Daily News Capsules
1. DGCA deploys officials in IndiGo office, airports
India’s civil aviation regulator on Wednesday installed officers at IndiGo’s corporate office and airports to oversee and report on the airline’s flailing operations even as the company’s board said external technical experts will be brought in to determine what caused the scheduling meltdown that affected millions of flyers. The airline warned of the crisis impacting its third quarter revenue, as officials aware of the matter said the carrier could face hefty fines in the coming days. After nine days of scrapped flights, stranded passengers and airports overflowing with misdirected pieces of baggage, cancellations continued on Wednesday, though on a lower scale, despite assurances to the contrary by the carrier as well as the government. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) set up an eight-member team of senior flight operations inspectors and said they will scrutinise IndiGo total fleet, the number of pilots, network details and crew utilisation, amid a crisis that has led to the airline, India’s largest, cancelling thousands of flights and leaving millions in lurch since December 2. A two-member team, also deployed at IndiGo’s corporate office, will monitor the status of cancellations, on-time performance, refunds and baggage returns to fliers. “Both these teams will submit a daily report,” DGCA said in the two-page order. The move to tighten the oversight screws on IndiGo came on a day the airline cancelled 220 flights and delayed hundreds more, despite the airline’s chief executive officer Pieter Elbers claiming the previous day that it had got its operations back on track after eight days of mayhem. DGCA summoned Elbers to appear before it on Thursday afternoon and submit comprehensive data and updates regarding the operational disruptions.
Possible Question
Examine how can the government affix responsibility for large-scale disruptions without exacerbating risks for travellers or destabilising the aviation market?
2. Social media checks hit Indian H-1B applicants
The US Embassy in India confirmed on Tuesday that a number of visa appointments in India had been rescheduled due to “resource availability” issues amid increased scrutiny of all H-1B visa applicants, and dependents on H-4 visas, through a new rule that mandates a review of their social media profiles. The US Embassy clarified that all changes would be communicated to the applicants directly. “If you have received an email advising that your visa appointment has been rescheduled, Mission India looks forward to assisting you on your new appointment date. Arriving on your previously scheduled appointment date will result in your being denied admittance to the Embassy or Consulate,” the Embassy posted on X on Wednesday. In response to a request for further details, the Embassy pointed to enhanced vetting requirements that will go into effect on December 15 for all H-1B applicants and their H-4 visa depends. Immigration attorneys believe the changes may not make it harder for Indian applicants to receive H1B visas. “In my view, it doesn’t necessarily make it much harder to qualify for an H-1B visa if the underlying petition and credentials are strong, but it can make the process slower and more stressful— particularly for first-time stamping and tight onboarding deadlines,” says Nicole Gurnara, principal immigration attorney at Manifest Law. According to Gurnara, the practical impact of the new vetting rules will be limited to timing and predictability. This could mean longer interview wait times and more cases placed into administrative processing after visa interviews. This will then have an effect on dependent family members applying for H-4 visas.
Possible Question
The US decision to expand social-media vetting for H-1B applicants highlights the growing security–privacy trade-off in immigration regimes. Analyse how such measures affect Indian mobility, skilled migration, and India– US economic ties. What diplomatic and policy options does India have to safeguard the interests of its skilled workforce abroad?
3. Karnataka brings Bill to check hate speech, BJP apprehends ‘misuse’
The Karnataka government on Wednesday tabled in the assembly a contentious bill that ministers say will curb hate speech against marginalised communities but opponents say will criminalise thought and political rallies because of its provision of 10 years imprisonment and fines of up to ₹1 lakh. The Karnataka Hate Speech and Hate Crime (Prevention) Bill was cleared by the cabinet on December 4 and was tabled in the assembly by home minister G Parameshwara, fulfilling a key promise of the Congress government amid loud objections from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmakers. According to the bill, any expression, which is made, published or circulated in words either spoken or written or by signs or by visible representations or through electronic communication or otherwise, in public view, with an intention to cause injury, disharmony or feelings of enmity or hatred or ill will against person alive or dead, class or group of persons or community, to meet any prejudicial interest is hate speech. Any biases on the grounds of religion, race, caste or community, sex, gender, sexual orientation, place of birth, residence, language, disability, or tribe have also been categorised as hate speech. The bill also outlines what it describes as hate crimes, identifying them as acts involving the communication, promotion, propagation or attempted incitement of hate speech. The provisions of the Bill will not apply to books, pamphlets, papers, writings, drawings and painting representation or figures, if they are in the interest of science, literature, art, learning or are used for “bona fide” heritage or religious purposes. BJP leaders, however, have accused the government of using the legislation to target figures associated with Hindu organisations, particularly in the coastal districts where communal tensions have been pronounced. They also said that the bill could be used against critics of the government.
Possible Question
Critically evaluate whether state-level legislation such as the Karnataka Hate Speech and Hate Crime (Prevention) Bill strengthens constitutional protections or risks over-criminalisation and political misuse. What safeguards are essential?
4. ‘Your Money, Your Right’: PM says ₹2K cr already returned
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday that nearly ₹2,000 crore was already returned so far to rightful owners under the “Your Money, Your Right” initiative that was launched by the Union government in October 2025 to help citizens reclaim their forgotten financial assets. In a post on LinkedIn, Modi shared the statistics he first announced at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit last Saturday, adding that the initiative was launched to ensure that every citizen can reclaim what is rightfully theirs. “During my speech at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit a few days ago, I shared some startling facts: Indian banks are holding ₹78,000 crore of unclaimed money belonging to our own citizens. Insurance companies have nearly ₹14,000 crore lying unclaimed. Mutual fund companies have around ₹3,000 crore and dividends worth ₹9,000 crore are also unclaimed,” he wrote. “These assets represent the hard-earned savings and investments of countless families. In order to correct this, the – Your Money, Your Right initiative was launched in October 2025,” he added. Modi mentioned dedicated portals to help citizens track and claim their funds, including the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) – UDGAM Portal for unclaimed bank deposits and balances; Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) – Bima Bharosa Portal for unclaimed insurance policy proceeds; Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) – MITRA Portal for unclaimed amounts in mutual funds; and the Ministry of Corporate Affairs – IEPFA Portal for unpaid dividends and unclaimed shares. The PM shared that facilitation camps were organised in 477 districts across both rural and urban regions of the country, with a focus on remote areas to ensure maximum coverage and accessibility.
Possible Question
Large volumes of unclaimed financial assets indicate deeper issues in financial inclusion, digital literacy, and regulatory coordination. Analyse how the “Your Money, Your Right” initiative addresses these gaps. What systemic reforms are required to ensure better consumer protection and prevent accumulation of unclaimed assets across financial institutions?
5. US agency removes climate crisis facts from portal: Reports:
The US federal agency tasked with protecting the environment has deleted facts from its website about how human activity drives climate change, media outlets reported on Tuesday. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) tweaked its pages to focus on the “natural processes” driving climate change — like volcano eruptions and variation in solar activity — in October, the Washington Post reported. A webpage titled “Causes of Climate Change” and another that tracks global warming impacts in the US were also altered, the New York Times reported. And a page describing rising seas and shrinking Arctic ice — both key indicators of a changing climate — was also deleted, the Post reported. President Donald Trump regularly rails against wind power and sustain able energy, calling for more drilling on US lands, and has slashed research and development to track and mitigate the effects of climate change. In a statement to the Washington Post, EPA press secretary Brigit Hirsch distanced the Trump administration from predecessor Joe Biden’s “left wing political agendas”, adding: “As such, this agency no longer takes marching orders from the climate cult.” Fossil fuel interests and extraction industries have lavished Trump with campaign donations and contributions, according to the Brennan Center. Trump’s climate denialism has also gone global, with his refusal to send a US representative to the COP meeting in Brazil, echoing his withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement earlier this year. Earlier this year, the Trump administration removed the national climate assessment from government websites.
Possible Question
The politicisation of climate science in major economies has implications for global climate governance. Assess how the dilution of scientific information by federal agencies affects international climate negotiations, trust in multilateral processes, and the capacity of developing countries such as India to advocate for equity-based climate action.
Editorial Snapshots
A. Riding high on tech FDI
In the span of two days, global tech giants Microsoft and Amazon have pledged an investment of $17.5 billion and $35 billion, respectively, over the next few years in India. One more statistic can put the importance of these numbers into context: India’s gross foreign direct investment (FDI) was $81.04 billion in 2024 25. This is unambiguously good news for the Indian economy. These companies are part of an elite club that is leading the Artificial Intelligence (AI) charge in the world. The debate on whether or not an AI boom, when it finally subsides, will hurt markets and investors in equity and debt markets, notwithstanding, there is no doubt that AI will play a critical role in shaping production, technology and employment in the not-so-distant future. This also means that economies that do not build their AI prowess will pay the price as far as future growth is concerned. Also, as advanced economies, the US included, succumb to a growing sentiment against migrant workers, India has a unique opportunity to exploit its large diaspora which has been working in such companies and also create a learning ecosystem for its younger workforce back home. This window, if utilised properly, can create the next wave of private sector jobs that promises both upward mobility and growth. However, none of these larger advantages can be taken for granted. Governments — at the Centre and in the states — should work actively to put coherent policies and facilities for this kind of an ecosystem to flourish in the country. This will take a multi-pronged approach that focuses on improving the ease of doing business, ensures predictability in tax and data-related laws without sacrificing larger national interest, increases the integration between industry and education so that the younger workforce when it gets into the labour market can hit the ground running, and most importantly, work on a war-footing to improve the liveability of our cities.
Possible Question
Critically analyse the opportunities and risks this presents for India’s digital sovereignty, labour markets, and industrial strategy. What reforms in urban governance, skills development, and regulatory stability are essential to sustain this momentum?
B. Need data to map toxic air against health harm
Data has always been the backbone of effective policy interventions. The government telling Parliament that “no conclusive national data” that “establishes a direct correlation between deaths or diseases occurring exclusively due to air pollution” exists is, therefore, telling of the deficiencies that afflict the health system’s response to the harm caused by toxic air. To be sure, the government does recognise air pollution as a trigger for respiratory ailments and associated diseases and has mounted several initiatives — as have many state and local governments — to lower the pollution burden on health. But it is also true that chronic air pollution in some of India’s largest cities has become the lived reality of tens of millions of people. There is a raft of scientific literature and ongoing assessments that covers the population level health impacts of toxic air in some cities, including the national Capital, where air pollution has sparked public agitation and become a major civic concern. The University of Chicago’s Energy Policy Institute (EPIC)’s Air Quality Life Index, which indicates shortened lifespan for Delhi residents because of exposure to deadly pollutants, is one such. This shows that collecting data and analysing it to establish a direct correlation between air pollution and instances of disease or death is a feasible exercise, and there are pathways based on science to make these connections. The government now needs to bridge this gap in its own data at the earliest and map associated morbidity/mortality and other health metrics to air pollution to fine-tune its remedial strategies. This will help design the appropriate health response and also sieve the real picture from narratives that seek to underplay the effects of pollution in the country. Recognising the data gap should become the first step towards correcting it.
Possible Question
Effective air-quality governance depends on robust epidemiological data. Evaluate the institutional, technological, and federal challenges that hinder India from generating reliable morbidity-mortality datasets linked to air pollution. How can India build a scientific, transparent, and accountable health-environment data architecture?
Fact of the day
Odisha MLAs join top-paid legislators after 211% hike: The Odisha assembly on Tuesday passed legislation raising MLA salaries and allowances by approximately 211% — a quantum leap that vaults the state’s legislators to the highest-paid ranks nationally , even as the state lags several others in terms of minimum wages for workers. Odisha’s decision seems to have united political adversaries but divided public opinion. Four separate bills, passed without a single dissenting voice, increased monthly emoluments of MLAs from ₹1.11 lakh to ₹3.45 lakh; that of CMs from ₹98,000 to ₹3.74 lakh; of ministers from ₹97,000 to ₹3.58 lakh; and that of Speakers from ₹97,500 to ₹3.68 lakh effective, retrospectively from June 2024. The salary of Odisha MLAs were last hiked in 2017. The raise positions Odisha ahead of traditionally high-paying states such as Telangana, where MLAs earn around ₹2.50 lakh monthly, while those in Maharashtra receive approximately ₹2.52 lakh. In Uttar Pradesh, the MLAs get paid ₹1.87 lakh following a modest 30-40% increase earlier this year. Karnataka’s recent 100% increase took MLA salaries to ₹1.60 lakh, while salaries of Delhi and Kerala legislators remain at ₹90,000 and ₹70,000 respectively—a disparity that reflects varying budget capacities and policy choices across states. In contrast, minimum wages for unskilled workers in Odisha are around ₹12,012 a month, compared to ₹18,460 in Delhi. One of the Odisha bills also proposed a ₹25 lakh assistance to the family of any sitting MLA in the event of death, along with provisions to increase pay, allowances and pension every five years and permitting such hikes through an ordinance. Odisha’s per capita income at ₹182,548 a year lags the national average at ₹205,324.
