Seventeen people were injured after an Air India flight travelling from Phuket to Delhi encountered severe turbulence, with Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu saying the disturbance lasted for nearly five minutes. Authorities have launched an investigation into the incident, while four cabin crew members continue to receive medical treatment.

The Airbus A320neo operating flight AI2379 was carrying 137 passengers and eight crew members when it experienced severe turbulence around an hour before landing in Delhi.

According to the minister, passengers recalled that the turbulence lasted between four and five minutes, during which those injured faced significant difficulty inside the aircraft.

Four crew members remain under medical care

The minister said some of the injured cabin crew sustained spinal injuries near the neck and tailbone. Doctors have advised continued medical observation for the affected crew members.

Air India confirmed that all 13 passengers admitted to hospital following the incident have now been discharged. However, four cabin crew members continue to receive treatment.

The airline said its teams remain at the hospitals to support the injured crew members and assist affected passengers and their families.

Medical teams responded immediately after landing

According to the Civil Aviation Minister, medical teams were deployed as soon as the aircraft landed in Delhi.

Passengers received first aid at the airport, while those requiring further medical attention were shifted to Medanta and Fortis hospitals.

The minister also praised the cabin crew, saying they continued assisting passengers for nearly an hour after sustaining injuries until the aircraft landed safely.

DGCA analysing cockpit voice and flight data recorders

The incident is being investigated by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

According to the minister, the aircraft has been moved to a separate hangar, while investigators are examining both the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and flight data recorder (FDR) to determine what caused the severe turbulence.

He said the findings will be made public once the investigation is completed.

The Election Commission on Wednesday published the draft electoral rolls for Jharkhand following the completion of the enumeration phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), with more than 43 lakh names removed from the voter list.

Jharkhand Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) K Ravi Kumar said the state had 2,64,63,236 registered voters before the Special Intensive Revision exercise began. Following the completion of the enumeration process, the draft electoral roll now contains 2,21,01,249 electors.

According to the CEO, 2,21,01,249 electors, or 83.51 per cent of the total registered voters, submitted their enumeration forms by July 29, reflecting strong participation in the revision exercise.

Door-to-door verification conducted during revision exercise

The enumeration exercise for the Special Intensive Revision began on June 30 and continued until July 29. During this period, Booth Level Officers (BLOs) carried out door-to-door visits to distribute, collect and verify enumeration forms submitted by eligible voters.

Why over 43 lakh names were removed

A total of 43,61,987 names were deleted from the draft electoral rolls after being identified under the Absent, Shifted, Dead or Duplicate (ASDD) category.

The CEO said the deleted names include:

• 7.63 lakh voters who had died.
• 15.92 lakh voters who had permanently shifted.
• 14.50 lakh voters who were untraceable or remained absent during the verification exercise.
• 4.38 lakh voters whose names were found registered at multiple locations.

In addition, around 1.16 lakh voters refused to sign the enumeration forms and did not return the completed forms to Booth Level Officers during the enumeration phase, the CEO added.

The Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed the Bankers’ Books Evidence Bill, 2026, paving the way for digital and electronic bank records to be recognised as admissible evidence in courts. The proposed law aims to replace the colonial-era Bankers’ Books Evidence Act, 1891 and update the legal framework in line with modern banking practices.

Bill passed amid opposition protests

The legislation was passed through a voice vote after persistent disruptions in the House prevented a detailed discussion.

When the Lok Sabha reconvened at 2 pm following an earlier adjournment, opposition members continued raising slogans despite repeated appeals from the Chair to take up the Bill for discussion.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman moved the Bill for consideration and passage amid the disruptions. With the protests continuing, the House passed the legislation without a debate. The Bill had been introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday.

What the new Bill proposes

The proposed law, to be known as the Bankers’ Books Evidence Act, 2026, seeks to modernise the legal framework governing bank records used in legal proceedings.

According to the statement of objects and reasons, rapid technological advancement and the growing use of digital banking have made it necessary to update the existing law, which was enacted when banking records were maintained primarily in physical form.

The Bill expands the definition of “bankers’ books” to include records maintained in physical, electronic, digital, virtual, cloud-based and other formats. This aims to create a technology-neutral and future-ready legal framework for the banking sector.

Key provisions of the legislation

The Bill also proposes standardised certificate formats and allows authentication through manual, digital or electronic signatures. It expressly recognises electronic bank records as admissible evidence and permits their production in either physical or electronic form during legal proceedings.

Another provision empowers the central government to extend the applicability of the law to other entities or classes of entities operating in the financial sector, subject to specified conditions.

The legislation also defines the term “special cause”, under which a court may direct a bank officer to produce bankers’ books or appear as a witness to prove transactions, accounts or other matters in legal proceedings where the bank is not a party.

Why the law is being replaced

The existing Bankers’ Books Evidence Act, 1891 was enacted during the pre-independence period to allow certified copies of bank records to be accepted as evidence without requiring the original records to be produced before the court.

Since the law was framed when banking records were predominantly maintained in physical form, the government has proposed replacing it with legislation better suited to today’s digital banking ecosystem.