NEW DELHI: You can loosen your purse strings a little more abroad. Travellers flying into India will now have enhanced duty-free limit, which for resident Indians has been hiked from Rs 50,000 to Rs 75,000. What’s more, duty-free import of one laptop for passengers above 18 years has now been allowed under Baggage Rules, 2026, which came into effect from Feb 2. No general duty-free allowance is available for passengers entering India through land borders, regardless of nationality.Jewellery allowance has also been simplified. “Special allowances for jewellery have been prescribed solely on weight basis by removing outdated value caps, under which eligible returning residents/tourists of Indian origin (after stay abroad for more than one year), are allowed duty-free jewellery purely on a weight basis,” a govt statement said. Men are allowed to import jewellery up to 20 gram duty-free while female passengers can import up to 40 gram.The transfer of residence benefits has also been simplified and modernised by having only a single rationalised list of duty-free articles, with an overall value cap as per eligibility.Duty-free allowance for resident Indians, tourists of Indian origin and foreigners with an Indian visa (other th-an tourist) is now Rs 75,000. For tourists of foreign orig-in, it’s Rs 25,000. For crew me-mbers, the same is Rs 2,500.“The facility of issuance of temporary baggage import certificate or export certificate for temporary carriage of goods brought in or taken out, respectively, have been envisioned for hassle-free clearance,” the govt statement added.Used personal effects like clothes and travel souvenirs are duty-free. New goods like gifts purchases abroad qualify according to new limits. Goods above the duty-free limit are dutiable under normal customs provisions unless specifically exempted by the law. These allowances apply only to goods carried on the passenger’s person or in bona fide baggage.Some items are not part of duty-free allowances and have separate conditions or limits. These include alcohol and spirits beyond specified volumes, tobacco products beyond allowance threshold, gold or silver in forms other than jewellery, and large electronic goods like televisions.

NEW DELHI: Air India has launched a fleet-wide inspection of fuel control switches on its Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft after a malfunction was reported on a flight from London Heathrow to Bengaluru.The move follows an incident earlier this week in which a pilot flagged a defect in the fuel control switch of a Boeing 787-8 aircraft after landing in Bengaluru. The aircraft, which operated the London–Bengaluru flight, was immediately grounded for detailed checks.Confirming the action, Air India’s senior vice president for flight operations, Manish Uppal, informed Boeing 787 pilots that the airline had initiated a precautionary re-inspection of the entire Dreamliner fleet.“Following the reported defect involving a fuel control switch on one of the B787 aircraft, our engineering team has escalated the matter to Boeing for priority evaluation,” Uppal said in an internal communication, PTI quoted sources.“In the interim, while we await Boeing’s response, our engineers — out of an abundance of caution — have initiated precautionary fleet-wide re-inspection of the Fuel Control Switch (FCS) latch to verify normal operations,” he added.Uppal further informed pilots that no adverse findings had been reported so far on the aircraft that have already undergone re-inspection.He also directed crew members to promptly report any defects noticed during operations and to ensure that all mandatory checks are completed before accepting an aircraft for service.At present, Air India operates 33 Boeing 787 aircraft. These include 26 Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners from the legacy Air India fleet and seven Boeing 787-9 aircraft, of which six were inducted from Vistara and one is a custom-made plane added to the fleet in January this year.The latest inspections come amid heightened scrutiny of the aircraft’s fuel control system. The functioning of the fuel control switch has been under focus since a fatal crash involving a Boeing 787-8 last June, in which 260 people lost their lives. The preliminary investigation report into that accident had pointed to a possible fuel supply cutoff soon after take-off.Air India had carried out similar inspections last year following the tragic crash.The airline has now assured that all necessary precautions are being taken and that the issue has been escalated to Boeing for further technical evaluation.

Site where Ajit Pawar’s plane crashed

MUMBAI: India’s charter aviation sector has grown steadily, filling a crucial gap left by airlines by connecting smaller towns & airports. But industry insiders say safety compliance across non-scheduled operators is uneven and often weaker than airline standards. Implementation of pilots’ flight duty time limits, maintenance standards & weather-related decision-making vary widely between operatorsCharter flying offers speed, flexibility and access to places far beyond an airline’s scheduled network, making it the fastest way to reach remote destinations. But this convenience, which is the very core that defines charter operations, also exposes a fundamental difference in how safety is prioritised. Unlike in airline operations, decisions on whether to operate or land are often taken closer to the cockpit, where passenger urgency and convenience can weigh heavily, sometimes pushing safety to the second place.“Non-scheduled flights carry high-net-worth passengers with a fixed objective, an event, a meeting, a function. That creates immense pressure on pilots to land at the intended destination at all costs, even when diversion would be the safer option,” said Capt Manoj Hathi, former senior flight operations inspector at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

Parliament panel on Ajit Pawar’s death

Capt R K Bali of the Business Aircraft Operators Association said India’s non-scheduled aircraft operators have a fleet of about 300 aircraft. “The need of the hour is a pre-flight open, clear communication between pilot and the passenger. The pilot should carry out an objective assessment of the risk involved for a given flight and brief the passenger especially when flying into a small uncontrolled airport with no landing aids in marginal weather conditions. The pilot should be under no duress from anyone to make the landing, because ultimately the buck stops at the pilot”.But that is often not the case. A senior pilot spoke about the pressure the crew comes under. “When a politician travels by road, traffic is stopped, junctions sealed and inconvenience is imposed on everyone else in the name of the VIP safety. When the same politician travels by air, the inconvenience quietly shifts to rest solely on the pilot. A chartered aircraft is expected to get in and get out, often to small airfields and on tight timelines because a meeting, a rally or a public appearance cannot be missed.”Then there are other aspects that influence the safety standards in charter aircraft operations. Unlike scheduled airlines, where pilot flight duty time limitations are tightly monitored and crew can be replaced at short notice, charter operations operate with limited manpower. “There is an expectation that you should be able to fly whenever you want. Passengers are frequently late, and replacement crew are rarely available except at the main base,” said Capt Hathi. Irregular schedules also impact pilot proficiency. Charter pilots often lack the consistency that airline crew benefit from, affecting skill retention and operational discipline. The sector also struggles to retain experienced flight crew. “Many first officers and captains see charter flying as a steppingstone to airlines. Attrition is high. Many captains are older, retired from airlines, or were not selected elsewhere,” said an operator.Capt Hathi said, “Training infrastructure is another weak point. Most non-scheduled operators do not have dedicated training departments comparable to airlines, largely due to cost constraints. Refresher training and procedural updates are often left to self-study. The problem is compounded when operators maintain multiple aircraft types within small fleets, making standardisation of procedures difficult.”Short-notice flights such as medical evacuations or emergency travel add another layer of complexity. “There is often insufficient time for proper briefing or preparation,” said a source. Compounding this, pilots in charter operations are responsible for tasks that airlines distribute across multiple departments. Flight preparation, loading calculations, technical documentation and coordination are often handled solely by pilots, meaning their effective duty begins hours before the recorded reporting time. These factors create a system where compliance depends heavily on individual operators and pilots rather than institutional safeguards as is the case with airlines.

JAMMU: Two terror suspects were detained in Cantonment Area in J&K’s Samba district on Monday, even as multiple cordon-and-search operations continued across several regions of Jammu division, including snowbound Kishtwar’s Chatroo-Dolgam-Dichhar belt, where Operation Trashi-I entered its 16th day. Late Sunday, a search operation was launched in Joffer area in Udhampur’s Rampur sector following reports of suspicious movement.“Terrorist movement was reported in the upper reaches of Udhampur. Search operations are also underway in the high-altitude, forested areas of Poonch, Rajouri, Kathua, Doda, and Reasi districts,” an official said.Around 10.30am Monday, a Quick Reaction Team caught two men near an old quarter of the Army in railway area. “One person was sleeping outside, near the shaft, while the other was found inside. Both were taken into custody and sent to Bari Brahmana PS for further action,” an official source said. “One of the men was identified as Muneer Khan from Chang, in Jammu district. He said he works in Flaxfour Company, Bari Brahmana. The other man was identified as Pawan Singh from Neeli village in Udhampur district,” the source added.On Jan 6, Punjab Police detained a minor in Pathankot on charges of spying and for allegedly sharing confidential information via social media to terror agencies, ISI, and Pakistan military officers. The detention prompted a statewide alert for similar espionage activities involving children.Due to its proximity to the international border, Samba serves as a gateway for terrorists to reach Kashmir Valley via the upper reaches of Samba-Udhampur-Doda-Kishtwar. The district remains a hotspot of terrorist activities.Under Operation Trashi-I, security forces have engaged in four encounters with terrorists in the past fortnight. Initial contact was established in Sonnar forest near Mandral-Singhpora, Chatroo, on Jan 18, in which eight security personnel were injured, one of whom eventually succumbed. On Jan 22, another gunfight broke out with holed-up ultras in Singhpora. Yet another firefight followed on Jan 24, in which a Pakistani Jaish terrorist was shot dead. A brief gun battle occurred in Dolgam on Jan 31.Braving inclement weather, troops have been trudging through hostile, forested terrain to track and kill a group of three holed-up ultras. Security agencies were also trying to trace terrorist sympathisers who may have helped the ultras with food and shelter. Mobile internet services (all bandwidths) have remained temporarily suspended within a 6km-radius covering Singhpora, Chingam, and Chatroo since Jan 30 as a security measure.Officials said the terrorists, on the run for more than two weeks now, had been continuously changing hideouts. Additional forces were roped in to fortify the cordon, and sniffer dogs were deployed to assist the troops on the ground. The region was put under aerial surveillance using drones and choppers to plug possible escape routes.

Jairam Ramesh, Congress general secretary in-charge communications

NEW DELHI: Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh on Monday took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi after US President Donald Trump announced an “immediate” India-US trade deal from Washington, adding New Delhi would move to cut tariffs and non-tariff barriers on American goods while the US reduces reciprocal tariffs on India.In a post on X, Ramesh alleged that key announcements impacting India, including the halt of Operation Sindoor, updates on India’s crude purchases from Russia and Venezuela, and now the trade deal itself, were being made from the US capital.

“He announced the halt of Op Sindoor from Washington DC. He announced the updates on India’s oil purchases from Russia and Venezuela from Washington. He’s now announced an India-US Trade Deal from Washington, the full details of which are awaited,” he wrote.“President Trump clearly seems to have some leverage over Prime Minister Modi,” he wrote, adding that the Prime Minister appeared “mortified of even being seen with him”, in an apparent reference to PM Modi’s earlier public bonhomie with Trump.Ramesh suggested that Modi had “capitulated” and questioned whether the agreement could be “the father of all deals”, using the Bollywood catchphrase “Mogambo Khush Hai” to underline the attack.“President Trump clearly seems to have some leverage over Prime Minister Modi – who is now mortified of even being seen with him, let alone engage in the usual bout of hugs. It appears Mr. Modi has capitulated finally. Surely this cannot be the father of all deals. In Washington clearly Mogambo Khush Hai,” he said.The Congress leader’s remarks came minutes after Trump, in his Truth Social post, said India had agreed to stop buying Russian oil and would buy “much more” from the US and potentially Venezuela, arguing the shift would help end the Russia-Ukraine war. He also said the US would lower reciprocal tariffs from 25% to 18% and that India would move to reduce its tariffs and non-tariff barriers against the US to “zero”.Later, PM Modi thanked Trump for the tariff announcement. In a post on X, the Prime Minister said he was “delighted” that Made in India products would get a reduced tariff of 18%, and thanked the US President “on behalf of the 1.4 billion people of India” for the “wonderful announcement”.

NEW DELHI: US President Donald Trump spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, US ambassador to India Sergio Gor informed on Monday. The two leader, finalized the much-awaited India-US trade deal with “immediate” effect, Trump informed.In a post on Truth Social, Trump said, “It was an Honor to speak with Prime Minister Modi, of India, this morning. He is one of my greatest friends and, a Powerful and Respected Leader of his Country. We spoke about many things, including Trade, and ending the War with Russia and Ukraine. He agreed to stop buying Russian Oil, and to buy much more from the United States and, potentially, Venezuela. This will help END THE WAR in Ukraine, which is taking place right now, with thousands of people dying each and every week!”

“Out of friendship and respect for Prime Minister Modi and, as per his request, effective immediately, we agreed to a Trade Deal between the United States and India, whereby the United States will charge a reduced Reciprocal Tariff, lowering it from 25% to 18%. They will likewise move forward to reduce their Tariffs and Non Tariff Barriers against the United States, to ZERO. The Prime Minister also committed to “BUY AMERICAN,” at a much higher level, in addition to over $500 BILLION DOLLARS of U.S. Energy, Technology, Agricultural, Coal, and many other products. Our amazing relationship with India will be even stronger going forward. Prime Minister Modi and I are two people that GET THINGS DONE, something that cannot be said for most. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” he added.This comes amid delays in India-US trade deal after Trump imposed 50% tariffs on India for its continued purchase of Russian crude.Moreover, Trump on Sunday claimed that multiple countries, including India, were expected to start importing oil from Venezuela, which holds the world’s largest crude reserves. He said that the move followed legal reforms in Venezuela that have opened the oil sector to private investment after the US capture of President Nicolas Maduro on January 3.India and the United States have been holding trade talks since March 2025. Since August last year, the US has imposed a steep 50% tariff on Indian exports—among the highest applied to any country—comprising 25% in reciprocal duties and an additional 25% levy.

NEW DELHI: Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra on Monday took a sharp dig at the Centre during the Parliament Budget Session, dismissing claims of “ruckus in the House” and accusing the ruling party of repeatedly targeting the opposition branding them “deshdrohi.” She further took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, questioning restrictions placed on Opposition speeches in the House.Speaking to reporters outside Parliament, Moitra said, “There was no ruckus in Parliament. It is unbelievable how the ruling party and the treasury benches, including the Prime Minister, the Home Minister and the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, can say anything about the Opposition.”

“Are you telling me India–China relations cannot be referred to in the House? India–Pakistan relations cannot be referred to in the House? India–US relations cannot be referred to in the House?” she asked.She added sarcastically, “What should we talk about? Sit down and do Jai Pradhan Mantri? Is that all we should do in the House?”She alleged that Opposition leaders are routinely branded unpatriotic. “They call us unpatriotic. They call us deshdrohi. They cast aspersions on us and it’s all okay. There is no rule ever stopping that. They can say anything,” she said.The TMC MP alleged that ruling party members are allowed wide latitude while the Opposition is curtailed. “Somebody like Tejasvi Surya can stand up and say anything and it is applauded. And then, when we as the Opposition stand up to say something, our rights are taken away and we are told there is a ruling on it,” she said.Referring to Rule 349, Moitra argued that discussions were well within parliamentary business. “What is in the business of the House today is the President’s Address, and the President talks about everything,” she added.

What led the Parliament ruckus?

Moitra’s remarks came amid a heated exchange in the Lok Sabha after leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi attempted to quote from a report citing excerpts from the unpublished memoir of former Army Chief General MM Naravane during the motion of thanks on the President’s Address.Challenging the government’s objections, Rahul asked, “What does it contain which is scaring them so much? If they are not scared, I should be allowed to read on.”Defence minister Rajnath Singh objected to Rahul quoting from an unpublished book, stating it had not been authenticated.“I want that LoP, Lok Sabha, should present before the House the book he is quoting from, because the book he is referring to has not been published,” Singh said.NDA MPs echoed the objection, arguing that parliamentary rules do not permit references to unpublished material.Responding to allegations by BJP MP Tejasvi Surya questioning the Congress’s patriotism, Rahul said he wanted to read from the memoir.“A young colleague over there made an allegation against the Congress Party… because he has raised the issue about our patriotism, our understanding of Indian culture, I’d like to start by reading something,” Rahul said.He added, “And this is from the memoir of Army Chief Naravane. And I’d like you to listen nicely. You will understand exactly who is patriotic, who is not.”Referring to the Doklam standoff, Rahul said, “It will take a little while, so this is about when four Chinese tanks were entering Indian territory. They were taking a ridge in Doklam.”While Rahul maintained that the excerpts appeared in a published magazine article citing Naravane’s memoir, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla ruled that unpublished material could not be read out in the House and denied permission to proceed.Opposition members protested the ruling, demanding that Rahul be allowed to read the excerpts, while treasury bench members insisted House rules barred references to unpublished works.The episode led to sharp verbal exchanges in the Lok Sabha, further escalating tensions during the Budget Session.