Daily News Capsules
1. 150 IndiGo flights cancelled as roster norms rock airline
IndiGo cancelled at least 150 flights on Wednesday, triggering chaotic scenes at major airports across India, as the carrier’s struggles to adapt to stringent new crew rostering rules meant even minor operational disruptions snowballed into a full-blown crisis that stranded thousands of passengers. The airline apologised for the crippling disruption and warned travellers to brace for further cancellations through Friday, saying it had initiated “calibrated adjustments” to stabilise operations over the next 48 hours. An airline spokesperson attributed the debacle to a confluence of factors including technology glitches, adverse weather, increased congestion and the implementation of updated Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) that came into force in November. The immediate trigger, however, was an emergency Airbus A320 software patch rushed through over the weekend of November 29-30 that disrupted crew scheduling just as the airline was operating with minimal slack due to the FDTL rules. Data from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) shows the airline had already been under strain, having cancelled 1,232 flights in November—755 of them attributed to FDTL issues—with on-time performance dropping to 67.70% from 84.1% in October.
Possible Question
Examine the challenges in balancing crew safety norms with airline operational viability. Should DGCA adopt a more phased and consultative approach to implementing safety regulations?
2. Calcutta HC overturns own order, restores 32k WB teacher jobs
A two-judge bench of the Calcutta high court on Wednesday set aside a 2023 order by a single-judge bench scrapping the appointment of around 32,000 primary school teachers over allegations of corruption in the state’s recruitment process, marking a significant decision on an emotive issue just months before crucial assembly polls. The bench, comprising justices Tapabrata Chakraborty and Reetabrata Kumar Mitra, said it is not inclined to uphold the single bench order as irregularities were not proven in all the recruitments, and that termination of services cannot be based only on an ongoing criminal proceeding. “A court is not expected to indulge in roving inquiry, to rule out all explanations. There is a difference between a proven case of mass cheating and unproven charges of corruption. When services are terminated on grounds of aiding corruption, the court must satisfy itself of its stand,” said the bench. “There is no allegation that students who paid money got more marks. A group of unsuccessful candidates should not be allowed to affect the entire system when it cannot be ruled out that untainted teachers may suffer great ignominy and stigma. Service cannot also be terminated on the basis of an ongoing criminal proceeding.” This is one of at least 40 cases involving recruitment of state government teachers and non-teaching school staff in West Bengal embroiled in corruption. One of the major cases involves around 26,000 secondary and higher secondary teachers and non-teaching staff, whose appointments were cancelled by the Supreme Court in April. The second involves the primary school teachers, whose recruitment was cancelled in 2023 by then judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay, now a BJP MP. Both cases are connected to the tainted 2016 recruitment panel, which is facing allegations of recruiting people who failed the tests but paid ₹5-15 lakh bribe.
Possible Question
The Calcutta High Court’s reversal of its earlier order scrapping 32,000 primary teacher appointments raises concerns about judicial consistency, due process, and large-scale recruitment integrity. Analyse.
3. Pregnant deportee to be brought back from Bangladesh after SC nudge
The Union government on Wednesday agreed to bring back a pregnant woman deported to Bangladesh earlier this year along with her eight-year-old son, after a strong nudge from the Supreme Court, which said the matter demanded humanity over technicalities. Recording the Centre’s undertaking, the court directed that she be provided immediate medical assistance and permitted to reside near her family in West Bengal. “These are cases where law has to bend to humanity. Some of these cases require a different outlook,” observed a bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi, as it took on record a statement from Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that Sunali Khatun and her son Sabir could be brought back to India “on humanitarian grounds” and kept under appropriate surveillance. Mehta submitted that as the deportation was carried out through official channels, a judicial order recording the government’s position was necessary to enable diplomatic procedures. The bench accordingly incorporated the assurance into its written order to facilitate immediate coordination between agencies on both sides of the border. The bench, in its order recorded that Sunali, who is in an advanced stage of pregnancy, must receive urgent medical supervision. The bench also asked the Centre to verify whether action had been taken against Sunali’s father, an Indian citizen. “If her father is an Indian citizen, she also becomes an Indian citizen, and her son is also one. There has to be some inquiry following the principles of natural justice,” the bench told the SG.
Possible Question
Critically analyse the scope and limits of judicial humanitarian intervention in matters of immigration, deportation, and national security.
4. Ministry scraps order to pre-install Sanchar app
The communications ministry on Wednesday said it has dropped its directive requiring mobile phone manufacturers to pre-install the Sanchar Saathi app on every handset, citing a large spike in downloads after the initial order on November 28. “Given Sanchar Saathi’s increasing acceptance, government has decided not to make the pre-installation mandatory for mobile manufacturers,” the ministry said in a press release. The move came hours after communications minister Jyotiraditya Scindia told the Lok Sabha on Wednesday that the government was open to amending the directive if people flagged genuine issues. The original directive, issued on November 28, required all phone makers to pre-install Sanchar Saathi on every new device sold in India. While the language suggested users could not remove or disable it, the government – as reported by HT – held from the outset that users could remove the application. But concerns, especially those raised by some advocacy groups and opposition political parties, persisted that the app could become a “snooping” tool. Scindia told the Lok Sabha that Sanchar Saathi does not access personal data and cannot be used for surveillance, insisting the directive was meant only to simplify access to fraud-prevention tools.
Possible Question
Evaluate the constitutional, privacy, and administrative issues involved in mandating government apps on personal devices. Should India create clearer statutory safeguards for digital governance directives?
5. Centre, Delhi take slew of steps to cut pollution
The Centre and the Delhi government shored up their action against the persistent pollution crisis in the region on Wednesday, announcing a state-level monitoring panel and ordering over 2,000 industrial units to install real-time emission trackers and control systems by the end of the year. At the central level, the Union environment ministry ordered 2,254 units – labelled as those with “high air pollution potential”, or “red” category industrial units – to bake in calibrated Online Continuous Emission Monitoring Systems (OCEMS) and Air Pollution Control Devices (APCD) by the end of the year. Units that don’t comply may be shut, said officials aware of the matter. At the state government level, Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta announced the formation of a high powered expert committee that will continuously monitor, review and recommend measures to manage pollution in the Capital. “The committee will include senior officials from the concerned government departments, as well as experts from IIT and specialists in environmental science. The committee will also be granted special powers by the government,” Gupta said. The Centre’s decisions were taken at a review meeting chaired by Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav, as Delhi breathed another day of “very poor” air. NCR houses 2,254 units labelled as those that have “high air pollution potential”. All of these were ordered to install calibrated Online Continuous Emission Monitoring Systems (OCEMS) and Air Pollution Control Devices (APCD) by the end of the year. Representatives of NCR state governments, civic bodies, police, ministries of road transport and housing, as well as from CAQM were represented at the Centre’s meeting.
Possible Question
Despite multiple committees, monitoring mechanisms, and regulatory directives, Delhi-NCR continues to experience hazardous winter air. Analyse why pollution control efforts remain ineffective despite institutional proliferation. How can Centre–State coordination be strengthened to address structural causes of urban air pollution?
Editorial Snapshots
A. China’s battles to boost population
China’s demographic desperation underlines its decision to tax birth control products. Its new VAT regime withdraws the exemption granted three decades ago to contraceptives and removes the tax on childcare and marriage services. Over the past few years, the Chinese State has been scrambling to undo the disastrous effects of its one-child policy, adopted in 1979 and junked in 2015 (capping the number of children per couple was entirely done away with only in 2021). Thanks to a raft of coercive measures such as fines, registration limits, etc, the country’s birth rate spiralled downwards quickly, reaching 6.77 births per 1,000 population in 2024 from 17.8 in 1979. The total fertility rate, at one child per woman, is now less than half of the replacement rate (2.1). The signs for the country’s demographic future are, predictably, ominous — not enough working hands and a swelling number of elderly dependents. But can costlier contraception and cheaper support services push procreation and avoid the oncoming demographic crisis? Three things are important to note here. First, State intervention has yet to demonstrate success in reversing demographic decline — South Korea, Japan, and a few European countries have rolled out incentives for having children, but fertility and crude birth rates have stayed stubbornly low. Two, condoms — one of the most easily available contraceptives — play a key role in controlling the spread of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). So, making these costlier could have an unintended health care fallout. Three, it is odd that people unable to afford birth control are expected to be able to afford having children and bringing them up, even with cheaper care services and State support. Many factors — including personal economic, familial and social contexts, apprehensions about the future, and individual emotional capacities — influence the decision to have children. Whether China manages to reverse its demographic course or not, its desperation should be instructive for those who buy the Malthusian logic of population control.
Possible Question
China’s reversal of decades-long population control policies—through taxing contraceptives and subsidising childcare—illustrates the long-term consequences of aggressive state intervention. Discuss the lessons such demographic policy failures hold for India, especially in balancing reproductive freedoms with population planning.
B. Biological weapons pact needs overhaul
External affairs minister S Jaishankar’s call for the modernisation of the 1975 Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) is timely. One of the first treaties to ban an entire class of weapons, it mandates signatories to “never in any circumstances… develop, produce, stockpile or otherwise acquire or retain microbial or other biological agents, or toxins”. BWC had some initial success with the US and the erstwhile Soviet Union rolling back their biological weapons programmes, but much has changed since due to advances in biology and technology, which renders the existing pact more of a moral instrument than an effective treaty against the use of biological weapons. A major flaw of BWC is it does not mandate a verification system, unlike the chemical weapons pact. Innovations in biotechnology have transformed the landscape and gone beyond the traditional warfare pathogens, such as anthrax and smallpox. Dangerous non-State actors have emerged to unleash biological weapons. Jaishankar made the case for a “national implementation framework that, inter alia, covers identification of high-risk agents, oversight of dual-use research, domestic reporting, incident management, and continuous training”. A new architecture and enhanced mandate for verification and penalisation are needed so that the pact can act as an effective watchdog.
Possible Question
The editorial argues that the Biological Weapons Convention has become outdated in the face of new biotechnology capabilities. Assess the key gaps in the BWC and suggest how India can upgrade its domestic frameworks to manage dual-use research, verification, and biosecurity risks.
Fact of the day
Process underway to finalise Census 2027 questionnaire, says MHA: The ministry of home affairs (MHA) informed Parliament on Tuesday that the Office of Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India (ORGI) is in the process of finalising the questionnaire for Census 2027. Responding to a question by member of parliament Shatrughan Sinha, Union minister of state for home, Nityanand Rai, said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha : “As per Rule 6 of Census Rules, 1990, the census questionnaires or schedules are notified by the central government through official gazette under sub-section (1) of section 8 of the act. The office of the registrar general and census commissioner is in the process of finalizing the questionnaire”. The timeline for the Census 2027, Rai said, has been kept the same “like the past practices followed in previous censuses”. The minister also said in his reply that caste enumeration will be done in the Census 2027, as decided by the cabinet committee on political affairs on April 30. On Sinha’s query whether disclosing caste for the census would be optional, Rai replied that “the respondent is required to answer questions to the best of his knowledge or belief”. In a separate reply to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s query on the Census, Rai said the exercise will be conducted in two phases, the first between April and September 2026 and the second in February 2027. The pre-test for the first phase of Census 2027 has already been conducted from November 10 to November 30.
