DHARMAPURI l thursday l december 18, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION Homebound in Oscar shortlist for best international feature The much acclaimed Bollywood drama by Neeraj Ghaywan is among 15 films shortlisted in the best international feature category at the Oscars 4th Indian Film to Compete in This Category final five Nominations on january 22 Homebound will compete alongside films like Argentina’s Bel’n, Brazil’s The Secret Agent and French drama It Was Just an Accident. The film stars Ishaan Khatter, Vishal Jethwa and Janhvi Kapoor. The award for best international feature has so far eluded India. Only three films—Mother India, Salaam Bombay and Lagaan—have received nominations so far ■ ■ After a film is shortlisted, it competes for a place among the final five official nominees, which will be announced on January 22 Homebound, which portrays the childhood friendship between a Muslim and a Dalit as they pursue a police job, counts Hollywood legend Martin Scorsese among its executive producers Mar 15, 2026 when The award ceremony will be held at the Dolby Theatre in L.A. 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 Law & order cannot be used to flout court orders: HC to state VB-G RAM G Bill today Lok Sabha clears nuclear bill amid Oppn walkout P REET H A NAIR @ New Delhi THE Lok Sabha on Wednesday cleared the Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Bill to open up the nuclear sector for private players. The bill was passed by voice vote amid a walkout by the Opposition members, who raised the issues of public safety and liability in case of a nuclear disaster. Dramatic scenes are likely on Thursday as well, when the contentious VB-G RAM G Bill is expected to be taken up for passage in the House. The SHANTI Bill was passed after a four-hour debate, setting the stage for opening up the tightly controlled civil nuclear sector for private participation. Opposition MPs, barring those from the Trinamool Congress, staged a walkout during the bill’s passage after the government refused to refer it to a Joint Parliamentary Committee or a Standing Committee. While replying to the discussion on the SHANTI Bill, Union minister Jitendra Singh said the tough provisions of India’s nuclear liability laws led to “silent phobia” in the industry prompting the govern, ment to bring a new comprehensive bill to address concerns. Congress MP Manish Tewari said by removing nuclear equipment suppliers’ liability the govern, ment was putting citizens in harm’s way . “The government will deal only with the operator; it is upon the operator to deal with the supplier,” said Singh, Minister of State in the PMO, who oversees the Department of Atomic Energy . He said the operator’s liability has been rationalised through graded caps linked to reactor size. Meanwhile, a heated midnight debate set the stage for the passage of the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill on Thursday Moving the bill on Wednesday Union . , Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said it will ensure all-around development of villages and make them poverty-free. Congress MP Kodikunnil Suresh said the new bill will break the back of states like Kerala. @ Madurai Security oversight Safety norms, security controls over fissile material, spent fuel and heavy water, and inspections will remain under govt oversight, govt said Misstep, says Cong Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said the bill is a “dangerous leap into privatised nuclear expansion” with no respect for public safety Insurance FDI 100% The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday passed a bill to raise FDI in insurance to 100% from the current 74%. LS had passed it on Tuesday Lucknow AQI @ 400, 4th T20I Fogged out India all-rounder Hardik Pandya wearing a mask during training for the fourth T20I versus South Africa at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow on Wednesday. The match was delayed for two hours due to “excessive fog” with the Air Quality Index at 400 + (hazardous). Eventually the match was called off at 9.30 pm without a ball being bowled. Ticket holders will get full refund | pti Justice GR Swaminathan of the Madras High Court’s Madurai Bench on Wednesday observed that law and order cannot be a ground to flout court’s orders, and such an attempt would amount to breakdown of law and order and paralysis of the constitutional machinery . Hearing two contempt petitions filed over non-compliance of his order dated December 1, directing the lighting of Karthigai Deepam on the ‘deepathoon’ atop the Thiruparankundram hill, the judge said unless an order was set aside or stayed, it had to be obeyed. He also sought a “responsible response” from the Tamil Nadu chief secretary on why court orders were repeatedly being left unimplemented by the authorities at the district level. In the previous hearing, the judge had taken note of fre- Express News Service @ New Delhi Pakistan’s most powerful military chief in decades is facing a critical test of his newly consolidated authority as the US is pressing it to contribute troops to a proposed international stabilisation force in Gaza, a move analysts say could trigger strong domestic backlash, Reuters reported. Field Marshal Asim Munir is expected to travel to Washington in the coming weeks to meet US President Donald Trump, Reuters said. The meeting would be Munir’s third in six months and is likely to centre on Washington’s push for Pakistan’s participation in the Gaza force. The proposed deployment is a key pillar of Trump’s 20-point Gaza peace plan, which calls for an international force to oversee a transition period focused on reconstruction and economic recovery in the Palestinian territory, devastated by more than two years of war. Under the first phase of the plan, a fragile ceasefire took effect on October 10, with Hamas releasing hostages and Israel freeing detained Palestinians. The US officials view the stabilisation force as central to moving the plan Airspace ban for Indian flights extended Pakistan on Wednesday extended its airspace ban for Indian aircraft by another month till Jan 23. Islamabad closed its airspace in April after the Pahalgam terror attack. The previous extension was to expire on Dec 24. India too imposed a similar ban on Pakistan flights. TN mulls parametric insurance for disasters EPS blames DMK on Navodaya school row Chennai: AIADMK leader EPS on Wednesday accused DMK govt of deliberately weakening TN’s legal defence in SC on Navodaya schools issue. “This has cleared way for 3-language formula in TN,” he said | P4 Ramadoss: CBI must probe Anbumani, ECI villupuram: PMK faction led by S Ramadoss on Wednesday demanded a CBI probe into matters relating to Dr R Anbumani and the ECI on party affairs, including party symbol and leadership | P4 Security personnel stand behind barricades to stop protesters marching towards the Indian Mission in Dhaka, Bangladesh on Wednesday | PTI B’desh envoy summoned amid worry over mission’s security J aya n t h j a c o b @ New Delhi India on Wednesday summoned Bangladesh’s High Commissioner Riaz Hamidullah and lodged a strong protest over what it described as plans by extremist elements to create a security situation around the Indian High Commission in Dhaka. Hamidullah was called to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and served a formal demarche expressing India’s “serious concerns” over the deteriorating security environment in Bangladesh. It came after certain groups announced plans to stage protests near the Indian mission in the Bangladesh capital. In a statement, the MEA said India “completely rejects the false narrative sought to be created by extremist elements regarding certain recent events in Bangladesh”. Hamidullah was summoned by B Shyam, Joint Secretary in charge of the Bangladesh-Myanmar division at the MEA, and was specifically apprised of concerns over threats to Indian diplomatic premises. “His attention was drawn, in particular, to the activities of some extremist elements who have announced plans to create a security situation around the Indian Mission in Dhaka,” the MEA said. People familiar with the developments said one trigger for the summons was a controversial speech earlier this week by National Citizen Party leader Hasnat Abdullah, who claimed Bangladesh could shelter separatist forces from India and potentially sever its seven northeastern states. India expects interim govt to ensure safety of missions — MEA Visa centre shut Indian Visa Application Centre in Dhaka was closed on Wednesday due to security concerns Institutionalising trade TN plans new dairy policy to curb milk adulteration B ANBUSELV AN @ Chennai The Tamil Nadu Dairy Development Department has decided to institutionalise milk production and distribution across the state to streamline the sector and curb adulteration, and is in the process of framing a dedicated dairy policy . Under the proposed framework, dairy farmers will be enabled to sell milk directly to Opposing the appeal filed by the state and Madurai authorities against the single judge’s order, counsel representing Hindu devotees said TN authorities have “undisguised scorn and contempt towards” their faith and that they were not being secular | P4 quent violation of his orders by authorities in various districts and had directed Chief Secretary N Muruganandam and Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Davidson Devasirvatham to appear through video-conference and provide an explanation. When the petitions were taken up on Wednesday afternoon, the two officers were present through video conference, while the alleged contemnors — Madurai Collector KJ Praveen Kumar, City Police Commissioner J Loganathan, Deputy Commissioner (South) AG Inigo Divyan and Executive Officer of Subramaniya Swamy temple Yagna Narayanan — appeared in person. The judge cited two cases relating to the lighting of the Karthigai Deepam, one at the Thiruparankundram hill in Madurai and another at the Mandu Karuppasamy temple in Dindigul. In both the cases, the respective district collectors had passed prohibitory orders under Section 163 of BNSS to nullify the court’s orders, the judge pointed out.  P5 Munir in pickle as Don wants Pak troops in Gaza express read Chennai: CM M K Stalin on Wednesday said TN had requested `24,679 crore under NDRF since 2015, but the centre has given only `4,136 crore. The state is now exploring parametric insurance to cover natural disasters | P2 TN authorities not secular: counsel J E G ADEESWARI PANDIAN smaller private players, compa- nies at the Aavin headquarters nies, and other buyers through on Wednesday . milk cooperative societies, inAccording to data from the stead of depending on midNational Dairy Developdlemen. However, the ment Board (NDDB), TN practice of selling milk produces around 300 MILK at the village level dilakh litres of milk per rectly to retail consumday. Aavin accounts for ers will remain unabout 12% of the market changed. In this context, share, procuring between Dairy Development Minister 34 lakh and 36 lakh litres daily , Mano Thangaraj held a meet- while the private sector haning with private milk compa- dles around 25%, or nearly 75 lakh litres a day Nearly 60% of . milk production and distribution is unorganised, while 3% to 4% is consumed by farmers themselves. A John Louis, Director of Milk Production and Dairy Development (DMPDD) and Managing Director of Aavin, said the proposed dairy policy aims to raise institutional milk sales to 50%, thereby ensuring greater consumer safety  . P5 60% of TN milk trade informal While Aavin accounts for 12% of market share, nearly 60% of milk production & distribution is unorganised in the state into its next phase. For Munir, analysts say, the decision carries significant political risks. Any deployment of troops to Gaza could provoke public uprising in a country where support for Palestinians is strong and overseas military commitments remain politically sensitive. “Not contributing could annoy Trump, which is no small matter for a Pakistani state that appears quite keen to remain in his good graces — in great part to secure US investment and security aid,” said Michael Kugelman, senior fellow for South Asia at the Atlantic Council. 260+ve wada Dope test results India tops for 3rd yr in a row NADA tested 7,113 samples, including 537 of that of blood, in 2024 and reported 260 adverse analytical findings (AAFs) at 3.6% Page 11