IndiGo on Tuesday named William Walsh, a former British Airways chief executive and the current head of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), as its chief executive officer — closing a leadership gap that opened three weeks ago when Pieter Elbers resigned in the aftermath of the worst operational crisis in the airline’s history late last year.. William Walsh began as a pilot, rose to lead Ireland’s Aer Lingus, then served as chief executive of British Airways from 2005 to 2011. (PTI). Walsh, who is expected to join no later than August 3 after his IATA tenure concludes on July 31, brings to IndiGo a career that spans the cockpit and the boardroom. He began as a pilot, rose to lead Ireland’s Aer Lingus, then served as chief executive of British Airways from 2005 to 2011, before spending nearly a decade as CEO of International Airlines Group — the holding company that owns British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus and Vueling — making him one of the architects of modern European aviation consolidation. His appointment is subject to regulatory approvals.. ALSO READ | IndiGo ‘privileged’ to be led by new CEO Willie Walsh, co-founder Rahul Bhatia says. “I am delighted to have the opportunity to lead IndiGo,” Walsh said in a statement by the airline. “What stands out most to me are its people, their passion, professionalism and commitment.”. The appointment arrives at a fraught moment for India’s largest airline. In December 2025, IndiGo cancelled at least 5,500 flights over roughly a week after it failed to implement revised flight duty time limitation norms — rules governing mandatory rest periods for pilots and crew — despite having had nearly two years to prepare. The disruption stranded hundreds of thousands of passengers during peak travel season and triggered a regulatory response of unusual severity. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation imposed a record penalty of more than ₹22 crore, ordered a 10% reduction in IndiGo’s winter schedule, and directed the airline to furnish a ₹50 crore bank guarantee tied to phased operational reforms. Show-cause notices were issued to Elbers personally, as well as to the chief operating officer. A senior vice president was removed from his position on the regulator’s orders.. ALSO READ | Vir Vikram Yadav appointed new DGCA chief, Faiz Ahmed Kidwai moves to DoPT. Elbers resigned on March 10 — 18 months before his contract was due to expire in September 2027 — citing personal reasons in his letter to the board. But a person familiar with the matter told HT the resignation was linked to findings from the airline’s own internal investigation, which had also sought the help of independent experts. “The resignation seems to be a fallout of the airline’s investigations,” the person said, declining to be named.. Rahul Bhatia, IndiGo’s co-founder and managing director, stepped in as interim CEO, and on Tuesday said: “As we enter a new phase of transformat 

 Jagdalpur: Monday evening. Union home minister Amit Shah is speaking in the Lok Sabha, detailing his government’s success in ridding India of left wing extremism or Naxalism. He speaks for almost 85 minutes, explaining how the state won.. (From left) Bhaskar Mandvi, (in purple) Ranita, Ratan Elam, Rupesh and Pawan Anand Reddy. (Photo/Prawesh Lama). At an undisclosed location in Bastar district’s Jagdalpur town, five top Naxal leaders who surrendered in late 2025, are listening to Shah. For decades, they fought the state, but admit that eventually, the state prevailed.. On Tuesday, the five meet with Hindustan Times at a park on the outskirts of Jagdalpur . They speak candidly about the decline of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), the steady strengthening of intelligence networks and security forces, the leadership vacuum at the top of the insurgent group, their mistakes, curiosity over their former chief Ganpati, who is still at large, and their ultimate loss of relevance.. The tipping point in the state’s fight, according to one, came in 2009. “Until 2009, the government and intelligence agencies knew very little about our party and its military structure. They had no real insight. The Maoists were at full strength,” says Pawan Anand Reddy alias Chaitu (62), a state committee member of the proscribed party.. Then, things changed.. “It was sometime after 2009-10 that the government began systematically gathering information about us — our hierarchy, governance model, and internal functioning. The first batches of surrendered cadres who joined the District Reserve Guards (DRG) revealed everything: our training methods, weaknesses, and military formations. Once that happened, the forces gained a clear understanding and prepared themselves for a long fight,” he adds.. Those years, according to Chaitu and his fellow comrade Rupesh alias Satish Kofa, also a state zonal committee member, were a phase when the CPI(Maoist) was strongest.. “Between 2007 and 2009, we were at our strongest in terms of numbers and outreach. There were around 2,500-3,000 full-time armed cadres in the Dandakaranya region alone, with support from 50,000 to 100,000 cadres across Bastar and adjoining areas. The Salwa Judum movement around 2005 caused us losses, but it also pushed thousands of villagers toward us. Support also poured in from other states where our influence had spread,” Rupesh says, referring to a state-sponsored militia that sought to combat the Maoists.. Rupesh, Chaitu, Ranita, Bhaskar alias Yadagir, and Ratan Elam alias Bajirao surrendered in October 2025 along with over 150 cadres. Their immediate senior, Central Committee (CC) member Mallujao Venugopal Rao aka Sonu Dada surrendered in Maharashtra before Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.. The movement’s decline also had to do with the state’s performance,adds Rupesh. “Our rise in the 1980s and 1990s was tied to the conditions in remote villages at the time. But by the mid-2000s, g 

 In 1757, Mir Jafar helped change the course of the subcontinent’s history when he sided with the British against his employer, the Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah. The East India Company won the Battle of Plassey, using it as a springboard to conquer India’s heartland, and eventually, the whole country. Robert Clive, the company’s army commander, installed Mir Jafar as the titular Nawab, who ruled till his death in 1765.. Descendants of Mir Jafar, Bengal’s Nawab after Battle of Plassey, deleted from electoral roll. Almost three centuries later, Jafar’s descendants find themselves running from pillar to post after their names were deleted from the electoral roll during the special intensive revision (SIR) in West Bengal. The reason: changes in the names of some family members.. “Our ancestors built the Hazarduari Palace and other structures that define Murshidabad. Yet, our names have been struck off,” said Syed Mohammad Fahim Meerza, a descendant of Mir Jafar and a Trinamool Congress councillor at Murshidabad municipality.. The eldest member of the family, 82-year-old Syed Mohammad Reza Ali Meerza, popularly addressed as Chhote Nawab, lives in the historic Killa Nizamat area of Murshidabad town.. His name, the names of his son Syed Mohammad Fahim Meerza, daughter-in-law, and brother Mohammad Abbas Ali Meerza’s two daughters and elder son were removed after they were flagged for “logical discrepancy”.. “The names were deleted although several of the family members responded to hearing notices and provided documents,” Fahim Meerza said.. “My father’s name was changed from Mohammad Reza Ali Meerza to include Syed, and my name was changed from Syed Fahim Meerza to include Mohammad. Put in the ‘under adjudication’ category, we appeared for hearings despite my father’s health issues,” he added.. “We will approach the electoral tribunal but the process is time-consuming. The issue may not be resolved before the assembly elections,” Fahim Meerza said.. In the two-phase Bengal polls to be held on April 23 and 29, Murshidabad will vote first.. Requesting anonymity, a district electoral officer said, “Members of the Nawab’s family have to follow the rules like others.”. Gauri Shankar Ghosh, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Murshidabad legislator seeking reelection, said no deletion was intentional or accidental. “Neither our party nor the EC said names of genuine voters should be removed. A name is deleted for technical reasons. They can seek reinclusion,” Ghosh said. 

 NEW DELHI: The defence ministry on Tuesday signed a ₹1,950-crore deal with Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) to equip the Indian Air Force with two mountain radars, associated equipment and the required infrastructure, strengthening the country’s air defences.. IAFto get mountain radars worth ₹1,950 cr. The contract is the last capital acquisition contract of financial year 2025-26.. This radar is indigenously designed and developed by DRDO’s Electronics and Radar Development Establishment and will be manufactured by BEL. “The installation and commissioning of these radars will boost the country’s air defence and strengthen national security. The procurement will also reduce dependency on foreign equipment,” the defence ministry said.. The contract was signed under the Buy (Indian-IDDM) category. This is the most important category of acquisition for indigenisation under the defence procurement policy. IDDM stands for indigenously designed, developed and manufactured.. According to official data, capital procurement contracts amounting to ₹2.28 lakh crore for 503 proposals were signed during 2025-26. Also, the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) accorded Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for 55 proposals amounting to ₹6.73 lakh crore during that period. “Both the quantum of AoN given and capital contracts signed so far has been the highest in any given financial year,” the defence ministry said last week.. The DAC, headed by defence minister Rajnath Singh, on Friday approved a military capability boost worth ₹2.38 lakh crore to equip the country’s armed forces with more Russian-origin S-400 Triumf air defence systems, remotely piloted strike aircraft, transport planes, artillery guns and tank ammunition. 

 All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on Tuesday took a jibe at the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in Tamil Nadu over the law and order in the state.. As he pinned down the ruling DMK government with several criticisms, the AIADMK supremo also assured support for the firework and match industries in the Sivakasi district. (PTI file photo). As Palaniswami addressed a rally in Tamil Nadu’s Sivakasi ahead of the upcoming assembly elections in the state on April 23, he assured that if party comes into power, it would eradicate long standing projects and improve stability in the state, reported news agency PTI.. As he pinned down the ruling DMK government with several criticisms, the AIADMK supremo also assured support for the firework and match industries in the Sivakasi district.. Palaniswami lists allegations against DMK. Slamming the DMK for stalling the Cauvery-Gundar river linking project and asserted that his party – the AIADMK would implement it if it forms a government in the poll-bound state.. Targeting the DMK government on the Cauvery-Gundaru project, he said it was planned to fill canals, lakes, and ponds with surplus water from the Mettur Dam, PTI reported. The DMK government has put this project in cold storage, he claimed.. Talking of Sivakasi, Palaniswami said that the region is not just famous in Tamil Nadu but across the world for its firework industry. “When the firework industry faced a crisis while I was the chief minister, I led a committee of 20 MPs to meet the union minister to demand that the sale of fireworks should not be banned,” he said.. He recalled that it was the AIADMK that “voiced” in court to save the fireworks industry. “Thousands of people work in these industries, and there are many farmers and printing press workers here. If the AIADMK government is formed again, these industries will be protected,” he assured.. Hitting out at the DMK government once again, he pointed towards the establishment of a medical college and hospital at an outlay of ₹400 crore in Virudhunagar district during the previous AIADMK government, he said the DMK took credit for the project.. “When the AIADMK government returns to power, this project will be completed. For this, ₹14,000 crore was allocated and I personally laid the foundation stone. Before it could be finished, the government changed. Once this project gets completed, Virudhunagar district will be lush and green,” he added.. Attacking the DMK government over law and order situation in the state, Palaniswami alleged that the state was in shambles in this field and that there was no safety for girl child or to elderly.. “Do you want such a government to continue? A ‘Puppet CM’ who cannot even appoint a permanent DGP? A state will prosper only if law and order is good. The DMK’s only thought is commission, collection, corruption,” he argued.. Referring to a banner that was displayed by children when he arrived for c