NEWS TODAY 30.12.2025

Now you cannot book rail tickets without Aadhaar; Check new rules here

Now you cannot book rail tickets without Aadhaar; Check new rules here

Previously, you could book tickets 120 days in advance, but from November 1, 2024, the railways reduced this to 60 days.

Updated: December 30, 2025 12:26 AM IST

By Tahir Qureshi| Edited by Tahir Qureshi

New Delhi: From today, December 29, IRCTC users without Aadhaar linking will not be able to book tickets between 8 AM and 12 PM. This rule will only apply on the first day of reserved rail ticket booking. Reserved ticket booking opens 60 days before the train’s departure date. The Railways is implementing this rule in three phases. The first phase has been implemented from today. The second phase will be implemented from January 5, and the third phase from January 12.

From December 29, tickets cannot be booked without Aadhaar from 8 AM to 12 PM. From January 5, ticket booking will be restricted from 8 AM to 4 PM, and from January 12, such users will not be able to book tickets from 8 AM to 12 AM (midnight).

Prevent Bookings Via Fake Accounts

The objective is to give as many passengers as possible the opportunity to book tickets online on the opening day and to prevent bookings through fake accounts.

These Are The New Rules For General Reservation Ticket Booking

This rule is introduced to curb ticket touts and fraudulent software. This will make it easier for ordinary passengers to get confirmed tickets on the opening day. Agents will not be able to book tickets during the first 4 hours. Ordinary users will have a full opportunity to book.

The IRCTC account will have to be linked with Aadhaar. An OTP will be sent to your registered mobile number at the time of booking, and the ticket will be confirmed only after entering it. Users without Aadhaar linking will not be able to book tickets during the first 4 hours (window opening). They will get a chance only after that. Currently, no other option has been provided.

Changes For Buying Tickets From The Station Counter

OTP is also required at the counter. Your mobile number must be linked to your Aadhaar. If you are booking tickets for someone else, their Aadhaar and OTP will also be required. To link Aadhaar on IRCTC, log in to the IRCTC app or website. Go to the ‘My Profile’ section, select the ‘Aadhaar KYC’ option, and update your details.

Where To Get Help From?

For booking or OTP-related issues, call the IRCTC helpline (139). For Aadhaar-related problems, contact UIDAI at 1947. You can also seek help at the counter of your nearest railway station.

This rule is applicable across all railway zones in India. Aadhaar authentication is now mandatory for online and counter bookings on every route.

What Is The Railway’s 60-day Rule?

Previously, you could book tickets 120 days (4 months) in advance, but from November 1, 2024, the railways reduced this to 60 days (2 months). This means reservations can be made a maximum of 60 days before the date of travel. This does not include the day of travel. Booking opens every day at 8:00 AM for the 60th day from the current date.

'Jana Nayagan' audio launch enters the Malaysia Book of Records; Vijay's mother, Shobha's, surprise performance turned fans emotional

'Jana Nayagan' audio launch enters the Malaysia Book of Records; Vijay's mother, Shobha's, surprise performance turned fans emotional

etimes.in | Dec 28, 2025, 12.51 PM IST

As actor Vijay steps up his political engagement and gets ready to say goodbye to movies, 'Jana Nayagan' has come together as his swan song. The film has been helmed by H. Vinoth and is produced by Venkat Narayanan, with the cast comprising an array of artists, including Pooja Hegde, Bobby Deol, Prakash Raj, Narain, Gautham Menon, Priyamani, and Mamitha Baiju. The movie has a musical score from Anirudh Ravichander and is set to hit cinema screens around the world on January 9, 2026, during the Pongal holiday. Being Vijay’s swan song, the film has been highly awaited by the fans since its inception.

A festival-like audio launch

The audio launch of 'Jana Nayagan' was a grand affair in Malaysia. Being the audio launch of Vijay’s last movie, fans of the actor flew in from various countries to witness the never-seen-before event. Although security measures and crowd-handling practices were in place, the venue was abuzz like a carnival, drowned in the spirit of frenzied celebration.

A record event in Malaysia

As per News 18, the magnitude of the event reached unprecedented heights as the election-wide audio-launched 'Jana Nayagan' was inscribed in the records of the Malaysia Book. The audio launch of ‘Jana Nayagan’ was held at the historic National Stadium Bukit Jalil in Kuala Lumpur, which has a capacity of 80,000 seats, and it is said that a whopping 75,000 fans were present. This marks the first occasion where the audio launch of a Tamil film outside of India has drawn such a large audience. In honor of this feat, the Malaysia Book of Records' official document was awarded to Vijay on stage. Even before its release, 'Jana Nayagan' is already making history, with the significant cast and its global buzz.

‘Thalapathy Thiruvizha’ turns emotional.

Ahead of the grand event, a special musical performance titled ‘Thalapathy Thiruvizha’ was held with several of Vijay’s hit numbers being sung live. In a dramatic twist that drew a loud cheer from the crowd, Vijay’s mother, Shobha, came on stage and sang the chartbuster ‘Kodambakkam Area’ from the movie ‘Sivakasi.’ Now, fans only chanted ‘TVK… TVK…’ Vijay was seen requesting them to stop from the stage, and this got a lot of attention.

8th Pay Commission: What actually happened in 2025 and what 2026 holds for employees, pensioners

8th Pay Commission: What actually happened in 2025 and what 2026 holds for employees, pensioners

By Upstox News Desk| Updated on December 29, 2025, 13:25 IST

SUMMARY

8th Pay Commission report may not come in 2026. But employees and pensioners can expect arrears with effect from January 1, 2026, whenever the pay commission's recommendations are implemented. This is because of two reasons:

The Government has not yet confirmed whether the 8th Pay Commission will be implemented from January 1, 2026.

As the year 2025 comes to an end, there are a lot of speculations on the 8th Central Pay Commission (CPC) circulating on social media. Some claims are being made that the new pay panel will be implemented from January 1, 2026. However, this is not completely true.

In this article, we explain what actually happened in 2025 with respect to the 8th Pay Commission and what 2026 holds for central government employees and pensioners.

What happened in 2025?

In 2025, the Government took three key steps with respect to the 8th Pay Commission:

Announced the decision to appoint the 8th Pay Commission to review the salary, pension, and other perks provided to eligible central government employees and pensioners.

Constituted the 8th CPC and also nominated its chairperson and members.

Notified the Terms of Reference of the 8th Pay Commission. In the lead-up to the notification of the Terms of Reference, the government also held consultations with various departments and staff bodies, including the NC-JCM Staff Side. The latter submitted several suggestions for the TOR, both before and after the notification.

What 2026 holds for employees and pensioners?

The tenure of the 7th Pay Commission is going to end after 10 years on December 31, 2025. However, the Government has not yet confirmed whether the 8th Pay Commission will be implemented from January 1, 2026.

Recently, in the Parliament, the government hinted that the decision on the date of implementation of the 8th CPC will be taken once the pay panel submits its recommendations. The above means that employees and pensioners will not get a revised salary and pension, respectively, immediately after the start of the New Year on January 1, 2026.

However, employees and pensioners can expect arrears with effect from January 1, 2026, whenever the pay commission's recommendations are implemented. This is because of two reasons:

First, the 8th CPC should ideally be implemented with effect from January 1, 2026, as the tenure of the 7th CPC ends on December 31, 2025

Second, the government generally provides arrears whenever any pay-related announcements are made after their effective dates.

However, any final decision with regard to the implementation of the 8th CPC and payment of arrears is in the hands of the government.

Will the 8th Pay Commission submit its report or recommendations in 2026?

There is a very small chance of the 8th CPC submitting its recommendations in 2026. This is because the 8th CPC was constituted recently, and the government has given it up to 18 months to submit recommendations. If the commission finishes its work within this timeframe, then the employees and pensioners may see the recommendations in 2027.

Those recommendations will be implemented only after they are approved by the government.

However, in the lead-up to the 8th CPC implementation, employees and pensioners may expect dearness allowance (DA) and dearness relief (DR) hikes as per the 7th CPC norms.

Buffalo dies of dog bite in UP, villagers who had ‘raita’ made from its milk rush for vaccine

Buffalo dies of dog bite in UP, villagers who had ‘raita’ made from its milk rush for vaccine 

Krishna.Chaudhary@timesofindia.com 30.12.2025

Bareilly : More than 200 residents of Pipraul village in Uttar Pradesh’s Badaun district suddenly queued up in large groups at a local health centre for precautionary anti-rabies vaccines after widespread speculation that ‘raita’, a side dish made up of yogurt, served at a funeral feast was from a buffalo which had died due to rabies after being bitten by a ‘mad’ dog. The feast was held on Dec 23 in memory of late Oran Sahu, a resident of Pipraul — a village with a population of around 1,800 people, as per official records. 

Locals said villagers from nearby settlements also attended the ‘tehravi’ ceremony. One of them said that the buffalo belonged to Sahu’s cousin who used its milk to prepare the ‘raita’ dish. Three days later, the buffalo died, sparking panic in and around the village. “People are anxious because no one knows much about rabies, and there is more hearsay than facts spreading here... Nearly 250 residents have taken the anti-rabies vaccine already, and others are lining up to do the same. Most of them have left all their work to get this done first,” said Deepak Kumar, husband of village pradhan Renu Devi. He added villagers were particularly worried since the dog — believed to have bitten the cattle — could not be traced. Also, the buffalo was buried soon after its death without a postmortem, leaving health officials without a clue regarding the exact cause, Kumar said. 

A medical team has since been stationed in the village to monitor the situation and counsel residents. Health authorities said that they are vaccinating anyone seeking “precautionary protection”. Budaun’s chief medical officer, Dr Rameshwar Mishra, said, “In two days, 247 residents from Pipraul came to our facility for vaccinations en masse. On Monday alone, 110 people got the shots. 

Counselling is also underway, and villagers are being advised not to panic.” Experts, meanwhile, said that current evidence does not support the widespread belief that rabies can be transmitted through milk. Dr Abhijeet Pawde, principal scientist and in-charge of IVRI (Indian Veterinary Research Institute) Polyclinic, told TOI , “Studies so far do not conclusively show milk consumption as a mode of rabies transmission. No scientific literature confirms that rabies passes into milk in such cases. Transmission risk is higher via direct exposure to saliva or tissue.” Budaun’s chief medical officer said in two days, 247 residents from Pipraul came to the facility for vaccinations en masse. ‘On Monday alone, 110 people got the shots’

Tug of war between AI Group & IndiGo for captains

Tug of war between AI Group & IndiGo for captains 

NEW FDTL RULES Saurabh.Sinha@timesofindia.com 30.12.2025

New Delhi : Call it the IndiGo schedule collapse or its fallout impact. A clamour has broken out between the budget airline and Air India group over having adequate captains to avoid a repeat of what happened under the new safety-enhancing flight duty time limitation (FDTL) rules. IndiGo has had to commit to DGCA about hiring pilots — it will induct 100 in Jan itself — and Air India has already come out with an ad for getting more aviators on board. But both the airlines are also facing a significant number of captain resignations — with some leaving one for the other and mostly for joining foreign carriers. So, the hiring is also to ensure they don’t go below their current numbers which has made the scramble more intense than anything seen before in Indian skies. 

For once, their balance sheet-centric human resource departments are on the back foot and can’t oppose sprucing of ranks after what happened earlier this month. A senior officer of one of the two big Indian carriers claimed its captains are already getting “calls with joining bonus of upto Rs 50 lakh.” “Where do we get captains from? Under the new FDTL, experienced pilots’ availability will become acute. There will be a lot of poaching from each other,” said a senior airline officer. A few years back, said a senior pilot, IndiGo had offered a joining bonus to experienced aviators to join which would take care of the bond payment, if any, needed to be paid to the airline they were resigning from. “This was in the range of Rs 15 lakh to Rs 25 lakh to take care of the bond, which back then was somewhere between Rs 5 and 15 lakh,” the pilot said. “India will witness a scramble for captains between Air India group and IndiGo. While Air India does not have a shortage as of now for its fleet except the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, it has to hire for the future. IndiGo will have to improve its pilot-management relations to retain and attract talent. 3

Akasa does not need more pilots (it has a big surplus). Unless Air India and IndiGo offer better working conditions to pilots, they will not be able to stem the flow to Middle East and other places like Vietnam,” said Captain Shakti Lumba, former VP of Air India and IndiGo. IndiGo has slightly raised pilot pay from next month, by enhancing some existing and adding new allowances. 

Air India is planning a major salvo which will be fired in first week of Jan and is a closely guarded secret within the airline. Pilots at both Air India group and IndiGo have been unhappy for two main reasons — poor working conditions and a pay structure that did not keep pace with inflation. While the FDT proposes to reduce fatigue, the tug of war means that both will have to become humane employers for pilots.

Prez returns Madras varsity bill

Prez returns Madras varsity bill 

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 30.12.2025

Chennai : President Droupadi Murmu has returned the bill passed by the Tamil Nadu Assembly in 2022 amending the Madras University Act, 1923, to empower the state govt to appoint and remove the vice-chancellor of the University of Madras. This power is now vested with the governor, who is the chancellor of the state university. Sources in the higher education department said the President returned the bill a few days ago.

The Tamil Nadu assembly had passed two bills to amend the laws governing 13 state universities to empower the state govt to appoint vice-chancellors. In view of the delay in giving approval to these bills by the governor, Supreme Court deemed 10 bills as assented to by the governor and empowered the state govt to appoint vicechancellors. However, Madras high court stayed process of appointment of vice-chancellors to state universities. The amendment to Madras University Act, 1923, which empowered the state govt to remove the vice-chancellor, needed assent from the President as the act was passed before Independence.

No V-C since 2003,  Madras univ sans V-C since 2023 The bill said, “The vice-chancellor shall not be removed from his office except by an order of the government passed on the ground of wilful omission or refusal to carry out the provisions of this Act or abuse of the powers vested in him.” It further stated that govt shall order an inquiry by a judge of the high court or an officer not below the rank of chief secretary in a case where it proposed to remove the V-C. It also said the vice-chancellor shall be given an opportunity to make a representation. In the statement of objects and reasons of the bills, then higher education minister 

Ponmudy said that in the Gujarat University Act, 1949, and the Telangana Universities Act, 1991, the respective state govt has the power to appoint vice-chancellors of universities. The University of Madras has been functioning without a V-C since August 2023 due to a tussle between the Governor and state govt on appointing a UGC nominee in the V-C search committees.