Mumbai, Dec 05: When IndiGo’s nationwide operational meltdown began disrupting flights earlier this week, thousands of passengers were caught in chaos across the country. Among them was a 75-year-old woman whose ordeal at Mumbai’s Terminal 2 gained attention after her daughter shared a distressed post on X. Thankfully, the woman has now reached home safely, but her experience reflects the scale of frustration travellers are facing.

In her post on X, Punita Toraskar wrote that her elderly mother had been waiting at T2 since noon, and even by 4:42 pm, she still hadn’t received her luggage. The situation was more alarming because the 75-year-old needed to take her medicines but was stuck waiting on an empty stomach, stranded amid the airport chaos.

Toraskar’s post quickly resonated with passengers across India who have been struggling with severe delays, cancellations, and a complete breakdown of communication from India’s largest airline.

IndiGo is currently grappling with one of the biggest operational crises in its history. Nearly 900 flights have been cancelled since Tuesday, triggered by a mix of staff shortages and the airline’s struggle to adapt to stringent new crew duty regulations.

Passengers at major airports — Delhi, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Kolkata — are facing hours-long queues, mounting delays, and skyrocketing airfares as alternative flight options shrink. Hotels are filling up, tempers are rising, and social media is flooded with frustration.

IndiGo has issued public apologies and claims it is rebooting its systems and schedules to stabilise operations. But for many travellers like Toraskar’s mother, the damage is already done.

Despite the turmoil, Punita confirmed later that her mother had finally reached home safely, a small relief in a week of aviation chaos.

New Delhi, Dec 5: The government has spent Rs 7,253 crore so far (up to October), of the total budgetary allocation of Rs 12,118 crore for 2025–26, on the redevelopment of railway stations across the country under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw informed Parliament on Friday.

The minister stated in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha that work is in progress at a good pace for the development of stations such as Tirupati, Yesvantpur, Rameswaram, and Safdarjung station in Delhi..

So far, 1,337 stations have been identified for development under this scheme since it was launched, of which 155 stations have been completed till now.

Vaishnaw said that the station development projects under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme are primarily conceptualised with budgetary support. However, 15 stations have been identified to be explored for development under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode also and based on the experience gained from the same, further evolution of the scheme is envisaged.

He further stated that the ownership of stations and operations-related activity will be with the Indian Railways. However, for some identified major stations, specific activities or groups of activities may be entrusted to outside sources for specified tenures depending upon the type of activity, requirements of the station, demand, etc. The terms of the contract are decided on a case-by-case basis.

He said that the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme for the redevelopment of stations has been launched with a long-term approach.

The scheme involves the preparation of master plans and their implementation in phases to improve the stations. The master planning includes improvement of access to the station and circulating areas, integration of the station with both sides of the city, improvement of the station building and improvement of waiting halls, toilets, sitting arrangement, and water booths.

The redevelopment plans also include provision of wider foot over bridge or air concourse commensurate with passenger traffic, provision of lifts, escalators and ramps, improvement of platform surface and cover over platforms and provision of kiosks for local products through schemes like ‘One Station One Product’.

Besides, the construction of parking areas, multimodal integration, amenities for Divyangjans, better passenger information systems, provision of executive lounges, nominated spaces for business meetings and landscaping is being taken up, keeping in view the necessity at each station, Vaishnaw said.

The scheme also envisages sustainable and environment-friendly solutions, provision of ballastless tracks, etc., as per necessity, phasing and feasibility and creation of a city centre at the station in the long term, the minister added.

New Delhi, Dec 5: Hailing India-Russia ties, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that the friendship between the two countries has remained like a pole star amidst the ups and downs faced by the world in the past 80 years.

While making a joint press statement with Russian President Vladimir Putin following their talks at the Hyderabad House in New Delhi on Friday, PM Modi said that the ties between two nations have stood the test of time and thanked Putin for his friendship and unwavering commitment to India while recalling the efforts made by the Russian leadership to elevate bilateral ties.

“Today, I am delighted to welcome President Putin to the 23rd India-Russia Summit today. His visit comes at a time when our bilateral relations are experiencing several historic milestones. 25 years back, President Putin laid the foundation for our strategic partnership. 15 years ago, in 2010, our partnership was granted the status of a Special Privileged Strategic Partnership. For the past two and a half decades, he (President Putin) has nurtured this relationship with his leadership and vision.

“His (President Putin) leadership, under all circumstances, has elevated our ties to new heights. I express my heartfelt gratitude to President Putin, my friend, for this deep friendship and unwavering commitment to India. The world has seen many ups and downs over the past eight decades. Humanity has faced many challenges and crises and amidst all this, the India-Russia friendship has remained like a pole star. This relationship, founded on mutual respect and deep trust, has always stood the test of time,” he added.

Recalling recent heinous terror attacks in both countries, PM Modi said that India and Russia have stood together in the fight against terrorism.

“Today we also discussed regional and global issues. India and Russia have long cooperated shoulder to shoulder in the fight against terrorism. Whether it’s the terrorist attack in Pahalgam or the cowardly attack on Crocus City Hall — the root of all these incidents is the same. India firmly believes that terrorism is a direct attack on the values ​​of humanity and global unity against it (terrorism) is our greatest strength.”

PM Modi announced that India and Russia will cooperate to train Indian seafarers in polar waters. “We will now cooperate to train Indian seafarers in polar waters. This will not only strengthen our cooperation in the Arctic, but will also create new employment opportunities for India’s youth.”

Reiterating India’s stance on Ukraine conflict, he said, “India has advocated for peace in Ukraine from the very beginning. We welcome all efforts to find a peaceful and lasting solution to this issue. India has always been ready to contribute and will continue to do so.”

PM Modi also termed energy security as a strong and important pillar of India-Russia partnership. He stated that cooperation between India and Russia in civil nuclear energy has been crucial in realising shared clean energy priorities.

“Energy security has been a strong and important pillar of the India-Russia partnership. Our decades-old cooperation in civil nuclear energy has been crucial in realising our shared clean energy priorities. We will continue this win-win cooperation. Our cooperation in critical minerals is crucial to ensuring secure and diversified supply chains across the world,” stated PM Modi.

Earlier, taking the India-Russia Special and Privileged Partnership ahead, PM Modi warmly welcomed President Putin at the Hyderabad House to participate in the 23rd India-Russia Annual Summit.

With both countries sharing a longstanding and time-tested bond, the two leaders are holding comprehensive and detailed discussions aimed at further strengthening the bilateral relations.