Oppn targets Govt over reports to release 800 more separatists

March 10, 2015

New Delhi, Mar 10: Opposition parties today sought to corner the government over reports that the Jammu and Kashmir government was planning to release 800 more separatists and sought to know if the state's Governor has mentioned this in his report to the Centre.

After Naresh Agarwal (SP) and others raised the issue in Rajya Sabha, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said government was ready to respond to any specific case brought to its notice.

When the House met, Agrawal said he had given a notice under Rule 267 for suspension of business to take up the issue of reports claiming that J&K Governor in a report to Centre has said the state government planned to release 800 more separatists in a day or two.

He wanted to know if the Governor had sent any such report and whether he had signed the release order of separatist Masarat Alam. The Hurriyat leader was released from prison three days ago.

Agarwal also wanted to know whether the Centre could give an assurance that no more separatists will be released by the Mufti Mohammad Sayeed government in Jammu and Kashmir.

Rajeev Shukla (Cong) also sought to know if the orders for Alam's release were signed by the Governor and if they were issued when the state was under President's rule.

AIADMK members claimed 10,000 separatist prisoners are about to be released in Jammu and Kashmir.

Jaitley said Home Minister Rajnath Singh had yesterday made it absolutely clear that he had certain reservations about the report received from the state government on the release of one separatist and had sought more information.

Deputy Chairman P J Kurien rejected the notice for suspension of business since the same issue was discussed threadbare yesterday and Home Minister had given his reply.

Kurien said the SP leader could give notice under different rules if he had any new information on the issue.

Taking strong exception to statements that 10,000 prisoners are being released, Jaitley said, "are you telling the world that we have kept 10,000 political prisoners... you have to have some sense of responsiblity (while making such statements)."

Alam had several cases against him and was granted bail by court in some of them, he said, adding the government will respond if any specific case of another separatist being released is brought to its notice.

Maintaining that the government will "find out and give response" if a specific case was given, he said "lt a notice be given with authentic facts. The House cannot be media-driven."

Agarwal however continued to insist on his notice and found support from some Congress members.

The issue consumed nearly half of the Zero Hour before order was restored and other issues taken up.

Earlier CPI(M) member P Rajeeve objected to the listing of the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2015 and Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Bill, 2015 saying the Business Advisory Committee of the House had not allotted time for the same.

Jaitley responded saying BAC had allotted 20 hours for government business and the two bills were to be discussed

Kurien said the House is supreme and can always allot time even if BAC does not provision any.

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India’s Tougher Pilot Fatigue Rules: Why IndiGo’s Operations Crashed Into Turbulence

News Network

December 6,2025

New Delhi: IndiGo, India’s largest airline, faced major operational turbulence this week after failing to prepare for new pilot-fatigue regulations issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The stricter rules—designed to improve flight safety—took effect in phases through 2024, with the latest implementation on November 1. IndiGo has acknowledged that inadequate roster planning led to widespread cancellations and delays.

Below are the key DGCA rules that affected IndiGo’s operations:

1. Longer Mandatory Weekly Rest

Weekly rest for pilots has been increased from 36 hours to 48 hours.

The government says the extended break is essential to curb cumulative fatigue. This rule remains in force despite the current crisis.

2. Cap on Night Landings

Pilots can now perform only two night landings per week—a steep reduction from the earlier limit of six.

Night hours, defined as midnight to early morning, are considered the least alert period for pilots.

Given the disruptions, this rule has been temporarily relaxed for IndiGo until February 10.

3. Reduced Maximum Night Flight Duty

Flight duty that stretches into the night is now capped at 10 hours.

This measure has also been kept on hold for IndiGo until February 10 to stabilize operations.

4. Weekly Rest Cannot Be Replaced With Personal Leave

Airlines can no longer count a pilot’s personal leave as part of the mandatory 48-hour rest.

Pilots say this closes a loophole that previously reduced actual rest time.

Currently, all airlines are exempt from this rule to normalise travel.

5. Mandatory Fatigue Monitoring

Airlines must submit quarterly fatigue reports along with corrective actions to DGCA.

This system aims to create a transparent fatigue-tracking framework across the industry.

The DGCA has stressed that these rules were crafted to strengthen flight safety and align India with global fatigue-management standards. The temporary relaxations are expected to remain until February 2025, giving IndiGo time to stabilise its schedules and restore normal air travel.

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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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