FOLLOW US: @TheStatesmanLtd @thestatesmanltd thestatesman1875 www.thestatesman.com People’s Parliament, Always in Session India’s National Newspaper since 1818 | Pages 12 | ` 5.00 | KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR | Friday, 19 December 2025 SPORTS WORLD BUSINESS ‘Worst is behind us’: IndiGo Airlines CEO to employees Air India Express makes emergency landing after gear snag: NATION PK’s quiet meeting with Priyanka sets tongues wagging Page 5 Page 9 Page 10 BRIEFLY EU debates massive Ukraine loan; Belgium wants ironclad guarantees Page 12 PM Modi, Oman Sultan pledge to consolidate strategic partnership Lok Sabha passes VB-G RAM G Bill amid strong opposition resistance STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE New Delhi, 18 December PM Modi conferred with Oman’s highest civilian honour New Delhi, 18 December P Thiruvananthapuram: An Air India Express flight lX 398, headed to Kozhikode from Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, was forced to make an emergency landing at Kochi airport in Kerala on Thursday due to a technical snag involving a malfunctioning landing gear. The aircraft, carrying 160 passengers, landed safely at Kochi Airport under full emergency conditions at 9:07 am on Thursday. A major disaster was narrowly averted as the plane was forced to make the emergency landing at Kochi airport after the technical snag was detected. Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) authorities said the plane landed at Kochi airport safely at 9.07 am. Post-landing inspection revealed that the plane’s two tyres had burst. The latest information is that an object stuck in the tyres during the takeoff from the runway at Jeddah airport caused the problem. Page 8 rime Minister Narendra Modi and Oman Sultan Haitham Bin Tarik on Thursday discussed steps to consolidate the strategic partnership between their two countries with the Indian leader stating that the two countries was making the bilateral relation future-ready through AI collaboration, digital learning, innovation partnership, and entrepreneurship exchange. The two leaders welcomed the signing of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), terming it as a “milestone” in bilateral ties and expressed confidence that it will strengthen the strategic partnership. They also discussed issues of regional and global interest. External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval and other officials also attended the meeting held at the Al Baraka Palace in Muscat. The two leaders explored ECI to publish draft electoral rolls for Tamil Nadu, Gujarat today: Chouhan slams Cong, INDIA bloc for ruckus over VB-G RAM G Bill New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced that the draft electoral rolls for Tamil Nadu and Gujarat will be published on 19 December. The Chief Electoral Officers and District Electoral Officers will share hard copies of the draft rolls with recognised political parties. The draft rolls will be uploaded on the CEOs' and DEOs' websites, including lists of absent, shifted, dead, and duplicate entries, ensuring transparency and allowing citizens to verify their names. This crucial step enables citizens to check their names and make corrections. The final electoral rolls will be published after addressing objections and claims, the ECI said. India look for closure in final T20I against SA ways to further add greater depth to the India-Oman Strategic Partnership, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson posted on X. "The leaders welcomed the signing of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) as a milestone in bilateral ties, affirming that it would significantly strengthen India-Oman strategic partnership. Both exchanged views on a broad range of topics including defence, security, trade and investment among others. They also discussed issues of regional and global interest," VIBHA SHARMA I listened to every issue carefully. Today, when I said I would answer all questions, the way they behaved is condemnable. Why are they so upset? New Delhi, 18 December Rural Development and Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Thursday specified that the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, 2025, “guarantees” 125 days of wage employment every year in rural areas. “The word guarantee is there in the bill, I don’t understand what their (opposition’s) problem is,” Chouhan said, talking to media persons after the Lok Sabha passed the VB-GRAMG Bill amid strong protests from the opposition parties over various objections on the legislation, including the removal of Mahatma Gandhi’s name, and “increased financial burden on states” Several opposition MPs entered the well of the House the spokesperson added. The PM, who was on a two-day visit to Oman, also addressed a meeting of the Indian community in Muscat. The audience included more than 700 students from various Indian schools. Modi noted that India and Oman enjoy age-old connections, from Mandvi to Muscat, which today is being nurtured by the diaspora. He also spoke about India’s transformational growth and development, of its speed and scale of change, and the strength of its economy as reflected by the more than 8 per cent growth in the last quarter. to register their protest, raising slogans against the government, tearing copies of the Bill, and throwing them towards the Chair. The VB-GRAMG Bill seeks to replace the UPAera MGNREGA employment scheme — the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005, brought during the Congress-led UPA era. Expressing distress over the Opposition’s conduct in the House, Chouhan said he SHIVRAJ SINGH CHOUHAN, MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE listened carefully to all issues during the discussion, which continued late into the night. “I listened to every issue carefully. Today, when I said I would answer all questions, the way they behaved is condemnable. Why are they so upset?” he questioned, accusing them of reducing democracy to “hooliganism”. Muscat: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is currently on a state visit to Oman, was conferred with the country's highest civilian award — the First Class of the Order of Oman — by Haitham bin Tariq, the Sultan of Oman, on Thursday. Prime Minister Modi received the prestigious award for his contribution to strengthening the bilateral ties between India and Oman. The First Class of the Order of Oman has earlier been awarded to a handful of global leaders, including UK's Queen Elizabeth, Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, former Japanese Emperor Akihito, anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela, and King Abdullah II of Jordan. PM Modi has now received 29 international honours from foreign countries since assuming office in 2014. STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE The Lok Sabha on Thursday approved the Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, 2025 (VB–G RAM G), amid vigorous protests from Opposition parties. The bill seeks to revamp India’s rural employment framework by guaranteeing 125 days of wage employment annually to rural households, in alignment with the national vision of Viksit Bharat @2047. The legislation also restructures the funding pattern of the existing Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). While MGNREGA currently has the central government covering full wage costs, up to 75 per cent of material costs, and some administrative expenses, with states contributing the rest, along with unemployment allowance and delay compensation, the new bill designates the scheme as a Centrally-Sponsored Scheme. Under this, central and state governments will share costs in a 60:40 ratio (90:10 for North-eastern and Himalayan states), with states required to cover any expenditure beyond their normative allocations determined annually by the central government. Union Minister of Rural Development Shivraj Singh Chauhan, who moved the bill, described it as a transformative measure. “The main aim of the Bill is to align the rural development framework with the national vision of Viksit Bharat @2047 by providing a strengthened statutory wage-employment guarantee of 125 days per financial year to rural households whose adult members volunteer for unskilled manual work, thus enabling their greater participation in the expanded livelihood security system,” he said. The bill emphasises empowerment and convergence of various government schemes through ‘Viksit Gram Panchayat Plans’ coordinated via the PM Gati Shakti programme. It also introduces the ‘Viksit Bharat National Rural Infratructure Stack’ to enhance management of rural public works, focusing on priorities such as water security, core infrastructure, livelihood generation, and climate resilience. Supreme Court asks ECI to decide on SIR extension pleas by 31 December STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE New Delhi, 18 December The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed petitioners requesting more time for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Kerala and Uttar Pradesh to submit their representations to the Election Commission of India (ECI), which will decide on the requests by 31 December. A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi issued the direction while hearing a batch of petitions challenging the ongoing SIR exercise in various states and seeking additional time for completion of the enumeration process. The CJI Surya Kant-led Bench directed the ECI to decide on the representations by 31 December and report back to the apex court. During the hearing, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the petitioner, alleged large-scale deletion of voters’ names during the SIR exercise in Kerala. "Twenty-five lakh names have been deleted. The hus- band’s name is not there, but the wife’s name is. When the authorities realise this, they delete the wife as well," Sibal submitted, adding that 18 December was the last date of the enumeration phase in the state. Senior advocate Siddharth Luthra questioned the urgency of conducting the intensive revision exercise in Uttar Pradesh when Assembly elections are scheduled only in 2027. "Let the ECI respond within three weeks," the bench said, adding that senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for the poll body, would commence submissions on behalf of the ECI on 6 January 2026. The Supreme Court refused to hear a separate plea that raised concerns about confidential data being shared with volunteers in the enumeration phase. Raising concerns over data security, the petition argued that the involvement of volunteers in the process had led to citizens’ personal data being shared with private individuals. India unlocks nuclear sector: India shuts down visa application centres in Bangladesh’s Khulna, Rajshahi due to protests Parl passes landmark reform bill STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE AGENCIES Dhaka, 18 December India has shut down visa application centres in Khulna and Rajshahi in Bangladesh due to anti-India protests, an official of the High Commission of India in Dhaka said on Thursday. "There were protests in Khulna and Rajshahi today. Whenever the security situation turns bad, we are forced to shut down. We have shut down visa centres in Khulna and Rajshahi," an official at the High Commission of India in Dhaka told agencies. "We have resumed the visa application centre in Dhaka," he added. In Rajshahi, the anti-Indian hegemony platform "July 36 Mancha" organised a march toward the Indian Assistant High Commission. On Thursday at around 12:30 pm (local time), the march began from Bhadra Mor in the city and proceeded toward the office of the Indian Assistant High Commission. However, the programme was disrupted midway due to police obstruction. As per the prior announcement, when the march started, police stopped the procession by setting up barricades about 100 metres before the Assistant High Commission office. The participants then staged a sit-in in front of the barricades and requested permission to move forward. Similar protests have also been called in Khulna. Earlier on Wednesday, the Bangladesh Police had stopped a group of protesters marching towards the Indian High Commission in Dhaka's Gulshan area, demanding the return of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina and others who fled during and after the July uprising last year, according to The Daily Star. The protest followed threats against Indian diplomats, prompting India to summon Bangladesh's envoy. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said it expects Bangladesh's interim government to ensure the safety of Missions and Posts in the country in keeping with its diplomatic obligations.The protest comes amid heightened concerns in New Delhi about the security environment in Bangladesh. The MEA had summoned Bangladesh's High Commissioner to India, Riaz Hamidullah, and apprised him of India's strong concerns. New Delhi, 18 December India’s nuclear energy sector entered a new era on Thursday as Parliament gave its nod to the Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy (SHANTI) Bill, 2025 after it was also passed in Rajya Sabha. The bill was earlier passed in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. This historic legislation repeals the outdated Atomic Energy Act of 1962 and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act of 2010, replacing them with a unified, modern framework. Moved by Minister of State for Science and Technology Jitendra Singh for passage, the bill repeals the Atomic Energy Act of 1962 and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act of 2010, consolidating them into a modern legal framework designed to meet India’s expanding energy demands and climate goals. It underscores the country’s ambition to achieve 100 gigawatts of nuclear capacity by 2047 as a key milestone towards its 2070 decarbonisation target. A pivotal feature of the legislation is the end of the decades-long state monopoly, allowing private sector participation from major players like Adani, Tata Group, Jindal, Reliance, Vedanta, and NTPC. These firms are already collaborating with international nuclear companies from Europe, Russia, and the United States, signaling a surge in both domestic and foreign investment under a regulated regime. The Union Cabinet had earlier approved the “Shanti Bill,” which authorizes private entities to build, own, and operate nuclear power plants, breaking exclusive control by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL). Private investors can hold up to 49 percent equity in projects, while NPCIL retains strategic control. The bill also permits foreign participation through joint ventures with Indian firms, subject to national security clearances. The reform promotes innovation through publicprivate partnerships in Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) and indigenous Bharat Small Reactors.