While the spoofing in India which was about deceiving aircraft sensors, what happened in Europe in September was about system hacks disabling ground operations software, similar to the one Delhi too experienced days before the spoofing. Both GPS spoofing and ransomware attack constitute very serious cyber threats to aviation safety, quite different from JetBlue's Airbus vulnerability that grounded 6,000 jets. The growing incidence of aviation cyber attacks highlight the risks to critical infrastructure and industries at large in the future.

NEW DELHI, Dec 2: The Government has confirmed that seven airports across India were targeted by cyber attacks, leading to flight disruptions. The confirmation follows reports of technical anomalies, including the spoofing of navigational systems, at several big airports nationwide on November 7.

Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu informed the Parliament on Tuesday that flights approaching the airports reported GPS spoofing while using Global Positioning System (GPS) signals-based landing procedures.

The affected airports included Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Bengaluru.

The Government claimed that no flight operations were disrupted or cancelled due to the GPS spoofing. The air traffic control systems maintained stability, allowing flights to operate without interruption, the Minister said.

The attacks involved GPS spoofing, where false navigation signals were sent to aircraft. First, pilots approaching Delhi’s Runway 10 reported interference, forcing them to switch to backup landing procedure.

Days before, at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, the Automatic Message Switching System (AMSS) was compromised, disrupting operations for over 12 hours. Over 800 flights were delayed and 20 cancelled.

Authorities warned of rising risks from ransomware and malware targeting aviation systems, prompting heightened cyber vigilance nationwide.

The Wireless Monitoring Organisation (WMO) and DGCA launched investigations to trace the source of spoofing interference.

While flights were ultimately safe, the event was described as one of the most serious GPS integrity threats ever reported near India’s busiest airport.

Airbus A320 global software crisis

Last week, Airbus recalled about 6,000 A320-family jets worldwide (including 350 in India) for urgent software fixes. The fault was linked to solar radiation corrupting flight-control computers, causing a JetBlue A320 to suddenly drop altitude from 35,000 to 10,000 feet in October.

Although, the GPS spoofing and the Airbus technical vulnerability are independent events.

Regulators ordered grounding until airlines patched the Elevator and Aileron Computer (ELAC) software. Operations in India normalized by last weekend.

This was described as the largest single-model grounding since the Boeing 737 MAX crisis.

How they connect

The Delhi cyber attack (November 7) exposed vulnerabilities in aviation IT systems. The wider airport cyber attacks occurred earlier showed systemic risks.

The Airbus A320 software crisis then compounded global aviation disruption, highlighting how both cybersecurity threats and technical faults can converge to destabilize air travel.

While India’s airports faced coordinated cyber interference—Delhi was hit hardest—the Airbus A320 recall added global turbulence to aviation safety due to technical vulnerability.

The spoofing in India which was about deceiving aircraft sensors, but what happened in Europe in September is about system hacks disabling ground operations software. However, both GPS spoofing and ransomware attack constitute very serious cyber threats to aviation safety.

In the September incident, several of Europe's biggest airports faced disruptions after hackers knocked out automated check-in systems provided by Collins Aerospace, owned by RTX (RTX.N), affecting dozens of flights and thousands of passengers.

The ransomware attack, the EU's cyber security agency said, highlighted the growing risks of such attacks to critical infrastructure and industries.

The CCTV footage and the video circulating on social media do not indicate any serious abnormalities in takeoff or descent, it has been confirmed. The disaster is becoming curiouser and curiouser. The flight path was not curvy. And the aircraft maintained a steady, gliding descent with its nose straight and the wings perfectly level. The pilot's distress call does not specify what prevented lift and climb-out. Here are some expert opinions. The sole purpose is to raise travellers' awareness about air travel.

Many of the victims were charred beyond recognition, making identification difficult. Three hundred nineteen body parts have been sent for DNA matching with relatives to determine the identities.

• The Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla line provides Kashmir with all-weather connectivity and integrates the Valley with the rest of India.
• The saying 'Kashmir to Kanyakumari' is now a dream come true.
• The Chenab bridge on the line, an engineering marvel, is the world's highest railway bridge, taller than the Eiffel Tower. (Video: File)

A comment on social media on Kanimozhi's answer on the question of national language read: "Daughter of Kalaignar M. Karunanidhi. Delivered the Birthday Present to her Father!!" (Karunanidhi was born on June 3, 1924) (Today's headlines )

Trump said, "Elon is not really leaving" and will be "back and forth" to the White House because DOGE is his "baby." "I think he’s going to be doing a lot of things.”

Musk wrote: "My scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end... The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government." Now on it will be on auto-pilot.

PROGNOSIS: DOGE was prematurely born to protect the country by aborting an impending socio-economic disaster which very few people could see coming.

Although its immediate job was to save American taxpayers billions by slashing waste, eliminating fraud, cutting Government bloat and ensuring utmost efficiency in administration for the good of the people. (Today's headlines )

"Coming from a system like in England, empowering," she says she never had an idea of this sort of experience... being asked to “socialise with middle-aged men” who financed the event...humiliating...

Originally from Junagadh, Gujarat, Pataudi was relocated to Etawah Lion Safari in September 2019 before being transferred to Gorakhpur Zoo in 2021. Recently it was receiving treatment for pancreatic and liver infections. After tigress Shakti died in the zoo on May 7 due to bird flu, Pataudi was shifted to Kanpur. Some birds are also reported to have died mysteriously around Gorakhpur. All zoos in UP are closed for fear of a bird flu outbreak.

Three other animals too had died - a tiger, a leopardess and a female wolf. Wolf Bhairavi died last Saturday, leopardess Mona died the Thursday before that and tiger Kesari died on March 30. Some of them had Shakti's symptoms but the cause of death has not been confirmed yet.

As tourist inflow is an indicator of normalcy returning to an erstwhile terrorist infested Valley, the Government has been trying hard to make everything travel-friendly, launching lot many projects and bringing Kashmir on the national rail map that physically completes the process of Kashmir's integration with the rest of India. And that defeats the designs of Pakistan eyeing Kashmir and simply explains a recrudescence of terrorism in J&K.

The committee headed by justice Kurian Joseph will study Centre-State relations and make proposals to ensure foolproof separation of powers.

"It's a big victory not just for Tamil Nadu but for all Indian States. DMK will continue to struggle for and win State autonomy and Federal polity," Chief Minister MK Stalin said.

Of 2.08 km in length, it features 99 spans and a 72.5-metre vertical lift span that rises up to a height of 17 metres, facilitating smooth movement of ships while ensuring seamless train services to the holy town of Rameswaram on Pamban island.

ANALYSIS: There is a lot of hue and cry around the world over Trump's tariffs. But tariff, simply put, is a tax. But unlike tax, it affects the exporting country too. Domestic prices will go up for some time. Nothing more will happen, good or bad!

What motivated Trump's newfound policy, apart from being a stunt to justify his existence in the White House, is a false realisation that increased tariff will make foreign goods prohibitive, thereby boosting local production, and create more jobs, and more prosperity will ring in! If that is true, India would have been shining by now: Producing own Rolls-Royce La Rose Noire Droptail and Scotch Whiskies! And what about coconut and palm oil by America! (Today's headlines )

PROGNOSIS: It looks a Real New Trump is emerging - courageous, balanced, powerful and disinterested. Determined to save his country from the cliff, he has done quite a few draconian things that will reduce the burden of debts of the Federal entity, like the golden handshake, stopping senseless funding, pulling out of a worthless WHO. Shutting the Education Department is another. On the other hand, running it is also not the Centre's job either (We will convincingly elaborate it in the next chapter).

In India the scene is just the opposite. Centralisation is the core agenda and identity of the ruling dispensation without which it has no existence, or in other words, it exists for that set of schemes only. A realisation of this never dawned upon any Opposition party in 2014 or any time thereafter, what to talk of being able to see it coming 70 years ago! The consequence of all this violation of basic natural law of the universe we cannot predict.

THE AMERICAN CONUNDRUM: Political venom has migrated to top echelons in the US. It was reported last year NASA has become politicised, vitiated. But NASA refuted the charge. How Boeing developed a glitch but its unmanned return was smooth. When Suni-Wilmore were stranded last June, why the return was set for February? Because that comes only after January 20! SpaceX called the shots, for itself and for Trump. Then the mission was manipulated for March for a better bargain! In between, what made Elon Musk 'predict' during campaign if Kamala Harris wins he would be in jail. In politics, it is said, "the only rule is there are no rules." Difficult times for Americans too.

The terminations are part of a large-scale exercise going on all across Fed departments and organisations to reduce wasteful Government expenditure as decided by a Trump in a mess gone berserk, and improve administrative efficiency following the whims of billionaire and his associate Elon MusK and his DOGE. It has not been shared how terminations are going to raise the efficiency bar! It looks like Trump has stolen some of the prescriptions meant for India. But the American problems are quite different.

Suddenly these colonial clerks feel this effortless, little rule will tremendously enhance security and convenience for the railway passengers manifold. More stations will be covered in the next 77 years! (Also See: New Delhi station stampede... What went wrong?)

ANALYSIS: "The standard operating procedure for deportations by aircraft used by ICE that is effective from 2012 provides for the use of restraints," says the Government. That means, it is taken for granted the US will set the standard for deportations. For another, the Government is more interested in comparing with what happened in 2012 under a different Government to justify its own compliance! No surprise, others are trampling upon us. (How we conduct ourselves inside decides, inherently, how we are treated outside) Thirdly, the Government blamed the gangs doing the business of human trafficking for the illegal migration. For all the crimes taking place in the country, let us blame the criminals! Funny! We will never move an inch forward! The mindset defines what we are.

Meanwhile, a UN-returned Congress leader Shashi Tharoor sounded like a layman when he said, "If they are citizens of India we have an obligation to take them back." Who said 'No'?. He should know that is not the issue now. Who will identify an undocumented person, and how?

The function was held indoors from 12 pm (10:30 pm IST) at the rotunda of the US Capitol building because of unusually intense cold and snow. Delivering his inaugural address, Trump remarked, “The golden age of America begins right now," and just hours later signed a slew of executive orders to redeem the election pledges.