Naxal menace remains area of concern: Rajnath

Agencies

August 29, 2017

New Delhi, Aug 29: Maoist menace remains an area of concern for the internal security of the country but forces have managed significant improvement over the years, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Tuesday.

Addressing a meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Naxal menace, Singh said the overall situation this year so far also indicates a declining trend in Maoist incidents compared to corresponding period of 2016. The number of violent incidents has declined by 25.6% during the period.

The Minister said this remains an area of concern for the internal security of the country but the forces exhibited significant improvement over the years and the declining trend continued in the last three years.

Providing figures, he told the meeting that there was a 53% decline in a number of violent incidents and 72% dip in deaths in 2016 compared to 2010. This trend is continuing in 2017, he said.

The MPs who participated in the meeting said the Naxal problem is not just a law and order but also a socio-economic problem. "There is a need for adopting a sustained policy and intelligence sharing in the LWE affected States. They also suggested that police should be further strengthened with the use of better communication and connectivity facilities," an MHA statement said.

Singh informed the meeting that 743 Scheduled Tribes candidates from four most affected LWE districts of Chhattisgarh -- Bijapur, Dantewada, Narayanpur and Sukma -- have been recruited in Bastariya Battalion in order to enhance local representation in the security forces.

The Minister said the Centre has been properly monitoring the situation. The MHA gives necessary assistance to states and empowers them with financial assistance besides giving security forces proper training, technology and latest equipment, he said.

Singh mentioned that the joint operations of paramilitary forces and state police have given good results in the recent past and hoped that the situation will further improve in the near future.

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IndiGo CEO says less than 1,000 cancellations on Dec 6; normalcy by Dec 15

News Network

December 5,2025

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.

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