Rashtrapati Bhavan and its surrounding areas, the Tarapur Atomic Power Station, the Aviation Research Centre in Bhubaneshwar, the oil refineries in Delhi and Mathura, and the Tower of Silence at Malabar Hill in Mumbai have been declared no-flying zones, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Tuesday.
Minister of State for Civil Aviation Shripad Naik said proposals given by state governments to declare many other areas no-flying zones were also being considered.
Naik told the Rajya Sabha that 93 high-quality X-ray machines have been provided at various airports in the last three years to boost security.
The government is yet to finalise the voluntary retirement schemes in Air-India as well as Indian Airlines, though 69 employees have retired voluntarily in Air-India and 87
Naik said 72,000 pilgrims are expected to perform the Hajj in 2003 and special Hajj flights will operate from Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderbad, Lucknow, Kozikhode, Nagpur, Gaya, and Srinagar.
While denying financial malpractices in Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Smriti, Tourism Minister Jagmohan told the House that a former official of the comptroller and auditor general has been appointed to exercise control over financial matters in these institutions. He said the financial expert will oversee the use of government funds sanctioned for the upkeep of these two facilities.
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