This free-of-cost program underscores AISATS’s commitment to empowering underprivileged youth and represents a paradigm shift in the aviation sector’s approach to community development and workforce preparation. By aligning corporate social responsibility with the industry’s growing need for skilled workers, AISATS has created a mutually beneficial model. AISATS has signed a MoU with Invest UP for Know How Training during the Global UP Investor Summit and already conducted a job fair at Maharajganj District, UP, and selected more than 500 candidates for its various airports across India with the help of Invest UP. The UP Government officials have also helped AISATS in organizing this initiative and selecting candidates from the orphanages.

The program’s success paves the way for future expansions, with AISATS planning to extend similar opportunities to more underprivileged youth across its stations. This innovative approach not only addresses the immediate needs of orphaned youth but also contributes to the long-term development of a skilled aviation workforce.

Sanjay Gupta, CEO at AISATS, stated, “This initiative embodies our core values of inclusivity, empowerment, and community support. By equipping these young individuals with valuable skills and job opportunities, we’re not just providing employment – we’re cultivating hope, dignity, and self-reliance. Our program bridges the gap between underprivileged youth and meaningful career opportunities in aviation. We plan to expand this initiative across all our airports and upcoming projects, ensuring our growth aligns with community betterment and building an ecosystem conducive to creating skilled employment opportunities within the aviation sector.”

The program, offered entirely free of cost, demonstrates AISATS’s commitment to empowering underprivileged youth. During the graduation ceremony, participants were awarded certificates and gifts, celebrating their newly acquired expertise and marking the start of their careers in the aviation industry.

As these 14 graduates prepare to join the workforce at AISATS’ integrated cargo terminal (ICT) at Noida by its Commercial Operation Date (COD), their success sets a new benchmark for sustainable and impactful corporate social responsibility in the industry, potentially inspiring similar initiatives across the sector.

In view of the Covid-19 pandemic, the 2020 edition of the annual gathering of the Media & Entertainment Industry is being held in a virtual mode, instead of its usual location by the Powai lake in Mumbai.

The Minister further remarked that the Covid pandemic has forced people to think of new ways to communicate. Virtual gatherings have become the new normal, but the partnerships forged are real”.  He said,  India enjoys  a huge cost advantage in content creation and the Indian content is being watched in over 150 countries worldwide.  The Minister called upon all stakeholders to work together to make progress and harness the soft power of India – media and entertainment.

Delivering the key-note address, Minister of State for Finance, Anurag Thakur said the creative industry has a significant role to play in transforming India into a knowledge based economy. “From volume, the focus must shift to value creation” he added.

Participating in a technical session, Secretary, Information & Broadcasting Amit Khare said,  in films, the role of the government should be that of a facilitator. “Different regulatory structures must be brought in sync to ensure less regulation” he added. Shri Khare also said that the Government was fully in support of granting infrastructure status to the Media & Entertainment Industry and added that some definitions need to be fine tuned.

Niti Ayog CEO Amitabh Kant in his address said every crisis can be turned into an opportunity and India must identify 12-13 sunrise sectors in which it can leapfrog to become global champions to achieve sustainable high growth and create jobs.  He listed  Media & Entertainment industry as one of them.

Expressing similar views, Uday Shankar, Chairman, Star and Disney India and a leading voice of the industry said “the M&E sector is an important part of the creative economy. It can create jobs and businesses and make India shine globally”.  He however, lamented the fact that Indian media industry, especially print, TV and digital remained disproportionately dependent on advertising revenue and said that the Covid pandemic has proven that this arrangement is a major set back.  He said “if the industry has to grow, it needs to shed its dependency on advertisement,”

Sanjay Gupta of Google emphasized on the Covid induced disruption of the media and entertainment industry in the country. He said, the sector may shrink from $ 20 billion to $ 15 billion in  2020-21, but has the ability to bounce back as a ‘creative powerhouse.’  He called for simplification of the taxation framework and adoption of a light touch regulatory approach for industry to grow to its full potential.

FICCI Frames Virtual Summit , which will be on till 11th July, will see leading experts of the industry exchange views and ideas on various aspects of media and entertainment sector.  Italy is the focus country of FICCI-Frames 2020.

The trees, which are native to America, are around 25 to 30-feet tall. One of the best places to take a good look at the flowers is near Vikhroli on the Eastern Express Highway, as there are several trees planted along that road. Individual trees and tree clusters can also be spotted in Borivali, Powai, Sion, and other areas including Nerul and Belapur.

As per Jitendra Pardeshi, Superintendent, Gardens, these plants flower between December and February, in Mumbai these have flowered in March. The flowers are pink with a yellow neck and are in the shape of trumpets, from which the tree gets its name. “Mumbai has a total of 29.75 lakh trees, of which 6,580 are pink trumpets,” he said.

“A lot of people mistake these for cherry trees, which also have pink blossoms. We have been seeing these trees in Mumbai for years now, but its interesting to see the sudden interest that people have developed in them in the past few years,” said a botanist associated with a government-aided college.

Sanjay gupta said that the BMC should use social media to share more information about such flowering trees. “In fact, in every garden setup by the BMC, there should be boards with information about flowering plants and the season of flowering, so that people can enjoy seeing them in full bloom,” he said.