The Editorial Page: MGNREGA was the ground beneath our feet. It’s slipping away 8 FRIDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2025 Journalism of Courage AHMEDABAD, LATE CITy, 18 PAGES ₹5.00 l www.indianexpress.com DA I Ly F R O M : A H M E DA B A D , C H A N D I GA R H , D E L H I , j A I P U R , kO L k ATA , L U C k N O W , M U M B A I , N AG P U R , PAT N A , P U N E , VA D O DA R A Happening today lTHE FIFTH AND FINAL T20 International between India and South Africa begins at 7 pm in Ahmedabad. Will India seal the series or will the visitors ensure the honours are shared? THE BLUEPRINT FOR OUR SHARED FUTURE: PM Looking to expand market access, India inks free trade pact with Oman E. Labour-intensive sectors to gain from zero-duty PArlIAmENT P 12 access on 98% of LS PASSES BILL TO REPLAcE MNREgA Oman’s tariff lines TRACK THIS AND MORE ON www.INDIANExPrEss.cOm AMID PROTESTS NATION PAgE 14 ‘STATUE OF UNITy’ ScULPTURE DIES India’s footprint in West Asia Ravi Dutta Mishra & Shubhajit Roy New Delhi, December 18 INDIA THURSDAY signed a free trade agreement (FTA) with Oman, the second trade deal with a Gulf Cooperation Council(GCC)countryafterthe UAE, in an effort to expand market access for its exporters in the West Asian market at a time when steep tariffs in the US market are hurting trade and investments. ExPlAINED Prime Minister Narendra Modi being conferred with the Order of Oman, the sultanate’s distinct civilian honour, by Sultan Haitham bin Tarik in Muscat, Thursday. PTI RELATED REPORT, PAGE 16 Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who met Oman Sultan Haitham bin Tarik in Muscat, told the India-Oman Business Forum: “Today we are taking a historic decision, the echoes of which will be heard for many decades to come. The Compre- With Oman offering zeroduty access on 98% of its tariff lines, the pact is likely to improve competitiveness for Indian industrial exports. This is India’s second pact with a Gulf Cooperation Council member. It entered into a CEPA with the UAE in 2022. Other members of the GCC are Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. hensive Economic Partnership Agreement, or CEPA, will infuse our partnership with new confidence and energy in the 21st century. This is the blueprint for our shared future. It will give new momentum to ourtrade,newconfidencetoinvestment, and open new doors of opportunity in every sector.” “CEPAwillcreatemanynew opportunitiesforgrowth,innovationandemploymentforour youth.Yourroleiscrucialinensuring that this agreement moves from paper to performance.Becauseonlywhenpolicy and enterprise work together does a partnership create new history,” he said. Under the deal, Oman has offered zero-duty access on 98 per cent of its tariff lines that could result in $2 billion worth of exports in the near term, according to official estimates, benefittinggemsandjewellery, textiles,leather,footwear,sports goods, plastics, furniture, »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Hydel project row: J&K Police warned of 29 workers with ‘terror, criminal’ link COO accuses BJP MLA of causing delays to the crucial Ratle plant Arun Sharma Jammu, December 18 ON NOVEMBER 1, the Jammu and Kashmir Police wrote to Megha Engineering and InfrastructureLimited(MEIL)about 29 people with alleged militant links or criminal backgrounds being engaged in the underconstruction 850 MW Ratle Hydro Electric Project in Kishtwar’s Drabshalla area. BJP Kishtwar MLA Shagun Parihar, who has raised questions about the workers hired for the project, said this “vindicated”herallegations.Thecontroversy, which broke into the open after MEIL Chief Operat- ing Officer (COO) Harpal Singh wentpublicaccusingPariharof causing delays to the project, is set to get a new twist with the surfacing of the letter. In the letter, addressed to General Manager, MEIL, Kishtwar Senior Superintendent of PoliceNareshSinghsaidthatas part of a routine police verificationofKishtwarresidentsworking for the project, the SHOs concerned had submitted reports, and 29 had been “found involvedinsubversive/anti-national activities’’. “By engaging these employees, security of Power Project gets compromised as these individuals are ORDERS POLICE PROTECTION ‘Live-in relations not illegal, State’s duty to protect’: HC relief for 12 women Says couple’s unmarried status doesn’t deprive them of fundamental rights Bhupendra Pandey Lucknow, December 18 THE ALLAHABAD High Court has observed that a live-in relationship cannot be called illegal, nor is living together without the sanctity of marriage an offence. It also said the State is duty-bound to protect everycitizen,andacouple’sunmarriedstatusdoesnotdeprive them of their fundamental rights. Hearing12petitionsfiledby women in live-in relationships who sought protection as they fearedathreattotheirlives,the court ordered the police chiefs of the districts concerned to provide immediate protection if someone disturbs their peaceful living. While issuing the direction on Wednesday, the single bench of Justice Vivek Kumar Singh observed, “The concept ofalive-inrelationshipmaynot be acceptable to all, but it cannot be said that such a relationship is an illegal one or that living together without the sanctity of the marriage constitutes an offence.” The petitioners claimed Business as Usual By EP UNNY In Conversation With Zakir Khan Sold clothes for nearly 20 years in the area where he was allegedly mistaken for thief Himanshu Harsh Bihar Sharif, December 18 FOR ALMOST 20 years, Mohammad Athar Hussain Mohammad Athar Hussain with his wife and daughter had been a regular sight in Nawada and nearby areas, carting clothes such as blankets, curtains and children’s wear and »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 With shelves of pharmacy at LNJP empty, patients told to buy outside Ankita Upadhyay New Delhi, December 18 IN THE middle of North India’s air pollution season, with outpatient numbers havingrisenanesti- DEATH mated 20% above the baseline across hospitals in the national capital, the largest hospital run by the Delhi government is running short of drugs to treat respiratory illnesses, say patients. At Lok Nayak Hospital, where com- by breath EUTHANASIA PLEA SupremeCourt tomeetparents ofcomatose manbefore taking‘finalcall’ Ananthakrishnan G After 45-yr-old man’s lynching in As Delhi gasps for air, biggest Govt hospital Bihar, family struggles for answers running short of respiratory medicine stocks selling them door to door. A year ago, the 45-year-old bought a second-hand bicycle to make the rounds and, with several basic household wants finally met, the family thought their lives had turned a corner. On the night of December 5, thosehopesmetanabruptend. Hussain was caught by a group of villagers who allegedly mistookhimforathiefandbrutally assaulted. After struggling for life for six days, he died early December 12 morning. »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 New Delhi, December 18 Stand-up comedian Zakir Khan in conversation with Anant Goenka, Executive Director of The Indian Express Group, and Devendra Pandey, Deputy Associate Editor, The Indian Express, at the Express Adda in Mumbai on Thursday. AMIT CHAkRAVARTy »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 they approached police in the districts concerned, but no attention was paid to them. In all the writ petitions — which the courtclubbed—thepetitioners prayed that the police be directed to provide protection from people, including family members, relatives or associates, from causing any harm. The court stated, “Since the controversy involved in all the writpetitionsissimilar,theyare being decided by a common judgment.” The order referred to the argument of the government counsel,whostated,“Live-inrelationships cannot be accepted at the cost of our country’s socialfabric.Thesepartiesarenot bound by any law, and either of thepartnerscanwalkoutofthe said relationship as and when they like... It is a contract... renewed every day by the parties andcanbeterminatedbyeither of the parties without the consent of the other party... There is no legal status of such a relationship, the legal status of the childrenbornoutofsucharelationship would not be determined, and it will create a lot of Outside the pharmacy at LNJP Hospital in Delhi. ANkITA UPADHyAy plaints of breathing problems triggered by air pollution spike everywinter,essentialdrugsin- cluding nebuliser solutions, cough syrups, multivitamins »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 NOTING THAT the secondary medical board constituted by the AIIMS director had given a “very sad” report on Harish Rana, a 32-year-old man who has been in a vegetative state for almost 13 years now, the Supreme Court on Thursday said it would take a decision on his father’s plea to allow passive euthanasia after meeting the family. The bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and K V Viswanathan asked Harish's parents to appear in court on January 13. “We have reached a stage wherein we will have to take a final call... It’s a very sad report and it will be a big challenge for usalsobutwecan’tkeeptheboy like this for all time to come,” said Justice Pardiwala, seeking the “thorough assistance” of Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Aishwarya Bhati, and Rashmi Nandakumar »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Ahmedabad