Bharti, Warburg buy 49% stake in Haier Bharti Enterprises and Warburg Pincus said in a statement on Wednesday that they are making a strategic investment in Haier India. The management control will continue to remain with Chinabased Haier Group, which will retain 49% stake in Haier India after the deal, down from 100%. The announcement puts a curtain on a hotly contested race in which JSW group and Reliance Industries were participating | P10 visakhapatnam l thursday l december 25, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION 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 Two new airlines get wings from govt S L a lit h a @ New Delhi Isro AIR travellers are set to have more options as three new domestic airlines prepare to launch operations. Two carriers—Al Hind Air and FlyExpress—received their No Objection Certificates from the civil aviation ministry this week, while Uttar Pradesh-based Shankh Air, which already has an NOC, is likely to begin flights in 2026. The development gains significance following IndiGo’s operational meltdown in early December, which drew sharp criticism over the appar- ent duopoly in India’s domestic aviation market. The aviation ministry is keen to have more airline operators in the country, which is one of the world’s fastest growing domestic civil aviation markets. “Over the last one week, pleased to have met teams from new airlines aspiring to take wings in Indian skiesShankh Air, Al Hind launches heaviest satellite No fresh leases allowed B o s k y K h a n n a @ Bengaluru The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Wednesday launched the 6.10-tonne BlueBird Block-2 communications satellite, the heaviest it has launched to date. Isro’s Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (LVM3)-M6 rocket, nicknamed ‘Bahubali’, lifted off with the satellite belonging to US-based AST SpaceMobile (AST and Science, LLC) and released it accurately into the 518.50 km altitude circular Low Earth Orbit. The launch took place at 8.55 am and the satellite was released into its orbit at 9.11 am in what ISRO scientists described as a case of “textbook launch”. Till now, the heaviest satellite that ISRO had launched was the 4.40-tonne Communication Satellite 03 on November 2. The launch was the result of a deal between ISRO’s business arm NSIL and US-based AST SpaceMobile. Over the last one week, pleased to have met teams from new airlines aspiring to take wings in Indian skies — Shankh Air, Al Hind Air and FlyExpress —Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu on X for mining in the Aravallis J ite n d r a C h o u be y @ New Delhi THE Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has directed states to completely ban new mining leases in the Aravalli Range, stretching from Delhi to Gujarat, to save them from unbridled mining activities. The move follows reports that the Central Empowered Committee — established by the Supreme Court in 2002 and reconstituted in December Air and F lyExpress. While Shankh Air has already got the NOC from the Ministry Al Hind , Air and FlyExpress have received their NOCs this week,” Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said on X. The ministry wants to encourage more airlines in Indian aviation sector, which is amongst the fastest growing international aviation markets. 2023 — had contradicted a government-headed committee’s recommendations on definition of the Aravallis. The controversy centers around the SC accepting an Environment Ministry committee’s proposal that landforms over 100 metres constitute “Aravalli hills”. Critics argue this new definition increases its vulnerability to mining. It is also believed the Forest Survey of India and SC’s amicus curiae had opposed this definition. Express read YSRCP blamed for poor response to PPP mode Vijayawada: The State government, which is keen on taking forward the development of new medical colleges under the PPP mode, has attributed the poor response to the bids invited by it to the open threat issued by former CM and YSRCP chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy | P4 To challenge Sengar’s bail Al Hind Air is being promoted by Kerala-based alhind Group, which was founded in the 1990s. Schemes like UDAN have enabled smaller carriers Star Air, India One Air and Fly91 to play an important role in the regional connectivity within the country and there is scope for further growth, he added. Currently there are nine oper, ational domestic carriers in the country: Air India, Air India Express, IndiGo, Alliance Air, Akasa Air, SpiceJet, Star Air, Fly91 and IndiaOne Air, as per data from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. Meets Rahul Gandhi, gets promise of top lawyer to fight her case Unnao survivor to move apex court P R E E T HA NA I R @ New Delhi A day after the Delhi High Court suspended the life sentence awarded by a trial court to former BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar in the 2017 Unnao rape case, the survivor on Wednesday said she would move the Supreme Court. On Wednesday, she and her mother staged a protest near Mandi House against the HC verdict. Earlier in the day, the duo met Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi after alleging ill-treatment by Delhi Police. On Tuesday night, the survivor and her mother were reportedly forcefully removed by police from a protest site near India Gate. File photo of Kuldeep Singh Sengar being taken away from the CBI court in Lucknow on April 14, 2018 | pti Speaking to the media, she said no one from the government came forward to help her while Rahul Gandhi promised to get a top lawyer to fight the case in the Supreme Court. The survivor said the HC’s decision to suspend Sengar’s jail term is kaal (death) for her family “If the convict gets bail . in a case like this, how will the country’s daughters remain safe? For us, this decision is no less than kaal,” she said. In its order on Tuesday, the HC granted bail to Sengar with conditions. It directed him not to come within a 5-km radius of the survivor’s residence. Sengar, who is currently in jail, will not be immediately released as he is also serving a 10-year term in the custodial death case of the survivor’s father. He is yet to get bail in that case. The survivor was a minor when she was kidnapped and raped by Sengar in 2017. Deploring the alleged ill treatment meted out to the survivor during her protest in Delhi, Rahul Gandhi said she is being punished for seeking justice. “Is such treatment of a gang-rape survivor appropriate? The fact that her perpetrator has been granted bail is extremely disappointing and shameful—especially when the survivor is being repeatedly harassed and is living under the shadow of fear,” he said in a social media post. “Bail for rapists and treating survivors like criminals—what kind of justice is this?” he asked.