology specialist conducted a survey, and the Bird Hazard Combat Team (BHCT) operates 24 hours a day. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like No annual fees for life UnionBank Credit Card Apply Now Undo There is no need to augment or deploy personnel from the Airports Authority of India (AAI). We ensure smooth air operations at the base and support civil flights." The officer added, "Peacocks do not fly; they mostly remain on the ground or sit on tree branches. In the past 20 years, no peacock or peahen approached the runway." IAF sources said eight to 10 bird-scaring modules, including crackers, drum beating, reflectors, farrow traps, owl modules and Xon guns, were operational at the base. "These peacocks mainly wander in grass patches of the AFS, where they find their food. They don't go near the runway areas. Additionally, our team is deployed at the runway to manage any ground threats. So far, we have no report about any hindrance to air operations because of peacocks," a source in the IAF said. A couple of bird strikes, including one earlier this year, were reported in the city. Stray dogs intruded into the runway on two occasions in the past six months. These incidents raised concerns among activists and flyers regarding civil and military flights' safety at the airport. HL: PROBLEMS APLENTY DOG HAZARD June 29: An Air India Express flight from Bhubaneswar had to abort landing after a dog was spotted on the runway at Pune airport Impact: Flight delayed, waste of passengers' time BIRD SCARE June 20: Bird hit was detected on Air India's Delhi-Pune aircraft after it landed safely Impact: Thorough check of the plane, unserviceable for a couple of days LEOPARD ALARM April 28: A fully grown male leopard was seen near the runway of the Pune airport Impact: All sensitive areas of the airport, like the runway and taxiways, have been secured
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump says US starting direct talks with Iran
President Donald Trump said Monday that the U.S. has started 'direct' talks with Iran over its nuclear program, and that his administration would have a meeting with 'high level' officials on Saturday. 'I think if the talks aren't successful with Iran, I think Iran is going to be in great danger,' Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. 'And I hate to say it, great danger, because they can't have a nuclear weapon.' Trump's announcement, made sitting beside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, comes as Iran has pushed back on direct talks with the U.S. to negotiate its nuclear program. Tehran has not confirmed the Saturday meeting and the Iranian mission to the United Nations didn't respond to a request for comment. Trump revealed last month that he sent a letter to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, offering direct talks over the country's nuclear program. Part of the Israeli prime minister's visit, according to two people briefed on the matter, included a push to get on the same page about military options to deal with Iran's nuclear sites if Trump's deal-making skills hit a wall with Tehran. Both individuals were granted anonymity as they weren't authorized to speak publicly about sensitive internal diplomatic matters. Netanyahu, sitting beside Trump in a gold flecked chair surrounded by a swarm of cameras and microphones in the White House, gave a similarly veiled warning to Tehran if diplomacy didn't work. 'If it can be done diplomatically in a full way the way it was done in Libya, I think that would be a good thing,' Netanyahu said. 'But whatever happens we have to make sure that Iran does not have nuclear weapons.' But Trump's hawkish approach to Iran has sparked a furious debate in the MAGA world about the direction of the new administration's foreign policy, and whether fresh military entanglements in the Middle East are worth it. Trump has stacked his administration with prominent Iran hawks, like national security adviser Mike Waltz and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, but also with figures who want the United States to move away from military entanglements in the Middle East. Their clashes have become very acrimonious and very public in recent weeks, and it could affect the U.S. approach to Israel and its pressure campaign on Iran. Influential voices in the MAGA world outside of government are deeply wary of Trump's recent threats against Iran. Now 'is the worst possible time for the United States to participate in a military strike on Iran,' conservative commentator Tucker Carlson warned in a post on Xon Monday. 'Nothing would be more destructive to our country. And yet we're closer than ever, thanks to unrelenting pressure from neocons. This is suicidal. Anyone advocating for conflict with Iran is not an ally of the United States, but an enemy.' Iran previously has rejected the prospect of talks with Trump, with Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister Abbas Araghchi over the weekend calling the prospect of direct nuclear negotiations 'meaningless.' Iran has asked for indirect diplomacy, questioning Trump's approach: 'If you want negotiations, then what is the point of threatening?' the foreign minister said. Israeli officials are wary that if Iran eventually agrees to such talks, it could serve to only bide time for Tehran to strengthen its nuclear program. Additionally, it could offer Iran a window of reprieve to recover some of its steep losses from Israeli offensives against Iran's proxy militant groups in the region. That includes Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthi militants in Yemen. During Trump's first term, he withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal he had long criticized, abandoning an agreement that limited Tehran's nuclear activities in return for sanctions relief. Now he'll have to balance new diplomacy with Tehran with the prospect of owning any military consequences if those talks go south. 'Trump would like to avoid two things,' said Aaron David Miller, an expert on U.S. Middle East policy at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. 'Number one: Iran crossing the nuclear threshold on his watch. And number two, a major military operation by the U.S. or Israel that plunges the region into chaos.' Iran is continuing to balance on the cusp of nuclear breakout. The U.N. nuclear watchdog reported in February that Iran produced nearly 275 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60 percent — close to the 90 percent threshold for weapons-grade material. A U.S. intelligence assessment publicly released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence last month said 'Khamenei has not reauthorized the nuclear weapons program' but added that 'pressure has probably built on him to do so.'
