68 percent polling in Gujarat first phase elections

New Delhi, Dec 5: IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers issued a public apology this evening after more than a thousand flights were cancelled today, making it the "most severely impacted day" in terms of cancellations. The biggest airline of the country cancelled "more than half" of its daily number of flights on Friday, said Elbers. He also said that even though the crisis will persist on Saturday, the airline anticipates fewer than 1,000 flight cancellations.

"Full normalisation is expected between December 10 and 15, though IndiGo cautions that recovery will take time due to the scale of operations," the IndiGo CEO said. 

IndiGo operates around 2,300 domestic and international flights daily.

Pieter Elbers, while apologising for the major inconvenience due to delays and cancellations, said the situation is a result of various causes.

The crisis at IndiGo stems from new regulations that boost pilots' weekly rest requirements by 12 hours to 48 and allow only two night-time landings per week, down from six. IndiGo has attributed the mass cancellations to "misjudgment and planning gaps".

Elbers also listed three lines of action that the airline will adopt to address the issue.

"Firstly, customer communication and addressing your needs, for this, messages have been sent on social media. And just now, a more detailed communication with information, refunds, cancellations and other customer support measures was sent," he said.

The airline has also stepped up its call centre capacity.

"Secondly, due to yesterday's situation, we had customers stranded mostly at the nation's largest airports. Our focus was for all of them to be able to travel today itself, which will be achieved. For this, we also ask customers whose flights are cancelled not to come to the airports as notifications are sent," the CEO said.

"Thirdly, cancellations were made for today to align our crew and planes to be where they need to start tomorrow morning afresh. Earlier measures of the last few days, regrettable, have proven not to be enough, but we have decided today to reboot all our systems and schedules, resulting in the highest numbers of cancellations so far, but imperative for progressive improvements starting from tomorrow," he added.

As airports witnessed chaotic scenes, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) stepped in to grant IndiGo a temporary exemption from stricter night duty rules for pilots. It also allowed substitution of leaves with a weekly rest period. 

Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu has said a high-level inquiry will be ordered and accountability will be fixed.

Udupi, Dec 1: A horrific case of alleged rape has unfolded in Udupi, where a worker from a Hindutva organisation, previously arrested and released on bail for harassing a young woman, is now accused of waylaying and sexually assaulting her.

The arrested individual has been identified as Pradeep Poojary (26), a member of the Hindu Jagarana Vedike's Nairkode unit in Perdur.

Poojary had allegedly been relentlessly harassing the young woman, pressuring her to marry him. When she bravely stood up to him and refused his demands, she filed a formal complaint at the Hiriyadka police station. He was subsequently arrested in that initial harassment case but was later granted bail.

According to police reports, driven by the same malicious grudge, Poojary allegedly intercepted the woman again on November 29. While she was walking through a deserted area, the accused is claimed to have threatened her by grabbing her neck. When she again refused to marry him, he allegedly proceeded to rape her.

The survivor immediately informed her family about the traumatic assault. Following this, her parents lodged a complaint at the Udupi women’s police station.

Police arrested Poojary again and produced him before the court. He has since been remanded to judicial custody.

New Delhi: Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah and deputy CM DK Shivakumar on Saturday put up a dramatic display of unity at a closely watched joint press briefing, firmly dismissing weeks of speculation about a power-sharing tussle within the Congress. With the high command nudging both leaders to sit together and settle the dust, the meeting became a political spectacle, ending with the duo declaring that there was “no confusion, no differences.”

Calling the reports of a rift “manufactured confusion,” Siddaramaiah said the talks had gone smoothly, even joking about their breakfast. “Breakfast was very good. All three of us enjoyed it,” he said. “We want to end this confusion once and for all. For local elections and for 2028, our mission is clear — Congress must return to power. There is no difference between me and DKS, not now, not before.”

He blamed the media for fuelling rumours and reiterated absolute adherence to the party leadership. “From tomorrow, let there be no confusion. What the high command says, we will follow.”

Siddaramaiah also assured that the Assembly session starting December 8 would run smoothly and vowed that Congress would take on the BJP and JD(S) “together.”

Shivakumar echoed the chief minister word for word, stressing loyalty and discipline. “People have given us a massive mandate. It is our duty to deliver,” he said. “This government was formed under Siddaramaiah’s leadership. We both have complete trust in the high command. If they tell me to wait, I will wait.”

He added that the two leaders had discussed strategy for the 2028 Assembly elections. “Whatever the CM says, I agree. We are loyal soldiers of the party. The party may be facing challenges nationally, but we will keep it strong in Karnataka.”

Shivakumar also said Siddaramaiah would soon visit his home for lunch or dinner — another symbolic gesture meant to underline their unity.

Both leaders later posted on social media describing the breakfast meeting as “productive” and focused on “Karnataka’s priorities.”

The BJP, however, rejected the show of camaraderie as “pure bunkum,” accusing Congress of trying to paper over an internal power struggle. But Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar insisted their united front would continue — and that there was “no confusion” within the state leadership.