Daily Briefing: DGCA asks IndiGo to clear the air
6 min readMumbaiDec 11, 2025 10:02 AM IST
First published on: Dec 11, 2025 at 10:02 AM IST
Good morning,
The top 10 per cent of the world’s population owns three-fourths of all wealth, while the bottom 50 per cent holds just 2 per cent. Zoom in further and you find that the top 1 per cent alone (about the size of the UK’s adult population) controls 37 per cent of global wealth. This is 18 times the wealth of the entire bottom half — a group that is as large as the combined adult populations of China, India, the US, Indonesia, Nigeria, Brazil, and Russia. These are the findings of the latest World Inequality Report 2026. India continues to have one of the highest wealth inequalities in the world, with the top 1 per cent holding about 40 per cent of total wealth.
On that note, let’s get to the rest of the edition👇
🚨 Big Story
IndiGo’s CEO, Pieter Elbers, has been asked to appear before the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) today to present comprehensive data on the recent widespread flight disruptions and the measures put in place to mitigate the crisis.
The DGCA has also set up an oversight team to monitor the carrier’s network and crew operations. Two of the members will sit at the IndiGo headquarters in Gurgaon daily and provide reports to the aviation regulator. Other members will monitor cancellations, refunds and compensations for affected passengers.
The Delhi High Court too directed the airline to compensate passengers and flagged the issue of surge pricing, asking how other airlines could take advantage of the situation. The court also pulled up the Central government, questioning its failure to act before the crisis unfolded: “Are you helpless… what did you do?” To recap, IndiGo failed to implement the new Flight Duty and Time Limitations (FDTL), which define crew rest and duty hours, by November 1. The norms would have required airlines to have more pilots or curtail their schedule. IndiGo has admitted to “misjudgement and planning gaps” in implementing these rules.
The chairman of the airline’s board, Vikram Singh Mehta, facing intense scrutiny, has rejected allegations that the crisis was engineered to influence the government over the FDTL rules. Notably, the DGCA allowed IndiGo a one-time exemption to get its operations back on track.
Also read: Your rights when a flight is cancelled, what consumer courts have ruled
⚡Only in Express
In January this year, an Indian Coast Guard-operated Dhruv chopper crashed in Porbandar, killing three personnel on board. The indigenously designed Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) has been the Indian Armed Forces’ workhorse for the last 25 years. So, what went wrong? Well, a key component was found cracked during investigations. But the Dhruvs, which were grounded after the mishap, will fly again. The Indian Express has learnt that the component will soon receive a manufacturing modification.
📰 From the Front Page
Trade talks: As India and the US resumed negotiations in New Delhi yesterday, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told a US Senate committee that they had received the “best ever” offer from Delhi. However, he added that India has been a “difficult nut to crack” given the government’s hard line on importing American agricultural products.
Dissent note: A three-member panel, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and comprising Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, met Wednesday to choose the next Chief Information Commissioner. Gandhi is learnt to have recorded his dissent, arguing that the shortlisted candidates did not include people from backward or minority communities. He has previously pointed out that such committees, including those that choose the Election Commissioner, tend to be dominated by the PM and HM.
To America: The US will vet social media accounts of all H1B visa applicants and their dependents, beginning December 15. It had issued a similar order for student visas in June. The move comes amid growing hurdles for new H1B visas, including an increased fee and delayed visa appointments. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump’s ‘gold card’ visa programme went live yesterday, offering legal status and a path to US citizenship for individuals paying $1 million.
📌 Must Read
Ousted: In the past year, the Governor has removed or suspended Vice-Chancellors of four universities in Rajasthan, while a fifth has resigned under pressure. What’s common among them? Complaints of irregularities, including those from the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), a student wing of the RSS. In two of the cases, the V-Cs were asked to leave shortly before their term was about to end. The ousted V-Cs have called it a form of “conspiracy” and “hooliganism” and have refuted the allegations levelled against them. Hamza Khan reports.
A different Vande Mataram: Amid the heated Parliamentary debates over ‘Vande Mataram’, the national song composed by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, the story of another ‘Vande Mataram’, or ‘Bande Mataram’ as it is pronounced in Bengali, was missing. The song was written and composed by Rabindranath Tagore, and used as a slogan of unity when Lord Curzon announced Bengal’s partition in 1905. “Far from the religious invocation of Chattopadhyay’s ‘Vande Mataram’, Tagore’s song was a message of togetherness,” writes Abhik Bhattacharya.
⏳ And Finally…
India doesn’t have a law regulating children’s social media usage, though it does require platforms to obtain parental consent to process personal data of those below the age of 18. Can Australia’s new law, banning users below the age of 16 from using platforms like Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat in Australia, set a template to regulate online safety? We explain.
🎧 Before you go, tune in to today’s ‘3 Things’ podcast episode. Today’s lineup: The Rupee’s fall, teen mental health crisis and the row over Shashi Tharoor refusing Veer Savarkar award.
That’s all for today, folks! Until tomorrow,
Sonal Gupta
