The Hindu Morning Digest: December 17, 2025

Government tables Bill to replace MGNREGA amid protests

The government on Tuesday (December 16, 2025) introduced the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill, 2025, which seeks to replace the two-decade-old Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), amid Opposition protests. Members marched from the Lok Sabha chamber to Mahatma Gandhi’s statue on the Parliament premises, demanding the Bill be sent for further scrutiny.

DGCA assures Delhi HC that IndiGo will implement new pilot duty norms before February 10

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Tuesday (December 16, 2025) told the Delhi High Court that it will ensure IndiGo implements the new pilot rest and duty norms expeditiously, despite the regulator granting the airline an exemption until February 10. Appearing before a Bench of Justice Amit Sharma in connection with a contempt plea moved by a pilot body seeking proceedings against the regulator for granting relaxations to various airlines, the DGCA said the “exemptions are not granted happily”.

Six children test HIV positive in M.P.’s Satna district hospital blood transfusion case

At least six children have been found HIV positive in Madhya Pradesh’s Satna allegedly due to contaminated blood transfusions at the district hospital during treatment for thalassaemia, officials said on Tuesday (December 16, 2025). According to officials, the children include five boys aged under 11 and a nine-year-old girl who have been undergoing blood transfusions at the hospital. 

Supreme Court refers to three-judge Bench a plea to protect the rights of intersex children

The Supreme Court on Tuesday (December 16, 2025) agreed to examine in detail a petition filed by intersex rights activist Gopi Shankar Madurai seeking urgent safeguards for intersex children, including a ban on non-consensual sex-selective surgeries on intersex infants, and comprehensive recognition in official records.

‘Conscious’ decision to separate funding from regulator, say officials on higher education Bill

The Union government’s decision to take away funding powers from the regulatory authority and create separate regulatory, accreditation, and standards councils for higher education institutions under the proposed Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, was a ‘conscious‘ move in keeping with the National Education Policy 2020 suggestion to minimise conflicts of interest, senior government officials said on Tuesday (December 16, 2025).

With PM in Jordan and Jaishankar in Israel, India reiterates its position on West Asian conflicts

With Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Amman calling for an India-Jordan collaboration for the reconstruction of war-ravaged Syria, and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar in Tel Aviv expressing India’s support for the Trump peace plan for Gaza, India on Tuesday (December 16, 2025) reiterated its willingness to play an important role in the fast-evolving scenario in West Asia.

Delhi court grants Goa police 48 hours transit remand of Luthra brothers in nightclub fire case

A Delhi court on Tuesday (December 16, 2025) granted the Goa police a two-day transit remand of Gaurav and Saurabh Luthra, the owners of the Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub in Goa where 25 people were killed in a fire on December 6.

IPL auction 2026: Green emerges costliest overseas player ever; windfall for Pathirana

Cameron Green lived up to the billing as he emerged the costliest overseas player in the IPL — and the third-highest overall — at the mini-auction ahead of the 2026 season. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) outbid Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to secure the Australian all-rounder for a whopping ₹25.20 crore at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday (December 16, 2025).