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 Gear snag forces Air India Express emergency landing: 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 PM Modi, Oman Sultan pledge to consolidate strategic partnership STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE 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 4 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 on Friday: Lok Sabha passes VB-G RAM G Bill to reform rural employment amid strong opposition resistance 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. 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," 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. 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. Chouhan slams Congress, INDIA Bloc over VB-G RAM G ruckus: STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE New Delhi, 18 December 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 job 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 New Delhi: 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 who raised various objections on the legislation, including the removal of Mahatma Gandhi’s name. Several opposition MPs entered the well of the House to register their protest, raising slogans against the government, tearing copies of the Bill, and throwing them towards the Chair. Expressing distress over the Opposition’s conduct in the House, Chouhan said he 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”. and delay compensation, the new bill designates the scheme as a CentrallySponsored one. Indian visa centre in Dhaka reopens after brief closure amid security concerns AGENCIES Dhaka, 18 December The Indian Visa Application Centre (IVAC) in Dhaka resumed its operations on Thursday, a day after it was temporarily closed due to security concerns over an anti-Indian march to its High Commission in Bangladesh. According to the IVAC notification on its website on Wednesday, the centre in Dhaka said that it will close its office earlier than its usual closing time. "In view of the ongoing security situation, we wish to bring to your kind notice that IVAC JFP Dhaka will be closed at 2 pm today," IVAC said on Wednesday. The IVAC located at Jamuna Future Park (JFP) in Dhaka serves as the principal integrated centre for all Indian visa services in the capital. Currently now functional, the IVAC centre was shut down due to a programme called by the July Oikyo, a hardline group, titled "March to Indian High Commission" to demand the return of former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, who were sentenced to death for crimes against humanity during the July uprising in 2024. Meanwhile, today, visa application centres in Khulna and Rajshahi in Bangladesh have been shut down due to anti-India protests, an official of the High Commission of India in Dhaka said. "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," the official told ANI. "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. Similar protests have also been called in Khulna. 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. India look for closure in final T20I against SA Page 12 CM Mamata slams Centre, vows Gandhi name for Bengal job scheme STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE Kolkata, 18 December It was meant to be a business and industry conclave. However, buoyant over fresh industrial pledges and praises from industry topnotches, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, on Thursday used this platform to launch a scathing attack on the BJP over replacing Mahatma Gandhi’s name from MNREGA. Banerjee went on the offensive from the beginning at Thursday’s event. With polls round the corner, fresh investment pledges worth more than Rs 16,000 crore from several business groups gave her the confidence and courage to lash out at the Saffron Brigade, political analysts feel. Banerjee on Thursday said her government would rename its rural job guarantee programme after Mahatma Gandhi’s name, slamming the BJP-led government at the Centre for seeking to replace the 20-yearold MNREGA with the VB-G RAM G Scheme. While addressing the business and industry conclave here, Banerjee said “if some political parties failed to show respect to our national icons, we will do it,” without directly naming the BJP. This came close on the heels of the Lok Sabha passing the Viksit Bharat Guarantee For Rozgar And Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill that seeks to replace the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (MGNREGA). She said, addressing the business meet: “I feel ashamed that they have decided to remove Mahatma Gandhi's name from the NREGA programme, because I too belong to this country. We are now forgetting even the Father of the Nation.” “We will now rename the Karmashree scheme of our state after Mahatma Gandhi,” she added. Under the ‘Karmashree’ scheme, the government claims to provide up to 75 days of work to beneficiaries, despite what Banerjee described as the Centre blocking funds under the MGNREGS. The CM said that the state aims to increase the number of workdays under ‘Karmashree’ to 100 in the future. Banerjee said: “We have already created lots of workdays under ‘Karmashree,’ which we are running with our own resources. Even if central funds are stopped, we will ensure people get work. We are not beggars.” Meanwhile, the Kolkataheadquartered RP-Sanjiv Goenka (RPSG) Group committed a fresh capital inflow plan of Rs 15,800 crore to bolster infrastructure across the clean energy (battery storage), education, and healthcare sectors in West Bengal. Echoing similar sentiments, Ambuja Neotia group chairman Harsh Neotia said that the state, under Banerjee’s leadership, offers enormous opportunity in terms of investment, job creations across sectors including education, healthcare, tourism.