fridAY 05 Ex-DU prof Hany Babu, held in Elgar case, gets bail after 5 Years december, 2025 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard Gaza Thai hostage’s body returned Hany Babu, Ex-DU prof NIA accused professor of Maoist sympathy Remains that militants in Gaza handed to Israel as part of the first phase of the ceasefire deal were those of a Thai agricultural worker, officials said Thursday A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS Page 9 l New Delhi l J8.00 Day’s developments FM, RM meet delegation RT India to go live today Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman met a Russian delegation led by First Deputy PM Denis Manturov and discussed various issues, while Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held a delegation-level meeting with his Russian counterpart Andrey Belousov On Friday, Putin will launch RT India, the Indian arm of statefunded Russia Today. The TV channel will air English news programmes and it aims to “boost the traditional ties between India and Russia and the countries’ influence in a multipolar world” Pain points Transitional challenges in crew availability under FDTL Phase-2, which capped night landings by pilots to two as against six, IndiGo says Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Narendra Modi sit inside a limousine at New Delhi’s Palam Air Base on Thursday | PTI Red-carpet welcome In rare gesture, Modi receives Putin at airport J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi PRIME Minister Narendra Modi stood on the tarmac of Delhi’s Palam airport on Thursday evening greeting Russian President Vladimir Putin with a warm hug and a rare personal welcome in an unmistakable signal of the weight India attaches to its relationship with Russia. Traditional dancers swayed, cameras flashed and the red carpet stretched long as the two leaders slipped into the same car, echoing their drive together just three months ago after the SCO summit in Tianjin, China. Soon after Putin’s touchdown in Delhi, Modi hosted him for a private dinner mirroring the hospitality the Russian leader extended to him in Moscow last year. “Delighted to welcome my friend, President Putin to India. Looking forward to our interactions later this evening and tomorrow. India-Russia friendship is a time tested one that has greatly benefitted our people,” Modi said in a post on X, shared in both English and Russian. Their conversation on Thursday would set the tone for the 23rd IndiaRussia annual summit on Friday, a meeting watched closely in Western capitals as both nations navigate a tense global climate amid efforts to bring a halt to the war in Ukraine. On Friday morning, Putin will receive a ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan before laying a wreath at Rajghat and heading to Hyderabad House for formal talks over a working lunch. Defence cooperation will dominate the talks and both sides are expected to unravel a set of agreements and blueprint for economic cooperation. Hours before Putin landed, the two countries’ defence ministers held wide-ranging talks on India’s plans to procure additional S-400 missiles that proved decisive during Operation Sindoor and to explore further military hardware, including the Su-57 fifth-generation fighter jet. Agreements on logistics support and the movement of Indian workers to Russia are also expected to be sealed. Trade and energy will feature prominently as India seeks to address a ballooning deficit and navigate the impact of US tariffs and sanctions tied to Russian crude purchases. Moscow has offered additional discounts on oil after India’s intake dipped in recent weeks, and cooperation in fertilisers, small modular reactors and a proposed free trade pact with the Eurasian Economic Union will also be on the table. Putin is expected to brief Modi on the latest diplomatic developments around the Ukraine conflict, with India reiterating its stance that diplomacy alone can end the war. Putin is scheduled to depart Delhi around 9 pm on Friday . Deploy more staff for SIR, SC tells states Misjudged actual crew required for Phase 2 of FDTL More IndiGo flights to be cancelled for 2-3 days From Dec 8, it will cut flight ops to minimise disruption Normalise operations urgently, ensure airfares do not spike K Rammohan Naidu, Civil Aviation Minister to IndiGo PAGES 12 IndiGo to cut ops from Monday, full normalcy in Feb S L al i tha @ New Delhi On a day when over 500 more flights were cancelled, IndiGo told the Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGCA) that normal and stable operations can be fully restored by the airline only by February 10. It said flight cancellations would continue for the next 2-3 days, adding it would start cutting down on flight operations from December 8 to minimise disruption. The airline urged the regulator to exempt its A320s from certain Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) norms, which mandate a maximum of two night landings as against the earlier six. The DGCA advised it to submit in detail the FDTL relaxations it required to normalise flights operations. IndiGo made its presentation on Thursday at meet with the Director General of the DGCA. “IndiGo has assured DGCA that corrective actions are underway and that normalised and stable operations will be fully restored by 10 February 2026,” the regulator said. More cancellations will continue over the next 2-3 days, the airlines said. IndiGo acknowledged that the disruptions arose primarily from misjudgment and planning gaps in implementing Phase 2 of FDTL, which kicked in on November 1. “The airline is facing significant transitional challenges in roster planning and crew availability under Phase-2 FDTL requirements. These issues, combined with winter Passengers crowd an IndiGo ticket counter in Mumbai on Thursday | PTI operational constraints, have contributed to the sharp spike in cancellations and delays,” it told the DGCA. The airline said its requirement of Captains to fly the Airbus as on November was 2,422, but their actual availability would drop to 2,357 by December. As for co-pilots (Flying Officers), it is better placed at 2,194 this month. The requirement in November was 2,153. “After implementation of Phase-II of the new FDTL, the operations have been further impacted. The sharp increase in duty share during night time operations has further constrained crew availability IndiGo added. ,” “Indigo has been directed to normalise operations at the earliest and also ensure that it does not lead to increase in fares,” the DGCA added. It was also told to submit a roadmap on fresh crew hires. Cong expels rape accused Kerala MLA E x p r e ss n e ws s e r v i c e @ T’puram Soon after a court in Thiruvananthapuram rejected the anticipatory bail plea of Rahul Mamkootathil, the Congress expelled the MLA from the party’s primary membership. Amid pressure, the Congress state leadership seemed to have no option but to oust Rahul, who was absconding after being booked for rape. The All India Congress Committee (AICC) had on Wednesday authorised the state leadership to take the decisive action once the court pronounced its order. In a statement, state Congress president Sunny Joseph said the decision was taken “in view of the serious complaints and the cases registered against Rahul”. Sunny said that Rahul should also resign from the assembly . LoP V D Satheesan said, “The decision to expel Rahul was taken on Wednesday It’s insignificant whether . it was issued yesterday or today I am proud of my party,” . he said. Vadakara MP Shafi Parambil, Rahul’s mentor in the party, said the Congress has taken an exemplary action. Shafi said he supported Rahul’s politics and not his activities in personal capacity . AICC general secretary K C Venugopal said what comes first for the Congress is to uphold the dignity of the party. “The KPCC’s decision has the approval of AICC. It is up to Rahul to decide whether to continue as an MLA. This is the fastest decision a political party can take,” he said. Mist spray with RO water installed for clean air A n u p Ve r m a @ New Delhi SUC H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi TAKING note of a petition alleging extreme work pressure faced by booth level officers (BLOs) engaged in the special revision of polls roll, the Supreme Court on Thursday asked states and Union Territories to consider roping in additional staff so that work pressure of BLOs is eased. A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said, “In case they are facing hardships, including being overburdened, the state government can obviate such hardships.” The court was hearing an application by actor Vijay’s party TVK seeking a fiat to ECI to not take coercive actions against BLOs for failing to perform their duties. If any employee has a ‘specific reason’ for seeking exemption from SIR duty, a competent officer of the state government can consider it on a case-to-case basis and replace that an employee with another, the bench said. During the course of the hearing, Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for TVK, argued that 35 to 40 BLOs have died by suicide: all Anganwadi workers and teachers. He stated many BLOs were getting notices that they will be jailed if they do not meet deadlines. “50 FIRs have been filed against BLOs in UP ECI is tak. ing pride in this. There was a man who wanted to attend his wedding. He was denied and he committed suicide.” Airline seeks exemptions from DGCA on night duty norms for A320s till Feb 10 l The NIA had accused Hany Babu of being a co-conspirator for propagating Maoist activities and ideology for the banned CPI(Maoist). The case relates to “inciting people and giving provocative speeches during an Elgar Parishad event organised by Kabir Kala Manch at Shaniwarwada in Pune on December 31, 2017, which promoted enmity between caste groups”. p8 Pole-mounted Steps Deviating from the vehicle-mountd spray guns mode to control dust, NDMC fixed mist sprays on electricity poles at Indraprastha Marg near ITO | Parveen Negi Removing dust, debris becomes ‘non-negotiable’ Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena and Chief Minister Rekha Gupta jointly reviewed Delhi’s worsening pollution levels on Thursday and directed the implementation of urgent corrective measures. It was underlined that waste, debris, and dust remain major contributors to pollution and must be addressed urgently . A major decision announced after the meeting was the expansion of mist spray technology across Delhi. Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta inspected mist sprayers installed at ITO and said that In the L-G and CM’s meeting with top officials, dust control was declared non-negotiable, and multi-level efforts—already in progress— were ordered to be intensified. Agencies were told to scale up road cleaning, debris removal, and dust mitigation across the capital. work is underway to install 305 mist sprayers at nine pollution hotspots. She asserted that mist technology was proving effective, adding that trials conducted in NDMC areas have shown positive results. The mist spray system— mounted on electricity poles and equipped with high-pressure pumps and nozzles— sprays RO-treated water in an ultra-fine mist to neutralise Centre, Mann govt agree to disagree on 2.9L deleted names from free grains list H a r p r e e t Ba j wa @ Chandigarh The Centre has stated that 23.79 lakh cases of beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) were flagged for incomplete e-KYC checks in Punjab. Of these, 2.90 lakh beneficiaries have been deleted, while the verification process for 20.69 lakh beneficiaries has not been completed. The Centre’s claim came on Thursday in Parliament after Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had alleged in August that the Centre had deleted eight lakh names from the list of NFSA beneficiaries. In reply to an unstarred question asked by Punjab Congress president and Ludhiana MP Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, Union Minister of State for Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Nimuben Bambhaniya stated that Punjab had 40,93,003 ration card holders and 1,51,67,073 NFSA beneficiaries. She added that deletions were done after field verification visits and following the due process. Bambhaniya also said that the Punjab was sent many reminders for completing the verification process. “The De- partment of Food and Public Distribution has issued multiple communications to all state governments, including the government of Punjab, urging timely completion of Aadhaarbased e-KYC and beneficiary verification under the NFSA. They include sending repeated reminders and DO letters and conducting reviews through video conferences,” she said. In August this year, Mann had said, “As long as I am the chief minister, no beneficiary will be deleted from the list.” The Centre had reportedly asked the Punjab to cancel 8,02,493 ration cards, claiming that the card-holding households did not fulfil the eligibility criteria. “This means that 32 lakh beneficiaries of Punjab will be deprived of subsidised wheat,” Mann had said. road dust and airborne pollutants. Positive pilot results at ITO have paved the way for wider implementation. Urban Development Minister Ashish Sood, chief secretary Rajeev Verma, and senior officials of concerned departments attended the meeting. Following the review, the Delhi government issued strict instructions that no negligence of any kind would be tolerated in pollution-control efforts. Departments were told to work in seamless coordination to ensure consistent and effective implementation. Departments were also given strict operational instructions. DDA officials must clear all vacant land under their ownership of waste and prevent future dumping. The MCD was directed to launch an intensive cleanliness drive and deploy additional dust-control tools. District magistrates have been asked to personally inspect pollution-control work in their zones and are authorised to record the ACRs of officials found negligent. P4 2 held with `18.6 cr hydro ganja at Bengaluru airport E x p r e ss n e ws s e r v i c e @ Bengaluru Trust China, France vow to firm up ties China and France pledged deeper cooperation on global issues, like the war in Ukraine and trade, as France prepares to take on the presidency of the Group of Seven next year. Xi also called for greater political trust with France | P9 Bengaluru Police has arrested a couple who managed to smuggle 18.59 kg of hydro ganja worth `18.6 crore out of highsecurity Kempegowda International Airport. The accused have been identified as Shafiuddin Sheikh, 34, a mechanic, and his wife Sara Simran, 26, a homemaker, from Kammanahalli. Preliminary investigations revealed that Sheikh and Simran were mules, who carried hydro ganja from Bangkok. They were offered free travel, accommodation, and additional payment to smuggle hydro ganja. They were sent on a four-day trip on a tourist visa. The couple managed to bring in 10 food packets, containing over 18 kg of hydro ganja worth `18.6 crore, concealed in their backpacks. Acting on a tip-off, the police intercepted the couple near Rani Abbakka Playground in Mahalakshmi Layout on November 30, hours after they left KIA. They were on their way to hand over the contraband to receivers in the city . Police sources said the mobile phones of the accused have been seized. Efforts are on to trace the receivers of hydro ganja. The accused have been remanded in 10 days of police custody . City police commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh told reporters on Thursday that information related to other accused in the case have been collected.