TO GROUND THE FLYING HOAXES

In response to a surge of false bomb threats-over 100 in recent days-that have hit India's aviation sector hard, the government is poised to implement some of the most stringent penalties in the industry's history.

- Avishek G. Dastidar

Under the proposed legislation, individuals making fraudulent claims about explosives aboard aircraft will pay for their mischief with sentences ranging from five years to life imprisonment, along with substantial fines and permanent placement on no-fly lists.

The crisis comes at a particularly inopportune moment-during India's bustling festive seasonprompting heightened security measures across the nation's airports. "We're changing the Aircraft Security Rules to put offenders on the no-fly list as a deterrent," explains civil aviation minister Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu. The ministry is also pursuing amendments to the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against Safety of Civil Aviation (SUSCA) Act of 1982, expanding its scope to address threats made from beyond airport perimeters.