December 19, 2025 – India Headlines

Story gist: Sharif Osman Hadi, a key figure in the student uprising that ousted Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, died a week after being shot in Bangladesh.

Bias summary: Left-leaning outlets like NDTV frame Hadi positively as a ‘Student Uprising Leader,’ emphasizing his role in anti-Hasina protests with sympathetic tone. Center outlets like Times of India offer neutral, biographical coverage via ‘Who was’ profile focusing on his ouster involvement without judgment. Right-leaning outlets provide no coverage, omitting the story and any perspective on the uprising figure.

Story gist: Activists addressed an open letter to the Indian government supporting the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. In Telangana, activists urged the state government to adopt an assembly resolution against a related bill.

Bias summary: Left-leaning outlets like The Hindu frame the story positively by directly highlighting the supportive open letter for MGNREGA. Center outlets like The News Minute emphasize activists’ calls for state action against a threatening bill, focusing on grassroots opposition. Right-leaning outlets omit coverage entirely, absenting perspectives that might critique MGNREGA’s costs or effectiveness.

Story gist: India’s Parliament approved the SHANTI Bill. The bill opens the nuclear power sector to private players.

Bias summary: Left-leaning NDTV frames factually as ‘Parliament Passes SHANTI Bill To Allow Private Players,’ emphasizing policy shift without adjectives. Center Hindustan Times uses ‘landmark’ to highlight significance. Right-leaning PM India centers on ‘PM welcomes passage,’ focusing on leadership endorsement and positive tone, omitting broader details.

Story gist: India and Oman signed a free trade pact during talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sultan Haitham in Muscat.

Bias summary: Left-leaning Telegraph India emphasizes bilateral talks between Modi and Sultan Haitham in Muscat, focusing on personal diplomacy. Center Reuters highlights India’s broader expansion of Middle East ties, using neutral strategic language. Right-leaning coverage is absent, omitting any conservative framing such as economic nationalism or geopolitical rivalry angles.

Story gist: Delhi enforced an entry ban on non-city private vehicles below BS-VI emission standards. On the first day of the ‘No PUC, No Fuel’ rule, authorities issued 3,746 challans and 61,000 pollution under control certificates.

Bias summary: Left-leaning NDTV emphasizes enforcement statistics, highlighting 3,746 challans and 61,000 PUCs issued to show implementation success. Center BBC frames it as response to worsening AQI with new measures imposed by India. Right-leaning coverage absent, omitting potential focus on economic burdens or overregulation critiques.