NEW DELHI: The new nuclear energy bill, which was passed in Rajya Sabha by voice vote after a four-hour discussion while rejecting many amendments moved by opposition to send it to a parliamentary panel for scrutiny, marks a decisive shift in India’s nuclear governance, embedding safety oversight in law across the lifecycle of an atomic plant, unlike the existing framework that relied largely on executive discretion and post-accident accountability.Sustainable Harnessing of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Bill will allow private participation in India’s tightly controlled civil nuclear sector as the country seeks to meet its clean energy goals by 2047. As opposition raised safety and liability concerns, officials said it establishes a statutory safety regime that ensures continuous compliance rather than reliance on one-time permissions. It seeks to provide for a “pragmatic civil liability regime for nuclear damage and confer statutory status to Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB)”.Officials said unlike the previous law – in which nuclear safety oversight was shaped largely by broad executive authority and administrative rules – SHANTI fundamentally recasts the framework by shifting to a “statutory, lifecycle-based regulatory regime”. Govt manages radiation risks and radioactive waste, but does not mandate separate safety authorisations or legally bind safety obligations to each phase of a nuclear plant’s life. AERB’s stage-wise consent process for construction, commissioning and operation existed only as an administrative practice. Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage (CLND) Act, 2010 further reinforced a post-accident approach by focusing on compensation and insurance rather than prevention.“These laws (Atomic Energy Act and CLND Act) treated safety primarily as a post-damage responsibility, rather than a proactive governance requirement,” said an official. SHANTI separates “permission to operate” from “permission to operate safely”, requiring both a licence and an independent safety authorisation. Any activity involving radiation exposure risk – including construction, operation, transport, storage, decommissioning, or waste management – will now require explicit safety approval.It also consolidates regulation, enforcement, civil liability and dispute resolution within a single statute, reducing legal complexity and compliance uncertainty. “It grants a clear statutory authority to AERB to inspect facilities, investigate incidents, issue binding directions, and suspend or cancel operations that do not meet safety standards. Regulatory action is no longer dependent on executive discretion. Accident prevention is significantly enhanced by legally recognising serious risk situations as nuclear incidents, even without actual damage,” said the official. Core functions such as fuel enrichment, spent-fuel reprocessing, and heavy water production will remain exclusively under Centre’s control.Anujesh Dwivedi, partner at Deloitte India, said continuing with the existing legal framework would make it difficult for nuclear energy to replace thermal power in the long run. “Over decades, India added only about 8GW of nuclear capacity. Scaling this up to 100GW by 2047- and potentially 300GW or more by 2070 – required major reforms, which these regulations seek to address,” he said.Meanwhile, PM Modi said passing of the bill marks a “transformational moment for our technology landscape”.

India and Oman signed a trade deal, expanding the country’s strategic and economic relations in the Persian Gulf, and helping exporters at a time when they are facing headwinds in several parts of the world.The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), the second in West Asia after the one with UAE a few years ago, will allow 98% of Indian exports to enter Oman duty free, while India will remove tariffs on 77% of imports from the Gulf nation, excluding sensitive items such as farm and dairy products, gold and oil and gas. Omani dates, marbles and some petrochemical products will see zero duty access, but for limited quantities only. Indian exports to Oman stood at $4.1bn in FY25, while imports were at $6.6bn.While 85% of the products attract 5-6% duty in Oman, there are several food and other products that face up to 100% tariffs, which will be eliminated when the agreement is implemented in the first quarter of 2026. India is hoping to become the largest supplier of electronic goods to Oman, just like UAE.

Services providers and professionals are expected to benefit due to changes in visa rules, while CEPA will open the AYUSH market for India, said officials. Further, Oman has agreed to fast-track approvals for Indian pharma products and will accept halal and organic food certification given by authorities here, helping provide easier access. A social security agreement is also on the anvil.CEPA was signed by commerce & industry minister Piyush Goyal and Qais bin Mohammed Al Yousef during PM Modi’s visit to Oman.

Positive impact of India-Oman pact to be felt for decades: PM Modi

Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) was signed by commerce & industry minister Piyush Goyal & Omani minister of commerce, industry and investment promotion Qais bin Mohammed Al Yousef during PM Modi’s visit to Oman. “Today, we are taking a historic step forward in India-Oman ties, whose positive impact will be felt for decades to come. CEPA will energise our ties in the 21st century,” PM said.“We see our exports growing by at least $2 billion (from the current $4 billion) in a short period, maybe in a year or two,” an official said.Officials said not only will domestic dairy product producers be able to compete more favourably with competitors from New Zealand and Denmark, but even Indian eggs, for which Oman is the largest market, will strengthen their grip. Similarly, Indian marine products, hit by US tariffs, automobiles, plastics and engineering goods, are likely to gain.While talks kicked off two years ago, they were on hold for a long time as Oman negotiated hard to get concessions on nearly 500-600 tariff lines, it could manage to get benefits for around 18-20 items.

Among them are 10 petrochemical products, polypropylene and polyethylene, as govt sought to protect the interests of Indian companies, especially at a time when more projects are planned in the country. While it did agree to import 2,000 tonnes of dates, a small quantity compared with domestic production of 4-5 lakh tonnes, it managed to avoid lowering tariffs for chocolates.Govt also refused to offer the same concessions as UAE when it came to gold and oil and gas. India signed a trade pact with UAE a few years ago, which has helped it boost bilateral trade, and also use the Gulf nation as a hub for shipping goods to Africa. India is negotiating an agreement with Qatar even as it awaits clarity on talks with Saudi Arabia.Oman CEPA is part of a trade diversification strategy, especially after Trump’s punitive 50% tariffs hit Indian exports to US, prompting it to speed up negotiations with a host of partners — from New Zealand to EU and Chile. In recent months, India has implemented an FTA with the four-nation European Free Trade Association and also signed the long-negotiated treaty with the UK, which will be implemented in 2026.

NEW DELHI: Rural development minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said Thursday ‘VB-G Ram G’ bill improves substantially on MGNREGA, which was “riddled” by corruption and inefficiency, as Lok Sabha passed the draft law amid fierce protests from opposition. They demanded that bill be sent to a parliamentary committee for scrutiny and assailed govt for removing Mahatma Gandhi‘s name from rural employment guarantee scheme.As Chouhan began his reply after Congress MP KC Venugopal’s demand for sending Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission-Gramin (VB-G RAM G) Bill to the committee went unheeded, opposition members trooped into the well, tore its copies and continued their protest till the House passed the bill.Gandhi’s name wasn’t part of original 2005 law: Shivraj Singh ChouhanRejecting opposition’s criticism, including removing Mahatma Gandhi’s name, rural development minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan turned to Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s barbed attack on govt for its obsession with changing names and said if anyone suffered from such a proclivity it was Congress, as scores of places, schemes, awards and events were named after members of the Nehru-Gandhi family.There were 25 and 27 schemes in states named after Rajiv Gandhi & Indira Gandhi, while educational institutions named after Rajiv, Indira and Jawaharlal Nehru numbered 55, 21 and 22, respectively, he said, reeling out more data. Unruly protest by Congress MPs and tearing copies of the bill amounts to killing Mahatma Gandhi’s ideals, Chouhan claimed, adding his (Gandhi’s) name was not part of the original 2005 legislation and added in 2009.He said the bill was brought after extensive deliberations as it was felt such massive amounts should not be spent on merely paying wages but used for creating permanent assets as well, while making the programme more transparent. Govt has allocated over Rs 1.5 lakh crore for the scheme and Centre’s share alone be over Rs 95,000 crore, he said. In remarks after the bill’s passage, he denounced opposition for its protest, saying it has turned democracy into “bheedtantra (mobocracy) and goondatantra (hooliganism)”.Rahul Gandhi, he said, has robbed his position of LoP with his conduct, including his current visit abroad when Parliament is discussing key legislations. On the criticism that the bill burdens states with 40% of expenditure, he said both Centre and states are responsible for development. MGNREGA had many shortcomings, some states at times were more interested in drawing funds from Centre and cutting down on their share in expenses of material. One ditch after another was dug up, he said.He told LS, “We have made provisions to improve employment. This vast amount of money will be used to build fully-developed villages,” he said, adding the central sector scheme will be used to ensure water security by creating ponds, irrigation channels and rural infrastructure. Speaker Om Birla said 99 MPs had spoken on the bill during the discussion that lasted eight hours.

TOI correspondent from London: Police and immigration officers conducted a dawn raid on a property belonging to one of Britain’s largest gurdwaras and arrested one man.The property, 11 Beaconsfield Road, is one of around eight properties belonging to Sri Guru Singh Sabha Southall. The properties are meant to house staff serving the gurdwara and visiting preachers from India.The gurdwara executive committee confirmed the raid took place at 6.30am on Dec 16 and said that a person “not approved by the current committee”, but who was known to an employee of the gurdwara, was “detained and taken into custody by police”.Police have not confirmed what he was arrested for, but a member of the congregation told TOI an Indian-origin Sikh man was arrested for drugs and money laundering and that he is the son of a person who works at the gurdwara.“Police executed a search warrant for criminal activity and because the house was full of preachers, they had concerns about illegal immigrants, so the immigration service was then called. The police bashed down every door and detained everyone and handcuffed them while they were searched and checked,” he said. “There have been immigration raids in the past on gurdwara properties and illegals have been detained,” he said.The executive committee said it was undertaking a review of all its properties and “individuals not involved in Sabha-related activities and those without formal agreements” had been asked to vacate.One of its properties had been given by a former committee free of charge to Aasra Welfare UK, a women’s refuge which helps women and children fleeing domestic abuse, including those without legal status in the UK.Jaskaran Kaur Shergill, director of Aasra, said the committee had now asked her to return the keys but the three women and five children living there had nowhere to go. “They can’t evict people who are at risk,” she said.Gurdwara secretary Surinder Singh Dhatt said the refuge has been served notice as “we don’t know who is living there. We want to know who is living in each place and make sure there are no illegal immigrants”. He added the gurdwara had filed a complaint with the police about the raid. “They should have informed the gurdwara in advance. It has caused a lot of distress to everyone,” he said.

PATNA: A video purportedly uploaded by a Pakistan-based man, threatening Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar over the hijab row has sent Patna police into a tizzy with cops registering a case with the cyber police station and asking Meta to block the account used to upload the video.Inspector general of police (Patna) Jitendra Rana said an email was sent to Meta to block the account and an FIR registered against the profile at the Cyber police station in Patna.“Details have been sought from Meta about the profile, which shared the video content on Instagram. Further investigation is underway to identify the uploader and people who shared it,” Rana told TOI.The Instagram user identified himself as “Shahzad Bhatti”, a Pakistan-based gangster, who released the video warning the Bihar CM of dire consequences.“Everyone must have seen what happened in Bihar…. That person still has time to apologise to that girl… Don’t say later that a warning was not given,” Bhatti said in the video.Bihar DGP Vinay Kumar said authorities immediately swung into action and the case was handed over to Patna IG for a thorough probe.Patna Cyber DSP Nitish Chandra Dharia said they have identified the Instagram ID and are investigating the threatening video message. “Further action will be taken based on our investigation,” he said.A row erupted on December 15 when the CM was distributing appointment letters to newly recruited AYUSH doctors. A video emerged, showing the CM handing a letter to Dr Nusrat Parveen, and later lowering a veil covering her face for everyone to see the achiever’s face in a gesture seen by the ruling NDA coalition as “affection shown by a father towards a daughter”.However, the incident drew criticism from opposition parties like RJD and Congress and activists elsewhere in the country.The NDA stood by Nitish, with firebrand BJP minister Giriraj Singh saying that India is not an Islamic country, and showing one’s face is not objectionable. “Doesn’t one show one’s face at the passport office and at the airport?” asked the Union minister.JD(U) state president Umesh Singh Kushwaha narrated how a number of welfare schemes launched by the Nitish Kumar govt for the social, economic and educational benefit of the minority class people have proved to be milestones. “Prior to 2005, the minority class was feeling neglected, but the Nitish Kumar govt has brought it into the social mainstream,” Kushwaha said.HAM(S) patron and Union minister Jitan Ram Manjhi said Nitish pulled the veil not with bad intention but with fatherly affection. “His intention was not bad, otherwise I, too, would have protested,” Manjhi said.

European Union reaffirms commitment to human rights

America seems to be staring at another rocky relationship with the European Union. In a social media post, US officials slammed the European Union for discriminating against American technology companies and threatened to penalize European tech companies in return. The post comes from the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTP). For those unaware, USTR stands for the Office of the United States Trade Representative, a US government agency within the Executive Office of the President, responsible for advising the President and developing/implementing U.S. international trade policy, negotiating trade agreements, and resolving trade disputes. In the post, US officials have complained that the EU has not walked back broader regulation of company business practices while also proceeding with investigations of major American technology companies such as Google, Twitter, Apple, Amazon and Meta. The post specifically names certain European companies that it said enjoy access to the huge American market without any restrictions whatsoever. The European companies that face America ire include: Accenture, Amadeus, Capgemini, DHL, Mistral, Publicis, SAP, Siemens and Spotify.

USTR’s complete post targetting EU

USTR’s long post blamed EU of “persisted in a continuing course of discriminatory and harassing lawsuits, taxes, fines and directives” against American companies. It singled out potential European service providers that could be targeted by name. Here’s the complete post:“The European Union and certain EU Member States have persisted in a continuing course of discriminatory and harassing lawsuits, taxes, fines, and directives against U.S. service providers. U.S. services companies provide substantial free services to EU citizens and reliable enterprise services to EU companies, and they support millions of jobs and more than $100 billion in direct investment in Europe. The United States has raised concerns with the EU for years on these matters without meaningful engagement or basic acknowledgement of U.S. concerns.In stark contrast, EU service providers have been able to operate freely in the United States for decades, benefitting from access to our market and consumers on a level playing field. Some of the largest EU service providers that have hitherto enjoyed this expansive market access include, among others:— Accenture— Amadeus— Capgemini— DHL— Mistral— Publicis— SAP— Siemens— SpotifyIf the EU and EU Member States insist on continuing to restrict, limit, and deter the competitiveness of U.S. service providers through discriminatory means, the United States will have no choice but to begin using every tool at its disposal to counter these unreasonable measures. Should responsive measures be necessary, U. law permits the assessment of fees or restrictions on foreign services, among other actions. The United States will take a similar approach to other countries that pursue an EU-style strategy in this area.”

Kristin Cabot, the former Head of HR at tech firm Astronomer, has spoken on the viral scandal that cost her a career. After months of silence she addressed the “Kiss Cam” moment, blaming the incident on a “bad decision” fueled by “a couple of High Noons.” Cabot admitted she acted inappropriately with her then-CEO, Andy Byron. The 16-second public display of affection, captured on a giant screen of a Coldplay concert and broadcast to millions online, left the 53-year-old executive a “meme” and, by her own admission, “unemployable.”In an interview published in The New York Times on Thursday, Cabot described what led to the viral movement and how she was treated after she was seen cuddling with her boss, saying it was a lapse in judgment. She admitted that she developed a “big happy crush” on Byron, particularly after learning he was in the midst of a marital split.“I made a bad decision and had a couple of High Noons and danced and acted inappropriately with my boss,” she told the publication, adding, “And it’s not nothing. And I took accountability and I gave up my career for that. That’s the price I chose to pay.”“I wanted to put a cute outfit on and go out and dance and laugh and have a great night. And that’s how it was tracking,” Cabot said in the interview. Despite a “part of my brain jumping up and down” warning her to stop, Cabot says she was “on top of the world” in the moments before the camera panned to them. “I took accountability and I gave up my career for that. That’s the price I chose to pay,” she added.

Kristin Cabot says she got death threats

Cabot also said that she was doxxed and received 500 or 600 calls a day for weeks. She said she had to face the ‘paparazzi’ who camped across the street from her house, and cars ‘parade’ in her block. She also claimed that she got death threats: “Not 900. That showed up in People magazine. I got 50 or 60,” she said.“I want my kids to know that you can make mistakes, and you can really screw up. But you don’t have to be threatened to be killed for them,” she added.

US inflation cooled more than expected in November, but economists cautioned that the data may have been distorted by the recent federal government shutdown, while most Americans said they were yet to feel any real relief from high prices for essentials, AP reported.The US Labor Department said on Thursday that the consumer price index (CPI) rose 2.7% year-on-year in November, lower than forecasts and down from 3% in September. The reading, however, remained well above the Federal Reserve’s 2% inflation target, underscoring persistent cost pressures in the economy.The inflation report itself was delayed by eight days because of the 43-day federal shutdown, which also disrupted data collection and prevented the release of CPI numbers for October. As a result, investors, businesses and policymakers received their first official inflation update since late September.Economists warned that the figures should be interpreted with caution. Diane Swonk, chief economist at KPMG, said the data were “likely a bit distorted” due to the shutdown. “The good news is that it’s cooling,” she said, adding that the disruption to government operations and contracting could itself have temporarily dampened price pressures.Similar concerns were raised by Kay Haigh, global co-head of fixed income and liquidity solutions at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, who described the November inflation numbers as “noisy”. She said the absence of October data made month-on-month comparisons impossible and the truncated data-gathering process could have introduced systematic biases.As a result, many economists said a clearer picture of inflation trends may only emerge with the December CPI report, due to be released in mid-January, shortly before the Fed’s next policy meeting.While headline inflation eased, energy prices rose 4.2% in November, driven by higher fuel oil costs. Core inflation, which excludes food and energy, rose 2.6% year-on-year, its lowest level since March 2021.Despite the moderation in inflation, consumer sentiment remained strained. High prices for groceries, insurance, utilities and housing have continued to weigh on households, a factor that analysts say has had political repercussions as well.An AP-NORC poll showed that most US adults had noticed unusually high prices for basic goods and holiday purchases in recent months. Roughly half said it was harder than usual to afford gifts, while many reported delaying major purchases or cutting back on non-essential spending.Inflation pressures have been partly attributed to President Donald Trump’s import tariffs, which imposed double-digit taxes on a broad range of imports, alongside targeted duties on steel, aluminium and automobiles. While the tariffs have proved less inflationary than initially feared, economists said they continue to exert upward pressure on prices and complicate the Fed’s policy decisions.The Federal Reserve last week cut interest rates for the third time this year, but signalled it may opt for just one rate cut in 2026, as it balances easing inflation against signs of a slowing job market.Tariffs have also added to uncertainty for businesses. Footwear maker Wolverine Worldwide said higher import costs had forced it to raise prices on some products and freeze hiring and investment. Its chief executive Christopher Hufnagel said the unpredictability of tariff policy had made long-term planning increasingly difficult.