chennai l friday l december 12, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 42 l late city EDITION Aviation regulator asks IndiGo CEO to appear before it again Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has asked IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers to appear before it again on Friday amid ongoing flight disruptions 60 flights from Bengaluru cancelled `10,000 vouchers for affected travellers 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 for another meeting on Friday. Meanwhile, disruptions continued, with the crisis-hit airline cancelling 60 flights from Bengaluru airport ■ ■ DGCA officials began monitoring IndiGo’s operations, refunds, and other processes from the airline’s headquarters on Thursday IndiGo announced that it will offer travel vouchers worth `10,000 to each passenger whose flights were cancelled or significantly delayed between December 3 and 5. This will be in addition to the refunds 4-member Dgca team stationed at IndiGo’s Gurgaon headquarters 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 Pay `10 L to meet and greet Messi 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 unima ginable romance. The craze to get a glimpse of t h e Wo rl d Lionel Messi Cup-winning captain has touched giddying heights during the GOAT tour. Take for instance the 38,000 capacity Uppal Stadium. It’s sold out. Ticket price ranges from `2,250 to `9,000 (hospitality included). The session is to be held at Falaknuma Palace before the bandwagon moves to the Stadium for a 20-minute match between Messi and Telangana CM Revanth Reddy . W ITH THIS ISSUE CHENNAI’S BEST WEEKEND GUIDE 42 PAGES, INCLUDING 24 OF INDULGE (TABLOID) PM, Trump call 6 states get SIR extension, WB left out amid deal push Ground machinery is in overdrive, says EC PREETH A N A IR @ New Delhi Modi calls it warm, engaging conversation J aya n t h J ac 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 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”. Had a very warm and engaging conversation with President Trump Gold card Trump launched the $1 mn ‘Gold Card’, a visa scheme offering pathway to US citizenship. He said if, say, IBM wants to hire someone at the top of his class at Wharton but can’t guarantee he stays in the US, IBM can buy the Gold Card for him to live there for a long period of time | P15 THE Election Commission on Thursday revised the timeline for the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in six states, including poll-bound 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 enumeration period for Tamil Nadu and Gujarat has been extended till December EC said its ground machinery is in overdrive to re-verify ASD (absent, shifted, dead/duplicate) electors with whom contact could not be established by BLOs despite 3 mandatory attempts 14, and the draft electoral rolls will be published on December 19. The enumeration period for these six states was to end on Thursday, and the draft electoral rolls were to be published on December 16. The schedule for poll-bound Kerala was revised earlier. The enumeration period for the state will end on December 18, and the draft electoral roll will be published icc tv deal: High valuation puts off broadcasters S w a r o o p S w a m i n at h a n @ Chennai THE International Cricket Council (ICC) and one of its broadcast partners, JioStar, continue to battle headwinds as the partners try to renegotiate the inflated $3bn deal for the right to show the sport’s biggest events over a four-year cycle. The deal still has two years to run but JioStar, who were left with the rights following the merger with Star Sports last year, reportedly want out of the deal. The ICC, whose funding remains the lifeblood for over 97% of its members, sounded out other broadcast houses about the possibility of picking up the remainder of the deal but they have shown no interest so far. “At those prices, it will make no business sense for the likes of Sony (Netflix and Amazon were among the others who were approached) to even show any interest,” one industry insider said. There was a feeling that Star had grossly overpaid as soon as they had won the right. There were some discussions around recalibrating the deal a year or but it didn’t go anywhere. What has complicated the situation is the policy change on real money gaming (RMG). With a blanket ban on RMG, the broadcaster has not been able to get as much in terms of advertising revenue. As it stands, industry insiders do not expect any of Sony Net, flix and Amazon to pick the rights and definitely not at the prices current price. on December 23. For Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the new deadline is December 18, and draft rolls will be published on December 23. SIR in Uttar Pradesh has been extended till December 26, and draft rolls will be published on December 31. The enumeration period for Goa, Puducherry, Lakshadweep, Rajasthan and West Bengal will end on Thursday, and draft rolls will be published on December 16. express read Ex-judge who ordered DSP’s arrest suspended Chennai: Madras HC suspended former Kancheepuram District Judge Pa U Chemmal for allegedly abusing his power by ordering the remand of a DSP and the arrest of his ex-personal security officer in an SC/ST Act case | P5 ‘Fake’ lawyer murders advocate wife, brother Theni: A man who claimed to be a lawyer allegedly killed his advocate wife and her brother in a domestic dispute triggered by his fraudulent educational credentials on Thursday | P5