The Editorial Page: MAGA agenda is now America’s global strategy 10 WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2025 JOURNALISM of COURAGE LUCKNOW, LATE CITY, 20 PAGES ₹6.00 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 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 THE BIG PICTURE Tracing the journey of artworks pAGE 12 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 To fund hydel project, NHPC proposed its forest land assets as collateral, Govt said no ExPrEss 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 »cONTINUED ON PAGE 2 6Th rNG lEcTurE SUbANSIRI LOWER PROJEcT exclusive 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 Environment Ministry red-flagged move; project on Arunachal-Assam border faces 300% cost escalation ‘BHARAT IMpATIENT’ pAGES 16, 17 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 BJP, allies hit back: Stifled democracy, opposing EVM after people rejected them Deeptiman Tiwary & Damini Nath New Delhi, December 9 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 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 »cONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Business as Usual By EP UNNY pARLIAMENT pAGE 9 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 14 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 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 4 Lucknow