SSC
The Airports Authority of India (AAI) was constituted on:
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Answer: Option D — 1 April 1995
Detailed Solution
The Airports Authority of India (AAI) was constituted on 1 April 1995.
About the formation of AAI:
It was created by the Airports Authority of India Act, 1994, passed by Parliament.
It was formed by merging two earlier bodies:
- The International Airports Authority of India (IAAI), set up in 1972 to manage international airports.
- The National Airports Authority (NAA), set up in 1986 to manage domestic airports.
About AAI:
- It is a statutory body under the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
- Its headquarters is at Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan, New Delhi.
- It is responsible for creating, upgrading, maintaining and managing civil aviation infrastructure in India, both on the ground and in the air.
- It manages more than 130 airports, including international and domestic airports and civil enclaves at defence airfields.
- It provides "Air Navigation Services" over the Indian airspace and adjoining oceanic areas.
It has developed "GAGAN" (GPS Aided GEO Augmented Navigation) jointly with ISRO; it is India's satellite-based augmentation system, which improves the accuracy of GPS for aircraft. India became the fourth country with such a system.
Several major airports, such as those in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru, are run by private companies under public-private partnerships, with AAI holding a share.
Other civil aviation bodies:
- Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA): the regulator for civil aviation, responsible for safety, licensing of pilots and airworthiness of aircraft.
- Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS): responsible for aviation security; set up in 1987.
- Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA): sets tariffs at major airports; set up in 2009.
- Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB): investigates air accidents; set up in 2012.
Important schemes:
- UDAN ("Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik"): a regional connectivity scheme launched in 2016-17 to make air travel affordable and connect smaller towns.
- "DigiYatra": facial recognition-based paperless travel at airports (2022).
Aviation history:
India's first commercial flight was flown by J. R. D. Tata from Karachi to Bombay on 15 October 1932, carrying mail for Tata Airlines.
Why not the other options?
- ✗1 April 1972 is when the International Airports Authority of India was set up.
15 October 1932 is when J. R. D. Tata flew India's first commercial flight.
1 January 2007 is not related.
Quick tip
Remember: Airports Authority of India = 1 April 1995 (AAI Act 1994; merged IAAI of 1972 and NAA of 1986; Ministry of Civil Aviation; GAGAN with ISRO); DGCA = regulator; UDAN = 2016-17.
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Industries & Transport in India — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Industries & Transport in India, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers India's major industries (iron and steel, textiles, cement, sugar, automobiles and information technology) and their locations, along with the transport network: railways, roads and national highways, ports, airports and waterways. Common questions ask where a steel plant is located and which country helped build it (Bhilai with the Soviet Union, Rourkela with Germany and Durgapur with Britain), which city is called the 'Manchester of India', and facts about major ports, railway zones and national highways. Practise the industries and transport questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.