Business
Probe Into Air India Crash To Move As Per International Mandate: Centre Informs SC
New Delhi: The Central government informed the Supreme Court on Thursday that the investigation into the Air India Ahmedabad crash is being conducted by Indian authorities, in accordance with the mandate laid down by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).
The Solicitor General of India (SGI) Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, submitted that the victims of the crash include foreign nationals as well. This, Mehta added, requires the investigation to be handled as per the international regime, which is followed in air crashes.
During the hearing, the Supreme Court, after hearing the Centre’s oral submissions, asked the petitioners, the father of deceased Captain Sumit Sabharwal, and an NGO, Safety Matters Foundation, to file their counter-replies to the Centre’s submissions, in this regard.
Earlier, the Supreme Court had sought the Centre’s response on pleas filed by petitioners seeking an independent, court-monitored probe into the Air India Ahmedabad crash that killed 260 people.
During the hearing today, Senior Advocate Gopal Sankarnarayan and Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the petitioners Pushkarraj Sabharwal, who is the father of Captain Sumit Sabharwal, the pilot of the Air India flight that crashed near Ahmedabad airport on June 12, and Safety Matter Foundation, another petitioner, sought a court-independent probe into the crash.
Bhushan stated that, as per the rules provided by the government, an accident of such a serious nature requires a court-ordered inquiry. Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, in agreement with the Centre’s submission, stated that there is indeed an international framework to be followed in the event of such crashes, but it is not being followed by the Central government.
During the hearing, the apex court also clarified that the Air Accident Investigation Bureau of India’s (AIBB) preliminary report has nothing to do with attributing responsibility or blame with respect to the tragic crash.
“It is not to apportioning responsibility, it is to clarify the cause and then give reasoning of the crash”, Justice Bagchi said.
Counsels appearing for petitioners also informed the Court that the Centre has not yet filed its response on their pleas seeking an independent probe into the crash. After noting the same, the Court asked the Centre to file its response in writing.
It also asked the petitioners to file their counter replies to the Centre’s response and listed the matter on a later date. (The listed date for the next hearing in the matter will be confirmed once today’s order is uploaded on the official Supreme Court website.)
Michael Race & Sean FarringtonBusiness reporter & business presenter
Chris O’Shea hasn’t lived in Scotland for decades but the boss of Centrica, the owner of British Gas, is worried over the future of the energy industry in his homeland.
He is concerned that the “demise” of drilling for gas and oil in the North Sea and the move to green energy will not create new roles quickly enough to offset job losses.
His wide-ranging interview with us follows a series of difficult moments for the industry as soaring energy prices pushed household bills up and saw bumper dividends to shareholders and pay packets to bosses – including him. British Gas also faced a scandal over force-fitting prepayment meters in the homes of vulnerable people who fell behind on bills, something he says the company doesn’t do anymore.
Today O’Shea says his big concern is the decline in jobs in the North Sea oil and gas industry. The UK’s largest oil and gas producer, Harbour Energy, announced job cuts earlier this year. And this month, the Port of Aberdeen said it would cut roles in the face of what it described as a “staggering” fall in North Sea oil and gas activity.
“The energy transition is the right thing for us to do. It’s essential,” says O’Shea, pointing out that British Gas no longer explores for oil and gas in the North Sea and benefits more from energy being imported from overseas.
That’s not to say he doesn’t think there should be more drilling in the North Sea.
“Whether you look at this from a cost point of view or whether you look at this from a carbon point of view or environmental point of view, the gas that you produce domestically will often be cheaper than the gas you import, and it will definitely be cleaner than the gas you import,” he says.
But going back to the transition to green energy, he tells the BBC’s Big Boss Interview that the question is over the pace at which it needs to happen, drawing on personal experience.
“I grew up in the town of Fife, which was surrounded by coal mines. I saw the devastation when the coal mines were closed during the miners’ strike and people that had incredibly well-paid jobs – they went to no work at all.
“You’ve got second, third-generation people that are not in work now. And I desperately want to avoid that through this transition.”
He says he found it quite hard to get a job after university and “got loads of rejection letters”.
“I know what it’s like to be a bit worried about getting a job,” he says.
“I also know what it’s like to get a job that you like, and you find out that you’re good at, it can change your life – it certainly did for me.”
However, the chief executive is no stranger to cutting roles, having axed the best part of 5,000 soon after he took charge during the height of the Covid pandemic in April 2020.
“I wasn’t sure the company was actually going to survive,” he says. “The only way I could justify that to myself was I was trying to protect 20,000 jobs, I couldn’t protect them all.”
Since then, Centrica has taken on 1,700 apprentices and has committed to taking on one more every day for this decade at least.
Much like energy prices in recent years, it’s been a volatile time in the hotseat for O’Shea.
As wholesale energy prices soared in part due to supply issues following the outbreak of war in Ukraine, many small suppliers went bust as they were unable to afford the fixed-price deals they’d locked into with customers.
“It’s all down to poor regulation,” O’Shea says, arguing that energy regulator Ofgem should have been stricter on making sure suppliers had enough cash to manage risks.
“You cannot have a system whereby the profits are privatised and the losses are socialised,” he says.
Ofgem told the BBC its regulation meant the sector “now holds around £7.5bn in assets, a significant reverse from -£1.7bn during the crisis, meaning they are now better protected against failure, and the impact this has on customer’s bills”.
As energy bills surged, there were questions over bumper dividends to shareholders, and O’Shea’s own salary and bonuses which hit £8.2m in 2023.
“Investors invest and they want a return,” he says. “People don’t put money in the bank and say, ‘it’s ok, don’t give me any interest’ and investors don’t buy shares and say, ‘it’s ok, don’t give me any return’.”
Those dividends, O’Shea argues, are not generated from British Gas customers, and are as a result of other parts of Centrica’s diversified business.
“There is very little profit that’s made in the energy retail business. You’re capped on the profit that you can make at 2.4% of your revenue,” he says.
The 52-year-old faced a huge public backlash after it emerged that debt agents working for British Gas were breaking into people’s homes to fit prepayment meters.
“We are not doing that at the moment,” he says when asked if this has resumed.
But he argues the regulator Ofgem needs to tell firms how to act when people don’t pay and how to find out who cannot pay and who refuses to.
“My heart goes out to those people who can’t pay, but those people who choose not to pay are freeloaders and we have to find a way to differentiate and go after the people who choose not to pay, and to remove the distress from people who are unable to pay,” he adds.
He seems supportive of potential plans for the chancellor to announce relief for billpayers in the Budget, such as cutting the current 5% rate of VAT charged on energy.
“Anything that reduces the cost of energy, I would welcome.
“But the reality is we have got to pay for it in some way,” he warns.
Business
GST cuts ignite car sales boom! Automakers plan to ramp up output by 40%; aim to boost supply, cut wait times – The Times of India
India’s top car makers Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai Motor India and Tata Motors, are gearing up to expand production by 20–40% in the coming months. The ramp up comes after a sharp revival in vehicle demand following the recent Goods and Services Tax (GST) cuts. Maruti Suzuki, the country’s largest carmaker, plans to produce over 200,000 vehicles in November, compared with an average of 172,000 units a month till September, according to people familiar with the company’s plans. The production push will mark a record for the month, which typically sees manufacturers scale back dispatches after the festive season rush, as per an ET report.
Tata Motors has instructed its suppliers to prepare for output of 65,000–70,000 vehicles every month, a notable rise from an average of 47,000 units produced in the first half of the fiscal year. Meanwhile, Hyundai Motor India has started operating two shifts at its second plant in Talegaon, Maharashtra, increasing capacity by up to 20%. Passenger vehicle sales in India hit a record 557,373 units in October, driven by festive-season demand and post-GST price benefits that have depleted dealership stocks. Maruti Suzuki’s retail sales alone jumped 20% to 242,096 units last month. Partho Banerjee, senior executive officer for marketing and sales at Maruti Suzuki, said the company began November with 104,000 vehicles in stock, enough to last 19 days, and 350,000 pending orders. “Our production teams are working overtime, even on a few Sundays, to maximise supplies and reduce wait time,” Banerjee said. Tarun Garg, chief operating officer at Hyundai Motor India, said the GST cuts had a significant impact on sales. “We (at Hyundai) were constrained by capacity (earlier). But now with the Pune plant coming in, we should see an upside (in production) by 20%,” he told ET, adding that the company plans to strengthen its presence through new products and additional capacity. Tata Motors is equally upbeat. The festive season has “brought strong momentum to our retail performance, supported by healthy network stock levels and the positive impact of GST benefits,” said Amit Kamat, chief commercial officer, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles. He added that the company expects growth to continue in the second half of the fiscal year, supported by a strong order book and upcoming launches. Maruti Suzuki also expects steady growth in the coming months. In its recent post-earnings call, the automaker said it anticipates a 6% rise in industry sales in the second half of FY26, after a 1% decline in the first half. According to S&P Global Mobility, which tracks vehicle production and sales on a calendar-year basis, India’s car market outlook for 2025 remains stable despite temporary disruptions caused by the timing of the GST rate cut. The firm expects the recent demand surge to offset earlier slowdowns and extend into next year. Gaurav Vangaal, associate director for light vehicles in the India subcontinent at S&P Global Mobility, told ET, that before the tax cuts, vehicle production was expected to rise 1–2% in 2026. “We now feel this would be much higher at 6–7%.” In the first six months of this fiscal year, production of cars, sedans and utility vehicles in India rose 3.8% to 2.57 million units, while exports increased 18% to 445,884 units, according to data from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM). Domestic wholesales, however, dipped 1.4%. SIAM is yet to release wholesale and production data for October.
The prime minister will “get rid” of the aide behind a briefing that has led to a leadership row if he finds them, energy secretary Ed Miliband has said.
Sir Keir Starmer has apologised to Wes Streeting for anonymous attacks from No 10 that he was plotting a coup, which the health secretary decried as “self-defeating” claims.
“If he finds the person, he’ll get rid of them, and I absolutely believe he would do that,” Mr Miliband told Sky News. “I think the briefing has been bad, no question. But my message to the Labour Party, though, is quite simple today, which is, we need to focus on the country, not ourselves.”
Concern around leadership has deepened ahead of chancellor Rachel Reeves’s Budget on 26 November, as the UK economy grew by 0.1 per cent in the three months to September, according to the Office of National Statistics. This is a marked slowdown from the 0.3 per cent in the previous quarter.
ONS director of economic statistics Liz McKeown linked slow growth to the impact of the JLR cyber attack on the manufacturing sector.
Analysis: Knives still out for McSweeney
Senior Labour figures are still furious about the events of the last 36 hours – and demanding the head of Starmer’s chief of staff Morgan McSweeney, according to Whitehall Editor, Kate Devlin.
A Labour peer told the Independent Keir was being “derailed” by some of the people around him.
“It was a mistake to sack Sue Gray, engineered by McSweeney. Some say McSweeney is too powerful to sack – but that would now show Starmer is fully in charge,” he added.
Kate Devlin, Whitehall Editor13 November 2025 09:35
Three ways Starmer could be ousted as PM after Streeting coup rumours
Bryony Gooch13 November 2025 09:27
Former bank chief claims Reeves doing all she can to stop economic growth
The former chairman of NatWest Bank has launched a broadside against Rachel Reeves warning she is doing everything she can to prevent economic growth.
Economist Sir Howard Davies told Radio 4’s Today Programme criticism of the chancellor comes less than two weeks ahead of a crucial budget which many believe could make or break the government.
While the chancellor came into office claiming that economic growth was her number one mission, the economy has stagnated.
Sir Howard blamed the policies she has brought in including increasing national insurance contributions on employers and new employment rights.
He said: “I would say that the way the government have been behaving in recent months is such that if they were trying to slow the economy down, I can’t think of anything else I would do, because you demonstrate first of all that you’ve got trouble at the top of the government, you then conduct a series of remarkable leaks suggesting that you’re going to tax property, you’re going to tax wealth, you’re going to tax gambling, you’re going to tax banks. You’re now going to tax even bikes for goodness sake.
“All of that is a sort of cumulative weighing down and creation of uncertainty. In addition, you have legislation which makes it more expensive to hire people, and you carry out a policy of public spending whereby public sector wages are going up by 6.6 per cent a year, and private sector by 4.2 and that is stopping the Bank of England from reducing interest rates, which would help as well. So there’s a whole series of things which are not appropriate.”
David Maddox, Politics Editor13 November 2025 09:20
Starmer’s shambles in No 10 risks handing power to Farage, Alastair Campbell warns
In a withering attack, Alastair Campbell said public support for the prime minister was “draining away” fast, adding that the government had “no compiling narrative” and had scored ‘too many own goals.’
The intervention by Mr Campbellcomes amid reports the prime minister has apologised to his health secretary Wes Streeting over a briefing operation against him on Tuesday evening from within Downing Street.
Mr Campbell said the prime minister needs to reassert control as he faces demands to sack his chief of staff Morgan McSweeney over the claims made by sources that Mr Streeting was preparing to launch a leadership coup.
Bryony Gooch13 November 2025 09:14
Alistair Campbell tells Downing St ‘get a grip’ amid leadership row
Alastair Campbell, former director of communications at Number 10, said Downing Street needs to “get a grip” as Sir Keir Starmer faces a leadership row following briefings against Health Secretary Wes Streeting.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Mr Campbell said he believed the Labour Party’s strategy “isn’t going very well”.
He said: “The worst thing about recent days is it’s made a relatively new government look like the last lot.
“There are bigger, worse enemies – like Nigel Farage.”
“Get a grip,” he added.
Bryony Gooch13 November 2025 09:05
PM is going ‘nowhere’ says former Labour comms chief
Amid concerns around the Budget, pressure remains on Sir Keir Starmer following a leadership row following briefings against Health Secretary Wes Streeting.
Former Labour communication chief Tom Baldwin told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme he believes the Prime Minister is going “nowhere”.
Asked whether he thinks the Prime Minister is in control, Mr Baldwin said: “I think this is the time where he really can get a grip on this.”
The former journalist, known to be close to the Prime Minister, added: “Keir Starmer is going nowhere out of Downing Street.”
Mr Baldwin’s comments come as Sir Keir faces pressure to overhaul his “toxic” Downing Street operation, after the Health Secretary criticised briefings from No 10 suggesting that he was plotting a coup.
Speaking to Sky News yesterday, Mr Streeting said the “juvenile” briefing against him showed problems with the culture in Sir Keir’s administration.
Bryony Gooch13 November 2025 08:40
Watch: Ed Miliband responds to Labour coup plot rumours
Bryony Gooch13 November 2025 08:29
Industry analysis: ‘All eyes will be on the Budget after weak GDP reading’
Scott Gardner, investment strategist at JP Morgan Personal Investing, has said that more pressure is on the upcoming Budget after the weak GDP figures.
“All eyes will now be on the upcoming Budget with another weak GDP reading only adding to debates around which levers the Chancellor can pull to stimulate growth. In our view, boosting housing market activity is key to unlocking decent, sustained growth.
“This is especially important as recent uncertainty around potential changes to stamp duty and council tax has impacted overall sales and led to a softening in some parts of the market, like London.”
Bryony Gooch13 November 2025 08:22
Analysis: ‘Unspectacular’ economic growth shows importance of policies to boost public and private investment
Reacting to today’s quarterly GDP figures, Ashwin Kumar, director of research and policy at IPPR, said: “The UK continues to show unspectacular economic growth. Today’s figures emphasise the need for the government to continue with its policies to boost public and private investment, reform the planning system, and improve our trading relationship with the EU.
“The government needs to consider how it can provide more certainty to businesses looking to build and look at how it can reform taxes to promote growth.
“This quarter’s GDP figures were also affected by a major cyber attack on one car manufacturer, emphasising the real effects of cyber crime, and the economic value of measures to protect the UK from such activity.”
Bryony Gooch13 November 2025 08:14
Miliband admits GDP figures are ‘disappointing’
Ed Miliband has admitted that this morning’s GDP (gross domestic product) figures are “disappointing”.
The UK economy grew by 0.1 per cent in the three months to September, according to the Office of National Statistics, which is slower than expected.
Just after it was announced, the energy secretary told BBC Breakfast: “These are disappointing figures.”
He partly blamed the impact of the JLR cyber attack on the manufacturing sector, saying: “There were particular factors due to the JLR cyber attack that have affected the figures that come out today.”
He added: “The government are very focused on taking the actions that can get growth going in our economy because that’s the way to raise living standards.”
Bryony Gooch13 November 2025 08:11
India clears introduction of Credit Guarantee Scheme for Exporters
British Gas boss concerned for Scotland’s energy industry jobs
From sewer to furnace: How wastewater sludge is greening steel production
GST rationalisation impact: Higher RBI dividend expected to offset revenue shortfall; CareEdge flags tax pressure – The Times of India
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