Faced with a July 31 deadline to meet the requirements for joining the Star Alliance, representatives of Air India and the global airline group will soon meet with government officials to set the date for the national carrier’s formal entry into the 27-member partnership. “In a meeting of the Star Alliance’s Chief Executives Board at Barcelona on June 3, the Star Alliance appraised the readiness of Air India to join Star Alliance by July 31,” an Air India spokesman says.

Gearing up for the summer rush, airlines in Asia Pacific, Europe and the Middle East have launched a raft of offers to draw leisure and business travelers despite higher fuel costs.

NEW DELHI — French naval defense company DCNS has signed a contract for an Indian firm to assist with the indigenization of the Scorpene submarine. The contract was signed between Flash Forge India Pvt. Ltd., based in Visakhapatnam, and DCNS India Pvt. Ltd. on June 7. The six Scorpenes that comprise “Project 75” (P75) are under construction at the Mumbai-based Mazagon Docks Ltd. (MDL) in collaboration with DCNS, at a cost of $4 billion.