The Editorial Page: MAGA agenda is now America’s global strategy 14 WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2025 JouRnalISm of CouRage KoLKata, Late CIty, 22 PaGeS ₹6.00 (₹12 in North east states, ₹20 in andaman) 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 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 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- 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 »continued on PAGe 2 Centre resumes MGNREGA in Bengal after 3 years, with riders E. harikishan sharma New Delhi, December 9 The CeNTre has ordered resumption of MGNreGa in West Bengal with “immediate effect” by imposing “special conditions and regulatory measures”, three years after it suspended implementation of the rural job scheme in the state. according to the sources, theUnionMinistryofruralDevelopment issued an order to this effect on December 6 in compliance with the Calcutta hC directions, stating that “the Department of rural Development hereby resumes the prospective implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi NreGa in explained Relief ahead of assembly polls Before the rural job scheme was suspended, West Bengal was among the top states— 51 to 80 lakh families availed it annually between 2014-15 and 2021-22. Now, with the Assembly elections in the state due next year, the resumption of the scheme would come as a relief to several families. the State of West Bengal with immediate effect.” 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 The Big PicTure tracing the journey of artworks page 12 suBAnsiri lower Project To fund hydel project, NHPC proposed its forest land assets as 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 Environment Ministry red-flagged move; project on Arunachal-Assam border faces 300% cost escalation ‘BhaRat impatient’ pages 8, 9 »continued on PAGe 2 chArGes fly in ls deBAte on electorAl reforms Opp seeks return to paper ballot, Rahul questions ECs’ immunity manoj c G & Vikas Pathak 6th rng lecture This was also conveyed to the West Bengal government. “however,suchresumption is subject to mandatory adherence to the special conditions andregulatorymeasures,asdirected by the hon’ble high Court, for ensuring transparencyandintegrityintheimplementation. Special conditions for resumption of the scheme in the State of West Bengal are attached at annexure a,” the order said. Theannexureaoftheorder mentionsspecialconditionsfor Bengal in respect to job cards and biometric attendance, financial management/labour budget, works, monitoring and accountability, recovery and Business as Usual 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. TheLokSabhadiscussionon By EP UNNY leader of opposition rahul Gandhi in lok sabha. PtI electoral reforms was less about suggestions on meaningful »continued on PAGe 2 subansiri lower hydel project on arunachal-assam border. NHPC meetthecapitalexpenditureof Lower Subansiri hydroelectric Project”andthearunachalPra- desh government, subsequently, sought a clarification »continued on PAGe 2 US team in Delhi for Puducherry cricket talks, Trump threatens body coach assaulted, tariffs on Indian rice FIR names local players ravi dutta mishra New Delhi, December 9 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 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 13 Will look into matter: BCCI on outstation players being passed off as locals lalith Kalidas New Delhi, December 9 The UNDer-19 head coach of the Cricket association of Pondicherry (CaP), S Venkataraman, was allegedly assaulted by three local cricketers on Monday over their non-inclusionintheteamfortheongoing The Indian Express report dated december 9 on a parallel selection system for cricketers nationalT20tournament(Syed Mushtaq ali Trophy). Venkataraman suffered a »continued on PAGe 2 l enrolled for fIrsT TIme In 2007 afTer proTesT, based on passbooks from a cooperaTIve bank Few papers or family links, sex workers in Kolkata’s Sonagachi tackle SIR fears ravik Bhattacharya Sonagachi (Kolkata), December 9 Theyarethenowherepeople, but can they remain the somewhere voters? Clutching forms, some anxiously drawing a dupatta or shawl over their faces, the sex workers of Sonagachi in page 1 northKolkata queued up at three special camps decorated with flowers Tuesday, hoping they won’t fall anchor an sIr camp at sonagachi in kolkata, Tuesday. PaRtHa PauL off the voter list in the ongoing SpecialIntensiverevisiondrive in West Bengal. a voter card is a precious identity document for the women, whose address — one of India’s largest red-light districts — counts for little when it comes to official records. eighteen years ago, they were enrolled as voters for the first time, on the basis of accounts they held in a local cooperative bank and its passbooks. The SIr doesn’t recognise these documents, and so the fear of being disenfranchised and what that may mean is palpable at the camps. already, the women say, many — especially in brothels called‘NepaliBaari’and‘Bangladeshi Baari’ — have left, afraid of being singled out and “deported”. On Tuesday, Chief electoral Officer Manoj agarwal, who has been firefighting allegations against the SIr by the ruling Trinamool Congress, visited the special camps, officially designated as meant for “marginalized electors”. »continued on PAGe 2 Kolkata