The Editorial Page: MAGA agenda is now America’s global strategy 14 WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2025 JOURNALISM of COURAGE MUMBAI, LATE CITY, 22 PAGES ₹5.00 l www.indianexpress.com DA I LY F R O M : A H M E DA B A D , C H A N D I GA R H , D E L H I , j A I P U R , KO L K ATA , L U C K N O W , M U M B A I , N AG P U R , PAT N A , P U N E , VA D O DA R A REG.NO. MCS/067/2018 - 20 RNI REGN. NO. 1543/57 AfTER DIREcTORATE GENERAL Of cIVIL AVIATION ORDERED 5% cUT Govt orders IndiGo to cut down flights by 10%, summons CEO Ops reinstated, delivered nearly all bags stuck at airports, says airline Sukalp Sharma New Delhi, December 9 ADAYaftertheDirectorateGeneralofCivilAviation(DGCA)orderedIndiGotoreduceitsflight schedule by 5 per cent, the government on Tuesday doubled the curtailment of the airline's domestic flights to 10 per cent. The decision was communicated by the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) in a meeting with IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers. IndiGo is India’s largest airline with a domestic market share of nearly 65 per cent, and its daily schedule has over 2,300 flights, including about 2,150 domestic flights. A 10 per happening today lA cOMMITTEE HEADED by PM Narendra Modi and also including LoP Rahul Gandhi is likely to meet to decide the next Chief Information Commissioner and Commissioners for eight vacant positions at the Central Information Commission. lPRESIDENT DROUPADI Murmu will attend NHRC’s Human Rights Day function. TRACK THESE AND MORE ON www.INDIANExPrEss.cOm 10/12/2025 110 138 171 90 cent curtailment in domestic flights would mean that its daily scheduled flights within the country would fall to less than 1,950. According to sources, the freed-up slots may be offered to other carriers if they have additional capacity that can be deployed. In a post on X, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu saidElberswas“summoned”to the ministry to provide an updateontheairline’sstabilisation measures. “The Ministry considers it necessary to curtail the overallIndigoroutes,whichwill help in stabilising the airline’s operations and lead to reduced cancellations. A curtailment of Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu posted a photo of his meeting with IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers (left). X/@RAMMNK 10% has been ordered. While abidingwithit,IndiGowillcontinuetocoverallitsdestinations as before,” Naidu said on X. “Duringthelastweek,many passengers faced severe inconvenience due to IndiGo’s inter- collateral, Govt said no ExPrEss exclusive Jay Mazoomdaar New Delhi, December 9 THEENVIRONMENTMinistry has turned down a NHPC proposal to use assets located on forest land as collateral to raise funds for the Subansiri Lower hydelprojectwhichisfacingan over 300% cost escalation. The project is located on the Arunachal Pradesh-Assam border. Official records show that “NHPC requested for an NOC forusingtheirassetslocatedon theforestlandforcollateralpurpose for raising funds… from the financial institutions to meetthecapitalexpenditureof Subansiri Lower hydel project on Arunachal-Assam border. NHPC Lower Subansiri Hydroelectric Project”andtheArunachalPradesh government, subsequently, sought a clarification fromtheMinistryonthematter. The Environment Ministry, according to a letter seen by The Indian Express, examined NHPC’s “proposal to mortgage assets on diverted forest land” andruledthatitis“nottenable” »cONTINUED ON PAGE 2 US team in Delhi for talks, Trump threatens tariffs on Indian rice Manish Kumar Pathak Ravi Dutta Mishra THECENTRALBureauofInvestigation (CBI) has registered two criminal cases against the companiesofADAGroup,andnamed JaiAnmolAmbani,sonofindustrialist Anil Dhirubhai Ambani, in one of the cases. The CBI has also named several others, includingthecompany’sdirectors, promoters and unknown bank officials. The agency also held searches at the official and residentialpremisesandfoundseveralincriminatingdocuments. As per the CBI release, the first case is registered against AS US negotiators headed to India for two days of talks to try and seal a trade deal, President Donald Trump threatened fresh tariffs on Indian rice citingconcernsoverricedumping in the US market. Washington has already imposed 50 per centtariffsonDelhi,thehighest on any country globally. AtaroundtableintheWhite House,whenaLouisiana-based farmerrepresentativesaidthey arestrugglingduetothedumpingofriceintheUSbycountries such as India, China and »cONTINUED ON PAGE 2 »cONTINUED ON PAGE 2 6Th rNG lEcTurE BJP,Senaagree TO fUND SUBANSIRI LOWER PROJEcT foratruceafter NHPC proposed its CM-Shindemeet; forest land assets as tofightcivicbody electionstogether AnilAmbani’s son namedasCBIfiles twocasesagainst ADAGroup Mumbai, December 9 nal mismanagement of crew rosters,flightschedulesandinadequate communication. While the enquiry and necessary actions are underway, another meeting with IndiGo’s top management was held to review the stabilisation measures. Today again, @IndiGo6E CEO Pieter Elbers was summoned to the Ministry to provide an update. He confirmedthat100%oftherefunds for flights affected till 6th December have been completed. A strict instruction to expedite the completion of the remaining refunds and baggage handover was given,” Naidu said. Meanwhile, in a statement earlier in the day, IndiGo announcedthatitsoperationshad stabilised and normalised. The airline operated over 1,800 flights on Tuesday, covering all destinationsonitsnetwork,and its on-time performance (OTP) was back at over 80 per cent. “IndiGo can confirm that after days of significant and steadyimprovementacrossthe network, we have reinstated New Delhi, December 9 »cONTINUED ON PAGE 2 E. ExPlAINED US share small India is the largest producer as well as exporter of rice. The share of the US in India’s rice exports is, however, quite small. During 2024-26 (AprilMarch), India exported 60.65 lakh tonnes (lt) of basmati rice valued at $5,944.49 million. The US accounted for only 2.74 lt ($337.10 million) out of that, as per data from Department of Commerce. PAGE 17 Vallabh Ozarkar Mumbai, December 9 AFTER MORE than a month of bitter clashes and visible tension during the local body elections, the BJP and the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena seem to have decided to put aside their differences and contest the upcoming municipal corporation polls together, including those tothehigh-profileBrihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and Thane Municipal Corporation. SourcesintheMahayuticalled the step a renewed effort by the Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party to present a united front ahead of what are considered politically crucial urban polls. The breakthrough, according to the sources, came after a one-and-a-half-hour closeddoor meeting between Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde late Monday. The sources said the discussions were “positive,” with both parties agreeing to jointly contest municipal elections across Maharashtra, including in Mumbai and Thane, and otherpartsofthestateastheMahayuti.“Local-leveldiscussions to finalise seat-sharing, wardlevel coordination, and campaign responsibilities are ‘BHARAT IMPATIENT’ PAGES 10, 11 cHARGES fLY IN LS DEBATE ON ELEcTORAL REfORMS Opp seeks return to paper ballot, Rahul questions immunity shield to ECs Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and (right) Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal in Lok Sabha. PTI LoP: Poll panel colluding with those in power to shape elections Manoj c G & Vikas Pathak New Delhi, December 9 SEIzINGTHEParliamentgrand stage to raise questions on the “impartiality” of the Election Commission, the Opposition Tuesday demanded a return to paperballotandanamendment tothelawthatdealswiththeappointmentoftheChiefElection Commissioner and ECs. Opposition parties also picked holes in the Special Intensive Revisionofvoterrollsunderway in several states. The Lok Sabha discussion on electoral reforms was less »cONTINUED ON PAGE 2 BJP, allies hit back: Stifled democracy, opposing EVM after people rejected them Deeptiman Tiwary & Damini Nath New Delhi, December 9 THE BJP and its allies on Tuesday mounted a defence of the SpecialIntensiveRevision(SIR) of electoral rolls during a discussion in the Lok Sabha on electoral reforms, even as they avoided directly shielding the Election Commission (EC) that iscurrentlyfacingsustainedOpposition criticism. Instead, the Treasury benches turned the debate into a political indictment of the Congress, accusing itof“undermininginstitutions”, “corruptingelectoralpractices”, »cONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Business as Usual By EP UNNY PARLIAMENT PAGE 9 »cONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THE BIG PICTURE Tracing the journey of artworks PAGE 12 l FROM FAMILY OF TEA GARDEN WORKERS, RAHUL TANTI WAS AMONG 25 PEOPLE KILLED IN NIGHTCLUB BLAzE Assam man who died in Goa fire was on first night duty: ‘Worked for his children’ Sukrita Baruah brotheroutofsevensiblings.He began working early on in life, aftercompletingclass4,tosupport his father, a tea garden labourer. His brother, Deva, said that he left for Goa on November24,soonafterthebirthofhis third child. He also has two daughters aged nine and six. “The wages for working in the tea garden are only about Guwahati, December 9 ITWASthebirthofhisbabyboy a little over a month ago that prompted Rahul Tanti to leave his family in his village in Assam’s CaPAGE 1 char district and head to Goa to earn for them. Tanti, 32, was one of three young men from Assam — all from marginalised commu- anchor Rahul Tanti, 32; (right) his wife and three children nities — who were working as staff in the Arpora nightclub where a fire killed 25 on Satur- day night. A resident of Rangirkhari village, he was from a tea tribe family, the eldest »cONTINUED ON PAGE 2 MORE REPORTS PAGE 8 Mumbai