THE HEADLINES::
- Lok Sabha to resume debate on Election Reforms; Home Minister Amit Shah to reply on the discussion today.
- Rajya Sabha to discuss 150th Anniversary of the Song Vande Mataram.
- DGCA orders 10 percent cut in IndiGo’s Winter Schedule flight operations.
- Microsoft announces 17.5 billion US dollar investment in India, largest in Asia to boost country’s AI infrastructure.
- Australia becomes the first country to ban Social Media for teenagers under the age of 16.
- IMD forecasts cold wave conditions over Punjab, West Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, North Interior Karnataka, and Telangana for the next two days.
- In Cricket, India beat South Africa by 101 runs in first T20 International of five-match series in Cuttack.
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Lok Sabha will today resume discussion on election reforms. Home Minister Amit Shah is scheduled to reply to the discussion. Intervening in the discussion yesterday, Law and Justice Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said, Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Electoral rolls were conducted several times during the Congress regime, but now the opposition is raising questions over the exercise. He lauded the country’s voting structure saying that everyone got equal voting rights since Independence. Mr Meghwal said elections are not merely a political exercise, but a festival of democracy celebrated by crores of people who participate in it.
Speaking on the election reforms, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi raised the issue of duplicate voters in the electoral rolls. He questioned the Election Commission on the SIR in Bihar, alleging that one lakh 20 thousand duplicate photos exist in the voting list.
In Rajya Sabha, the house will resume further discussion on the 150th Anniversary of Song Vande Mataram. Yesterday, initiating the discussion Mr Shah stressed that the song will remain relevant in nation’s journey towards Viksit Bharat. The Home Minister criticised Congress for questioning the need for a debate on Vande Mataram and linking it to upcoming West Bengal elections.
Participating in the discussion, Leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge said Congress made Vande Mataram, the slogan during the freedom struggle. He said, when Mahatma Gandhi started the non-cooperation movement, lakhs of freedom fighters from the Congress went to jail chanting Vande Mataram.
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The Directorate General of Civil Aviation, DGCA has directed IndiGo to reduce its Winter Schedule 2025 operations by 10 per cent across sectors, citing significant flight disruptions and the airline’s inability to efficiently operate the approved schedule. The airline watchdog said in a notice that IndiGo was approved for 64 thousand 346 flights in November this year but it operated 59 thousand 438 flights and recorded 951 cancellations. Despite being allowed a 6 percent schedule enhancement with 403 aircraft for the season, IndiGo deployed only 344 aircraft in November. The DGCA asked Indigo to submit a revised schedule by 5 PM today.
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Global software powerhouse Microsoft has pledged an investment of 17.5 billion US dollars, in India to help build infrastructure, skills, and sovereign capabilities for AI future in the country. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella informed this in a social media post after meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday. He said on social media that to support India’s ambitions, Microsoft is committing its largest investment ever in Asia. He said, the commitment is to help build the infrastructure, skills, and sovereign capabilities needed for India’s AI-first future.
Microsoft said, in a statement that the company plans to invest 17.5 billion US dollars in India over the next four years from 2026 to 2029 to drive AI diffusion at a population scale.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi has welcomed Microsoft’s Largest-Ever investment in Asia and expressed optimism about India’s leadership in Artificial Intelligence. Responding to Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella’s post on social media the Prime Minister said, when it comes to AI, the world is optimistic about India. He added that he expressed happiness to see India being the place where Microsoft will make its largest-ever investment. He further said that the youth of the nation will harness this opportunity to innovate and leverage the power of AI for a better planet.
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President Droupadi Murmu will address the commemoration of Human Rights Day at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi today. The event organised by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) underscores the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. The conference will bring together representatives from State Human Rights Commissions, national commissions, government officials, civil society, academia and other officials.
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In Chhattisgarh, under the Special Intensive Revision of Electoral Rolls – SIR – almost all enumeration forms have been distributed across the state. Digitisation of most of these forms has also been completed. Our Raipur correspondent, Vikalp Shukla, reports that help desks have been set up in various districts for the convenience of voters.
“In several districts of Chhattisgarh, the Chamber of Commerce and various social organisations are extending support to ensure smooth implementation of the SIR campaign. The Deputy Election Officer of Gaurella-Pendra-Marwahi district, Amit Bek, has said that issues related to SIR are being resolved promptly.The SIR work is being carried out with utmost seriousness and transparency in all districts of Chhattisgarh. Vikalp Shukla, Akashvani News, Raipur.”
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In Kerala, the total number of digitised enumeration forms for the SIR crossed 2 crore 73 thousand by last evening, accounting for 98.26 percent of total number of the forms distributed. Kasargode and Wayanad districts have achieved 100 percent digitisation.
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India Meteorological Department has forecast cold wave conditions over in Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, West Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Maharashtra, North Interior Karnataka, and Telangana for the next two days. Dense fog conditions will prevail over Himachal Pradesh, Odisha, East Uttar Pradesh, Assam and Manipur during morning hours today. Fog conditions are expected over Meghalaya, Nagaland, Mizoram and Tripura.
Meanwhile, the air quality in Delhi-NCR has been registered in the Poor category. According to the Central Pollution Control Board, the average Air Quality Index (AQI) of the region was recorded at 269 as of 7 AM today.
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Belgium’s top court has rejected Indian fugitive Mehul Choksi’s appeal against his arrest in Antwerp based on an extradition request by New Delhi. The Belgian Court of Cassation heard Choksi’s plea at Brussels yesterday and ruled in India’s favour.
Choksi is being held in a prison in Antwerp since April this year following his arrest at India’s request. He is accused of six bank frauds between 2018 and 2022 involving amounts totalling nearly 13,000 crore rupees.
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Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy Antonio Tajani arrived in New Delhi this morning. Ministry of External Affairs said, Mr Tajani is on a three-day visit to India.
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The Jammu division of Northern Railways has announced a special Vande Bharat train between New Delhi and Udhampur for three days starting December 12, to facilitate stranded passengers. The announcement comes in the wake of cancellation of IndiGo flights from Jammu and Srinagar leading to chaos at the airports triggering protests by stranded passengers. The New Delhi to Udhampur special train will depart at 6 AM and arrive at Udhampur at 2 PM, halting at Ambala Cantt, Ludhiana, Pathankot Cantt and Jammu Tawi, among other stations.
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In Telangana three thousand drones formed the world’s longest airborne sentence during the Rising Global Summit. The new Guinness World Record was created at the concluding session of the two-day Telangana Rising Global Summit last evening at the Bharat Future City. The drones formed the airborne sentence: ‘Telangana is Rising. Come Join the Rise’.
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In Rajasthan, the ‘Pravasi Rajasthani Diwas’ will be celebrated in Jaipur today, bringing together Non-Resident Rajasthanis from across the country and abroad. The programme will witness the groundbreaking of investment proposals worth one lakh crore rupees. The primary objective of this one-day event is to bring together the Rajasthani diaspora and strengthen their connection with their roots. More from our correspondent :
“The event will witness the participation of leading figures from industry and business, along with ministers and officials, subject experts, investors, and prominent personalities from different fields. In addition to the inaugural session, the programme will feature a Pravasi Rajasthani Dialogue and several sectoral sessions based on important thematic areas. The ‘Pravasi Rajasthani Samman’ will also be presented to some distinguished members of the Rajasthani diaspora who have achieved remarkable success in India and abroad. Extensive preparations have been made to make the visit of the Pravasi Rajasthanis memorable. Jitendra Dwivedi, Akashvani Samachar, Jaipur.”
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Australia has become the first country to ban social media for children under the age of 16, blocking access to platforms including TikTok, Alphabet’s YouTube and Meta’s Instagram and Facebook. Ten of the biggest platforms were ordered to block children or face fine of up to 33 million US Dollars under the new law, which drew criticism from major technology companies and free speech advocates, but was welcomed by parents and child advocates.
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In Men’s Cricket, India defeated South Africa by 101 runs in the first game of the five-match T20 series at Barabati Stadium in Cuttack, Odisha yesterday. Chasing a target of 176, the visitors were bowled out for 74 runs.
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TODAY’S NEWSPAPERS HEADLINE,
- A top front page headline in The Times of India says “DGCA slashes Indigo flights by 5 percent, Government doubles cut to 10 percent.” The paper adds “Airline to fly 216 fewer flights per day this winter.’
- Modi-Nadella meet sparks Asia’s biggest technology investment wave has been noticed by all the dailies today. The Economic Times writes “Slew of announcements headlined by a four year commitment for local AI, cloud infra.”
- The Pioneer states “India taps on Lithuania for aadhar 2.0” for specialised components of the next generation system.
- “Trump mulls tariffs on Indian rice; move may hit US more” notes The Hindu.
- And Finally, Hindustan Times reports about our planet on track to record its third hottest year in 2025 signalling that the Earth’s climate has entered uncharted territory under the caption “Another scorching warning.’
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THE HEADLINES ONCE AGAIN
- Lok Sabha to resume debate on Election Reforms; Home Minister Amit Shah to reply on the discussion today.
- Rajya Sabha to discuss 150th Anniversary of the Song Vande Mataram.
- DGCA orders 10 percent cut in IndiGo’s Winter Schedule flight operations.
- Microsoft announces 17.5 billion US dollar investment in India, largest in Asia to boost country’s AI infrastructure.
- Australia becomes the first country to ban Social Media for teenagers under the age of 16.
- IMD forecasts cold wave conditions over Punjab, West Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, North Interior Karnataka, and Telangana for the next two days.
- In Cricket, India beat South Africa by 101 runs in first T20 International of five-match series in Cuttack.
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