Veteran Cong leader, former MP minister Arif Aqueel passes away
Bhopal (PTI): Former Madhya Pradesh minister and senior Congress leader Arif Aqueel passed away on Monday at the age of 72 in a private hospital in Bhopal after prolonged illness, family sources said.
Aqueel, who was elected from Bhopal North assembly seat six times in his long political career, is survived by his wife, three sons and one daughter.
He won as an Independent MLA for the first time in 1990 and later joined the Congress. He emerged victorious from Bhopal North seat in the 1998, 2003, 2008, 2013 and 2018 assembly polls. However, he lost the polls from Bhopal North in 1993 as a Janata Dal supported candidate.
He was a prominent Muslim face of the party and was cabinet minister in the Congress governments led by Digvijaya Singh (1996-2003) and Kamal Nath (2018-2020).
Both Singh and Nath expressed grief at the death of Aqueel.
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Regulator DGCA eases flight duty norms for pilots amid IndiGo crisis
Mumbai (PTI): Aviation watchdog DGCA on Friday eased the flight duty norms by allowing substitution of leaves with a weekly rest period amid massive operational disruptions at IndiGo, according to sources.
As per the revised Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms, "no leave shall be substituted for weekly rest", which means that weekly rest period and leaves are to be treated separately. The clause was part of efforts to address fatigue issues among the pilots.
Citing IndiGo flight disruptions, sources told PTI that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has decided to withdraw the provision 'no leave shall be substituted for weekly rest' from the FDTL norms.
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"In view of the ongoing operational disruptions and representations received from various airlines regarding the need to ensure continuity and stability of operations, it has been considered necessary to review the said provision," DGCA said in a communication dated December 5.
The gaps in planning ahead of the implementation of the revised FDTL, the second phase of which came into force from November 1, have resulted in crew shortage at IndiGo and is one of the key reasons for the current disruptions.
#BREAKING: #DGCA relaxes a clause which debarred airlines to club leaves with weekly rest to mitigate #IndiGo crisis
— Economic Times (@EconomicTimes) December 5, 2025
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