The fact that the Narendra Modi led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would be voted back to power in the national elections held in April-May this year, was generally expected by the majority. However, what has indeed dazed the nation and even sent ripples in most parts of the world, is the overwhelming support that the NDA has received from across the nation. This is something that had not even been imagined especially by the “Maha Gathbandhan” that today lies shattered. But for the newly constituted government in India led once again by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, humongous challenges lie ahead in several areas ranging from the economy to foreign policy, Jammu and Kashmir and most importantly, that of national security. In this issue of SP’s Aviation there is a detailed thought-piece by Air Chief Marshal A.Y. Tipnis (Retd), former Chief of the Air Staff, Indian Air Force (IAF), of the return to power of the NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the daunting challenges before it that require speedy decision making and decisive action on the part of the government.

A major event of immense interest to the global aerospace industry is the Paris Air Show held every two years in France. Regarded as the largest and the longest running Air Show in the world, the Air Show is expected to host the presence of practically all the leading aerospace companies from across the world showcasing the latest products as well as innovative technologies in both military and civil aviation. The Paris Air Show this year is expected to host more than 1,00,000 visitors including delegations from all across the world. We have a detailed show preview by Ayushee Chaudhary in this issue.

In an extensive report, accompanied by an exclusive interview with Dr. Joseph Pesce, Programme Director of the National Science Foundation, Ayushee Chaudhary unravels the mystery of the Black Hole in this issue. Recently, a team of international astronomers captured an image of a black hole’s silhouette. Evidence of the existence of black holes – mysterious places in space where nothing, not even light, can escape – has existed for quite some time. Working for well over a decade to achieve the feat, the team improved upon an existing radio astronomy technique for high-resolution imaging and used it to detect the silhouette of a black hole. Learning about these mysterious structures will help understand gravity and the dynamic nature of our universe.

A major challenge confronting the global aerospace industry is to design aircraft including engines to provide greater fuel efficiency to reduce the burgeoning cost of operating airliners and also to reduce the adverse impact on the environment due to carbon emissions from the engines. Apart from reducing the weight of airliners through the use of composites and other advanced materials, the industry is exploring options to design and develop engines operating on bio-fuels or electrical power. This issue of the magazine carries articles by Air Marshal Anil Chopra (Retd) and Group Captain A.K. Sachdev (Retd) with detailed review of the problems and the efforts by the industry to evolve solutions.

All this and more in this issue of SP’s Aviation. Welcome aboard and we wish you many happy landings!