December 5, 2025 – India Headlines

Story gist: Russian President Vladimir Putin visited India, welcomed on the tarmac by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Bilateral talks occurred today on potential pacts in trade, defence, and energy.

Bias summary: Left-leaning Telegraph India highlights PM Modi’s personal tarmac welcome and frames the summit with ‘geopolitical weight,’ emphasizing diplomatic warmth and strategic significance. Center outlet India Today delivers a neutral live update mirroring the title, focusing factually on talks and agenda items without added context. Right-leaning coverage is absent, omitting conservative viewpoints on India-Russia ties.

Story gist: IndiGo airline cancelled 550 flights, a record for the 20-year-old carrier. India’s DGCA granted IndiGo a waiver from new pilot rest rules.

Bias summary: Left-leaning outlets like NDTV emphasize the record 550 cancellations, framing it as a major disruption. Center-leaning Economic Times focuses on the DGCA’s waiver from pilot rest rules, providing regulatory context. Right-leaning outlets absent, missing potential emphasis on business impacts or regulatory burdens.

Story gist: Madras High Court directed Tamil Nadu government to allow lighting of a lamp in Thiruparankundram Hills on the same day and quashed prohibitory orders. The order followed clashes between Hindutva activists and police in Madurai’s Thiruparankundram.

Bias summary: Left-leaning outlets (The News Minute) emphasize clashes by Hindutva activists with police and imposition of prohibitory orders, using conflict-focused tone. Center outlets (Live Law) neutrally highlight the court’s directive permitting the lamp lighting and quashing orders. Right-leaning coverage is absent, omitting potential emphasis on religious freedoms or court support for Hindu traditions.

Story gist: Kerala High Court rejected anticipatory bail for Congress MLA Rahul Mamkootathil in a rape case. The Congress party expelled him.

Bias summary: Left-leaning NDTV emphasizes dramatic biographical framing as ‘Congress Youth Icon’ to ‘Expelled MLA’ rise and fall, humanizing the figure with narrative tone. Center Times of India reports neutrally on court denial in sex assault case and expulsion, focusing on facts without drama. Right-leaning outlets absent, omitting potential emphasis on Congress accountability or stronger condemnation of the accused.

Story gist: Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives in New Delhi today for a visit. European leaders urge India to press Putin to end the Ukraine war.

Bias summary: Left-leaning NDTV frames the story as an opinion piece criticizing Europe’s message as outdated lecturing of India, defending India’s autonomy in an anti-Putin op-ed style. Center outlet Indian Express uses a neutral headline mirroring the story title, focusing on facts without judgment. Right-leaning coverage is absent, omitting potential emphasis on national sovereignty or skepticism toward European interventionism.