BHUBANESWAR l friday l december 19, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l JEYPORE EDITION SC to eci: consider Kerala, u.p. plea on SIR deadline extension Supreme Court on Thursday asked Election Commission to consider representations seeking extension of time for SIR in Uttar Pradesh, Kerala lawyers question hurry in wrapping up sir A bench comprising CJI Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi was told by senior lawyer Kapil Sibal that 25 lakh names were deleted in electoral rolls in Uttar Pradesh alone. SIR deadline in UP was December 3 and in Kerala was December 18. A lawyer questioned the hurry and said assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh are due in 2027 and yet EC was not giving time ■ Jan 6 leave it to the poll panel: eci counsel ■ The bench took note of the submissions and asked the ECI to take a decision “sympathetically” on any representations seeking an extension of time, while considering the ground realities Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, for the Election Commission, opposed the submissions saying these should be left to the poll panel is when final hearings on pleas challenging SIR will be taken up CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Torn papers fly as G-Ram-G bill Another FTA in bag with duty-free replacing Mahatma clears LS Oman access to 99 per cent exports P u s h p i ta D e y @ New Delhi P r ee t h a N a i r @ New Delhi The Lok Sabha on Thursday passed the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill amid chaotic scenes, with Opposition members raising slogans, tearing copies of the legislation, and standing on tables while holding posters of Mahatma Gandhi aloft, despite repeated appeals for order by Speaker Om Birla. The VB G-Ram-G Bill that replaces the two-decade-old Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee (MGNREGA) guarantees 125 days of wage employment for rural households in a financial year, with the government earmarking `95,000 crore for the initiative. A major shift under the new framework is a revised fundsharing pattern, under which states will have to bear 40% share of the scheme’s financial responsibility . Moving the bill for passage after a nearly eight-hour-long debate, Union Minister for Rural Development Shivraj Singh Chouhan mounted a strong defence of the government’s move, insisting that the legislation did not dilute Mahatma Gandhi’s ideals but, instead, sought to NAREGA Act mandates spending of 60% funds on labour and 40% on material. But only 26% was spent on material and funds were siphoned off Torn papers sail past minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in the Lok Sabha on Thursday | PTI strengthen them. As Opposition MPs trooped to the well of the House, raising slogans against the government for dropping Gandhi ji’s name from the rural jobs initiative and tearing copies of the bill and flinging it towards the chair, Chouhan hit out at the Congress for “insulting” the Mahatma and “killing” his ideals time and again. Rejecting the charge that the Centre was deliberately removing Gandhi’s name from the law, the minister alleged that the Congress had attached his name to the scheme for political reasons. “The name of Mahatma Gandhi was added in 2009 with an eye on elections,” he said. Chouhan argued that the exist- KISS student death NCST orders probe, OSCPCR seeks action against doctor E x p r e s s Ne w s Se r v i c e @ Bhubaneswar Trouble mounted for the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) after the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) ordered a detailed investigation into the alleged m u rd e r o f a Class IX tribal student, while the Odisha State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (OSCPCR) accused doctor of a private medical college of furnishing an incorrect death report. Taking cognisance of a report published in the December 18 issue of the Bhubaneswar edition of The New Indian Express, NCST director P Kalyan Reddy sought a report on the incident and the action taken by the authorities within three Continued on P5 days.  ing framework of MGNREGA had serious structural flaws, particularly in the allocation of funds among states. At the outset, Congress MP K C Venugopal urged Birla to refer the bill to a parliamentary committee for a vetting. Birla rejected it, saying an eight-hour debate had taken place on the bill and 98 members across party lines had spoken at length on Wednesday . The Opposition had raised several objections, arguing that the 60:40 cost-sharing ratio shifts a greater wage burden onto states. Congress members Shafi Parambil, Dean Kuriakose and Hibi Eden stood on the table and others resorted to sloganeering in the well of the House. Shivraj Singh Chouhan Voice vote Several amendments moved by Oppn members were not taken up for voting as they were absent. Amid uproar, LS passed the bill by voice vote PM’s displeasure forces govt rethink on MLAs’ salary hike E x p r e s s Ne w s Se r v i c e @ Bhubaneswar Mounting public backlash and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s displeasure over the threefold hike in legislators’ salary and perks is likely to force a rollback of the decision. The first signs of the impending move came on Thursday with BJP MLAs urging Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi to reconsider the decision. At a BJP legislature party meeting under chairmanship of the chief minister, convened exclusively to discuss the issue, a resolution was adopted for reconsideration of the bill passed unanimously in the Assembly on December 9, approving the steep hike in the legislators’ pay. The bill is yet to gain the assent of the Governor. Sources in the party told TNIE, after the bill was moved and passed in the Assembly the chief minister was sum, moned to Delhi by BJP national general secretary (organisation) BL Santhosh on December 14. He was conveyed the displeasure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the hefty hike of salary and other perquisites of MLAs as it sent a wrong message to the people as well as legislators of other states and MPs who are getting significantly lesser pay and allowances. BJP MLAs handing over a letter to Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi requesting him to reconsider the hefty salary hike of legislators | express The CM was summoned to Delhi by BJP national general secretary BL Santhosh on December 14. He was conveyed the displeasure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi BJP sources Santhosh is reported to have told Majhi that such an important decision taken by his government without consulting the central leadership was not well received. Majhi was stated to have been advised to roll back the decision and the first step in this direction was to pass a resolution by the legislature party This . would send a signal to the opposition members that such a step had become imperative for honouring public sentiment, the sources said. Continued on P5 ‘urban phobia’ Plea on enhancing quality of packaged drinking water: Luxury litigation, says SC s u c h i t r a k a lya n m o h a n t y @ New Delhi THE Supreme Court on Thursday declined to entertain a PIL seeking enforcement of global standards for packaged drinking water, terming it as a fit case of ‘luxury litigation’ in a country where a large populace lacks access to basic drinking water. “Where is the drinking water in this country, madam? People do not have drinking water; the quality of bottled water will come later on,” Chief Justice Surya Kant, who was sitting with Justice Joymalya Bagchi, said, adding that these are ‘luxury litigations’. The bench was hearing a PIL filed by Sarang Vaman Yadwadkar, who sought directives to improve and align Indian standards for packaged drinking water with global benchmarks. At the outset, the CJI questioned the very premise of the petition, observing that the court could not lose sight of broader realities faced by the country . “Do you think we can implement standards followed by the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia and Australia? This is an urban-centric approach; people in rural areas drink groundwater, and nothing happens to them,” the bench said. Senior advocate Anita Shenoy, counsel for petitioner, said the issue concerned public health and consumer safety Relying on Section 18 of the . Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, which mandates adherence to prescribed safety norms, the counsel said citizens were entitled to clean and safe packaged drinking water, and that statutory obligations could not be diluted. The bench, however, allowed withdrawal of the PIL with the liberty to approach the FSSAI. AT a time when the country is diversifying its export market amid steep, unilateral trade tariffs levied by the US, India and Oman on Thursday signed a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) under which 99% of Indian exports, by value, will have duty-free access to the Omani market. In return, India will offer dutyfree access to 78% of goods imported from Oman. In value terms, 95% of Oman’s exports will have free access to the Indian market. However, India ensured that sensitive sectors such as agriculture and dairy products are outside the trade deal’s ambit. The commerce ministry clarified that all major labour-intensive sectors — including gems and jewellery, textiles, leather, footwear, sports goods, plastics, furniture, agricultural products, engineering goods, pharmaceuticals, medical devices and automobiles — w i l l re c e ive f u l l t a r i f f elimination. For products of export interest to Oman that are sensitive for India, the concessions are largely in the for m of tariff-rate quota (TRQ)-based liberalisation. The trade agreement is expected to provide respite to labour-in- k e y ta k e a w ay s 99% of Indian exports (by value) will enter Oman without any tariffs 1 Agriculture, dairy, tea, coffee, jewellery, footwear sectors are excluded from the deal 2 PM Narendra Modi being conferred the Order of Oman by Sultan Haitham bin Tarik | PTI Full tariff cuts for textiles, gems, leather, pharma, autos amid US tariff pressures 3 2024-25 trade with Oman: India exported goods worth $4.06bn; imported $6.5bn 4 tensive sectors affected by US tariffs. The pact was signed in Muscat by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and Oman’s Minister of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion, Qais bin Mohammed Al Yousef, in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. For the first time, Oman raised the quota for intra-corporate transferees to 50% from 20% and extended the stay for contractual service suppliers to two years, with a possible two-year extension. The pact also eases entry for skilled professionals. The deal allows 100% FDI by Indian firms in service sectors in Oman. Additional pacts cover maritime heritage, agriculture, higher education, and industry ties between Oman Chamber of Commerce and CII.