Global airfares, hotel rates likely to rise in 2019

Agencies
July 24, 2018

Singapore, Jul 24: A strong global economy and rising oil prices are expected to push up the cost of air travel in 2019, with fares seen rising 2.6 percent and hotel rates up 3.7 percent, although there are downside risks from a trade war, according to an industry forecast.

In some countries, including India, New Zealand, Norway, Germany and Chile, airfares are expected to rise by more than 7 percent, said the annual business travel forecast from Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT) and the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) released on Tuesday.

“Speaking for the Asia-Pacific region, we are coming off a period three to four years ago where there was a lot of capacity in the system (and) fares were down pretty significantly, potentially lower than was sustainable,” said Michael Valkevich, CWT’s vice president for global sales & program management, Asia Pacific.

“So I think we are getting to a bit more of a renormalization of sustainable fares.”

The International Air Transport Association in June forecast passenger yields, a proxy for airfares, would rise by 3.2 percent this year in the first increase since 2011 as a stronger global economy drives growth in demand. CWT/GBTA predicted a 3.5 percent rise in airfares in 2018 in a forecast released last year.

Airline costs, including for fuel and labor, have been rising, leading carriers to attempt to push up fares or add fuel surcharges to maintain margins.

The CWT/GBTA 2019 forecast said the rise in hotel rates would be driven by an increased demand for air travel, which would fuel demand for rooms. Room rates are expected to rise by more than 5 percent in Asia and Europe, by 2.1 percent in North America and to fall by 1.3 percent in Latin America.

Hotel groups including France’s Accor SA and US-based Marriott International Inc. have reported strong growth in revenue per available room in Asia and Europe this year.

The CWT/GBTA forecast said despite its positive outlook, risks remained for the global economy in 2019 from the rise of protectionist policies, the stoking of trade wars and uncertainty over Britain’s exit from the European Union.

Valkevich said the US-China trade war had not yet led to any noticeable drop in demand for business travel, but it was a “downside risk factor” for the corporate travel industry.

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News Network
September 20,2024

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The Israeli military has carried out airstrikes against the Lebanese capital Beirut. On Friday, the military said it had staged a “targeted strike” against the city.

At least five children are among those killed in the attack.

Lebanon’s al-Mayadeen television network said a drone had fired several missiles against Beirut’s heavily-populated Dahiyeh suburb.

According to Lebanon’s official National News (NNA), “five children were martyred in the hostile airstrike.”

The agency added that an F35 jet targeted residential areas with two strikes.

Media outlets cited sources as saying that the attack targeted Ibrahim Aqil, a senior commander of Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance movement.

Aqil is a member of Hezbollah’s Jihad Council, which is responsible for directing the group’s military and security activities.

He has replaced Fuad Shukr, who was assassinated in an Israeli targeted killing attack against Beirut on July 30. 

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News Network
September 12,2024

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to CJI D Y Chandrachud's house for Ganesha puja celebrations has raised doubts in the mind of Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut, who questioned whether he would deliver 'justice' in the ongoing case the party has in the Supreme Court, given that the PM is the other party in the case.

Speaking to ANI, Raut said "Ganpathi festival is going on, people visit each other's houses. I don't have info regarding how many houses PM visited so far...but PM went to CJI's house and they together performed 'Aarti'."

He said that a custodian of the Constitution meeting politicians could raise doubts in the minds of people.

"In our case, other party is the central govt...Chief Justice should distance himself from this case because his relation with the other party in the case is openly visible," Raut continued.

He also raised questions if the CJI be able to give them justice in the case. "We are getting dates after dates and an illegal govt is going on...Shiv Sena and NCP were broken in such a way...we are not getting justice and PM Modi is taking a lot of interest in the illegal govt of Maharashtra, to save them," the Sena (UBT) leader continued.

Raut alleged that a doubt had been formed in Maharashtra's mind given the 'bond' the PM and the CJI seem to share.

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News Network
September 23,2024

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New Delhi: Downloading and watching child pornography is an offence under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, the Supreme Court ruled today in a landmark judgment on the stringent law to prevent child abuse.

The bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justice JB Pardiwala set aside the Madras High Court order that had ruled that merely downloading and watching child pornography was not an offence under the POCSO Act. The Supreme Court noted that the high court had committed an "egregious error" in passing the judgment.

The Madras High Court's order had come in a case in which a 28-year-old man was charged with downloading child pornography on his phone. The court had quashed the criminal proceedings against the man and said children these days are grappling with the serious issue of watching pornography and society must be mature enough to educate them instead of punishing them.

The Supreme Court today restored the criminal proceedings against the man.

At the outset, Justice Pardiwala thanked the Chief Justice for the opportunity to pen this judgment. The order focused on Section 15 of the POCSO Act which lays down punishment for the storage of pornographic material involving children.

"Any person who stores any pornographic material involving a child and fails to report or destroy it is punishable with a fine of not less than five thousand rupees., and repeat offence will be punishable with fine of not less than ten thousand rupees. If the material is stored for further transmitting or propagating, then along with fine, it is punishable with upto three years of imprisonment. For storing child pornographic material for commercial purpose is punishable with three to five years of imprisonment, and in subsequent conviction, upto seven years of imprisonment," the Section says.

Justice Pardiwala said that in this case, mens rea is to be gathered from actus rea -- mens rea refers to the intent behind the crime and actus rea is the actual criminal act.

"We have said on the lingering impact of child pornography on the victimisation and abuse of children... We have suggested to the Parliament to bring an amendment to POCSO... so that child pornography can be referred to as child sexually abusive and exploitative material. We have suggested an ordinance can be brought in. We have asked all courts not to refer to child pornography in any order," the bench said.

The Chief Justice called it a "landmark judgment" and thanked Justice Pardiwala.

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