Paternity row: Tiwari to submit blood sample today

New Delhi, May 29: Veteran Congress leader and former Andhra Pradesh Governor ND Tiwari, who is embroiled in a paternity suit, will have to submit his blood sample for DNA profiling on Tuesday as per the orders of the Supreme Court.

The apex court had directed Tiwari last Thursday to submit his blood sample in a paternity suit filed by a young man, Rohit Shekhar, who claims to be his biological son.

The apex court bench of Justice Deepak Verma and Justice SJ Mukhopadhyay directed Tiwari to submit his blood sample on May 29 after he refused to follow a Delhi High Court order for giving his blood sample.

As per the instructions of the SC, a surgeon of the Dehradun Civil Hospital along with the district judge and a pathologist would visit Tiwari today to collect his blood sample.

Petitioner Rohit Shekhar and his mother will also be present at Tiwari's residence here when the sample will be taken. Security has been increased at Tiwari's residence here.

A joint registrar of the Delhi High Court will also be present.

The court also directed that the entire process would be carried out in strict confidentiality and the blood sample kept in sealed cover would be sent to designated lab for DNA profiling.

The Delhi High Court, in its April 27 order, had ordered Tiwari to undergo the DNA test in the paternity suit and had also imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on the veteran leader.

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Chaos continues as IndiGo cancels more flights including 73 from Bengaluru airport

News Network

December 4,2025

Domestic carrier IndiGo has cancelled over 180 flights from three major airports — Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru — on Thursday, December 4, as the airline struggles to secure the required crew to operate its flights in the wake of new flight-duty and rest-period norms for pilots.

While the number of cancellations at Mumbai airport stands at 86 (41 arrivals and 45 departures) for the day, at Bengaluru, 73 flights have been cancelled, including 41 arrivals, according to a PTI report that quoted sources.

"IndiGo cancelled over 180 flights on Thursday at three airports-Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru," the source told the news agency.

Besides, it had cancelled as many as 33 flights at Delhi airport for Thursday, the source said, adding, "The number of cancellations is expected to be higher by the end of the day."

The Gurugram-based airline's On-Time Performance (OTP) nosedived to 19.7 per cent at six key airports — Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad — on December 3, as it struggled to get the required crew to operate its services, down from almost half of December 2, when it was 35 per cent.

"IndiGo has been facing acute crew shortage since the implementation of the second phase of the FDTL (Flight Duty Time Limitations) norms, leading to cancellations and huge delays in its operations across the airports," a source had told PTI on Wednesday.

Chaos continued at several major airports for the third day on Thursday because of the cancellations.

A spokesperson for the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) in Bengaluru said that 73 IndiGo flights had been cancelled on Thursday.

At least 150 flights were cancelled and dozens of others delayed on Wednesday, airport sources said, leaving thousands of travellers stranded, according to news agency Reuters.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has said it is investigating IndiGo flight disruptions and has asked the airline to submit the reasons for the current situation, as well as its plans to reduce flight cancellations and delays.

It may be mentioned here that the pilots' body, Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP), has alleged that IndiGo, despite getting a two-year preparatory window before the full implementation of new flight duty and rest period norms for cockpit crew, "inexplicably" adopted a "hiring freeze".

The FIP said it has urged the safety regulator, the DGCA, not to approve airlines' seasonal flight schedules unless they have adequate staff to operate their services "safely and reliably" in accordance with the New Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms.

In a letter to the DGCA late on Wednesday, the FIP urged the DGCA to consider re-evaluating and reallocating slots to other airlines, which have the capacity to operate them without disruption during the peak holiday and fog season if IndiGo continues to "fail in delivering on its commitments to passengers due to its own avoidable staffing shortages."

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