Aviation regulator asks IndiGo CEO to appear before it again kozhikode l friday l december 12, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION Elbers was summoned by the DGCA on Thursday to submit a comprehensive report, including data and an update on the recent operational disruptions. Following the meeting, the regulator called him to another meeting on Friday. 60 flights from Bengaluru cancelled Disruptions continued, with the crisis-hit airline cancelling 60 flights from Bengaluru airport DGCA officials began monitoring IndiGo’s ops and refunds from the airline’s headquarters on Thursday Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has asked IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers to appear before it again on Friday amid ongoing flight disruptions CHENNAI MADURAI VIJAYAWADA BENGALURU KOCHI HYDERABAD VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ Messi mania: Meet and greet with star for `10L 76.08% On Thursday, voting was held in 18,274 Except a few polling incidents of skirmishes at polling Wayanad district stations in Thrissur, stations, allegations witnessed the of bogus voting and highest turnout, Palakkad, Kozhikode, EVM malfunctioning, with both Malappuram, the second phase of phases of Wayanad, elections passed off polling taken together. Kannur and peacefully. Kasaragod Counting on December 13 districts. 70.91% recorded in first phase 78.30% Express News Service @ Hyderabad WANT to meet and greet one Lionel Messi? Well, there is a way. Pay up `10 lakh for a 15-minute meet and greet session with the football legend. Even if he may not be playing football or dribble past defenders during his trip to India, the name is enough to evoke an unimaginable romance. The craze to get a glimpse of the World Cup-winning captain has touched giddying heights during the GOAT tour. Take for instance the 38,000 capacity Uppal Stadium in Hyderabad. It is sold out. The ticket price ranges from `2,250 to `9,000 (hospitality included). The session is set to be held at the Faluknama Palace before the bandwagon moves to the Stadium for an evening programme, including a 20-minute match between Messi and Telangana CM Revanth Reddy. Messi’s journey will start in Kolkata on Friday and will have a stop-over in Hyderabad before flying to Mumbai and New Delhi on Dec 15. “If someone wants to meet Elon Musk for 15 minutes and is asked to pay `1 crore, and they see it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, they may be willing to spend that amount. This event is curated in the same way. But if someone simply wants to see Messi on the ground and watch him play, they can go to the stadium,” said Jayesh Ranjan, Special Chief Secretary , Tourism, Culture and Sports, Government of Telangana. The football event at Uppal Stadium is on Saturday . voter turnout in second phase of local body elections 85-year-old twin sisters, Manga and Lakshmi, show their inked fingers after voting at Kavalappara AUP School in Shoranur | Praveesh ShorAnur VC appointments SC passes the ball to Dhulia committee S U CHITRA K A LYAN M OHANTY @ New Delhi With the Kerala government and the governor failing to reach a consensus on finalising the names for the appointment of vice-chancellors at the two technical universities, the Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Justice (Retd) Sudhanshu Dhulia committee to recommend the names in order of preference for each of the universities. The Dhulia committee, which was appointed by the apex court to recommend a panel of names to be considered for the appointment of V-Cs at the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University and the University of Digital Sciences, Innovation and Technology, had earlier submitted the shortlisted names in alphabetic order. However, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Governor Rajendra Arlekar failed to unanimously zero in on one name each for the two universities. The SC Bench, comprising Justice J B Pardiwala and Justice K V Viswanathan, asked the Dhulia committee to submit the names in order of preference in a sealed cover by next Wednesday and fixed the mat, ter for further hearing on December 18. On Thursday, Attorney General R Venkataramani, appearing for the governor, and senior counsel Jaideep Gupta, appearing for the state, apprised the bench that despite their best efforts, the deadlock continues till date. The entire exercise has been very well undertaken by the Dhulia committee, the bench ● More on P5 noted. 6 states get SIR extension, WB left out PR E E THA NAIR @ New Delhi The Election Commission on Thursday revised the timeline for the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in six states, including pollbound Tamil Nadu, following requests from the chief electoral officers. However, poll-bound West Bengal was not granted any extension as the SIR exercise concluded on Thursday The West Ben. gal government has been at the forefront of protests demanding a longer extension of SIR citing BLO distress and rushed timeline. The timeline has been revised for issued the revised schedule for SIR in Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Uttar Pradesh. The schedule for pollbound Kerala was revised earlier. ‘Warm’ Modi, Trump call amid trade deal push J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi Amid hopes for an early framework trade deal and intense discussions over US agriculture and dairy products seeking access to Indian markets, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a telephonic conversation with US President Donald Trump on Thursday, a call described as “warm and engaging”. Modi said that two leaders reviewed progress in the bilateral relationship. “Had a very warm and engaging conversation with President Trump. We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity,” Modi posted on X after the discussion. People familiar with the call said the two leaders exchanged views on expanding cooperation across trade, critical technologies, energy, defence and security, and agreed to work closely to address shared strategic and economic challenges. They also reiterated satisfaction at the momentum in the India–US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership and underlined the need to sustain progress. The conversation $1 mn ‘Trump Gold Card’ rolled out President Donald Trump on Wednesday launched the $1 mn ‘Trump Gold Card’, a visa programme offering pathway to US citizenship. He said if, say, IBM wants to hire an individual at the top of his or her class at Wharton but can’t guarantee the person stays in the country, the company can buy the Gold Card and “that employee can be there for a very long period of time.” | P9 Had a very warm and engaging conversation with President Trump comes as Washington signals cautious optimism on market access talks. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee this week that New Delhi had offered the “best (trade) offer ever” in ongoing negotiations, even as he acknowledged resistance in India to openi n g i t s m a rke t t o US row crops and meat products. “They have been very difficult nuts to crack… but they have been quite forward leaning,” Greer said, calling India a “viable alternative market” for American exporters. The new US Deputy Trade Representative Rick Switzer’s visit to New Delhi is seen as critical, with both sides pushing to make crucial progress in trade talks amid American tariffs, including a 50% duty on certain Indian goods linked to purchases of Russian crude. Purposeful and positive engagement India and the US on Thursday concluded two days of talks with both sides exchanging views on trade-related issues. Both sides agreed to continue the purposeful and positive engagement. A delegation led by Deputy US Trade Representative Rick Switzer was in Delhi for the talks Sign on the FTA dotted line: Goyal The US should sign the free trade agreement (FTA) with India on the “dotted lines” if it is happy with what has been offered by India, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday.