Breaking News, December 22 | LIVE updates

The BJP on Sunday accused AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal of trying to create a misunderstanding by linking Purvanchali people with Rohingyas and Bangladeshis, and called on the natives of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh living in Delhi to give a befitting reply to his party in the upcoming assembly elections. This comes a day after Kejriwal claimed BJP president J P Nadda called Purvanchalis Rohingyas and Bangladeshis and "admitted" that their names were being deleted from the electoral rolls in Delhi ahead of the assembly polls due in February.

A local SP leader was arrested on Sunday and an FIR was lodged against 22 people for allegedly using abusive language against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, police said. The FIR was lodged on Saturday night against SP leader Fateh Bahadur Yadav, Seema Bharti, Pushpa Devi, Sanju Devi, Reena Devi, Manisha Devi, Mansha Devi, Urmila, Manati, Nisha, Chandravati and Radhika Devi as well as 10 unknown persons.

Buoyed by the success of the recent global investors' summit 'Bihar Business Connect-2024, which saw investment proposals worth a staggering Rs 1.80 lakh crore, the state government on Sunday said it will now ensure "conversion of memorandums of understanding (MoUs) into investment on the ground within a year.

NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar on Sunday had a telephonic conversation with Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis about the murder of a sarpanch in Beed and the death of a man following violence in Parbhani. Pawar on Saturday visited the families of Santosh Deshmukh, the slain sarpanch, and Somnath Suryawanshi, who allegedly died in judicial custody after his arrest in connection with the violence in Parbhani.

The Narcotics Control Bureau Ahmedabad has busted an international drug syndicate with the seizure of two kg ketamine and arrested four persons, including three Nigerian nationals, the NCB said on Sunday. The accused conspired to traffic ketamine from India to foreign countries through courier parcels, the NCB said in a release, detailing the significant crackdown of the organised drug crime operating from the Indian soil.

The Supreme Court has asked the Bombay High Court and the Maharashtra government to evolve a mechanism to ensure that accused are produced before trial judges either physically or virtually on every date so that the trial is not prolonged. The apex court, while dealing with an appeal challenging the Bombay High Court order denying bail to an accused, said a "sorry state of affairs" was being depicted as the trial proceedings in the case was being prolonged due to non-production of appellant before the trial judge either physically or virtually.

Congress Rajya Sabha member Digvijaya Singh has said he is doubtful that the 'one nation, one election' bills will be passed in Parliament. Talking to reporters in Madhya Pradesh's Agar Malwa district on Saturday night, Singh also denied the allegations against Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi of "pushing and shoving" BJP MPs on Parliament premises on Thursday.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday said the law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh has improved and as a result, the state government has received investment proposals worth Rs 40 lakh crore. The opposition Samajwadi Party, however, countered Adityanath and claimed there is an atmosphere of 'jungle raj' in the state with loot, hooliganism and anarchy everywhere.

A 65-year-old man and his two minor granddaughters were charred to death after their hut caught fire in Madhya Pradesh's Shivpuri district, police said on Sunday. The incident took place at 11.30 pm on Saturday in Laxmipura village under Bairad police station limits, an official said.

Days after Zakir Hussain was laid to rest at a San Francisco cemetery, the family of the tabla maestro shared a moving post on his official Instagram account on Sunday. It marks the first post on the social media page of Hussain since his death at a San Francisco hospital early last week due to complications arising from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a lung disease. He was 73.

West Bengal and Bihar are impacted the most by arsenic contamination of groundwater, the Centre has informed the National Green Tribunal (NGT). The tribunal is hearing the issue of rice being susceptible to arsenic contamination because it absorbs more of the toxic semi-metallic element from water and soil. Earlier, it sought a reply from the Centre on it.

MCD Commissioner Ashwani Kumar visited the nearly 160-year-old Town Hall in old Delhi and said the corporation will make 'every possible effort' to preserve its heritage. The iconic Town Hall, built in the 1860s as the Delhi Institute, was the former seat of the city's civic body, which evolved from the Delhi Municipality in the 19th century to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) that came into being in 1958.

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav has thrown his weight behind the demand for cancellation of competitive exams conducted recently, under controversial circumstances, by the Bihar Public Service Commission. The former Deputy Chief Minister, who had been away touring the far-off Seemanchal region of the state to galvanize the party for assembly polls due in less than a year, turned up in the capital city late Saturday night.

Goa Health Minister Vishwajit Rane has said the state is fully prepared to fight tuberculosis and has screened more than 15,800 persons as part of the nationwide campaign against the elimination of TB. The 100-day 'TB Mukt Bharat' campaign was launched on December 7 and will culminate on March 17, 2025.

The surface of the Dal Lake froze on Sunday morning as intense cold waves gripped Kashmir. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast the maximum temperature for the day to settle at 6 degrees Celsius, while the minimum is expected to be at minus 7 degrees Celsius. 

Punjab's ruling Aam Aadmi Party won the municipal elections in Patiala and was leading in Ludhiana and Jalandhar, while the Congress was ahead in Phagwara and Amritsar. Elections to five municipal corporations, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Patiala, Amritsar and Phagwara, and 44 municipal councils and nagar panchayats in Punjab took place on Saturday.

On the occasion of International Pheran Day, the Indian army distributed traditional Pherans to underprivileged families in far-flung villages of the Kashmir Valley. In a heartwarming initiative to provide relief to the impoverished and needy populace during the coldest period of winters, the iconic Pherans, a symbol of Kashmiri identity and resilience, brought much-needed warmth and comfort as Chillai Kalan set in, with sub-zero temperatures recorded in the valley.

A 20-year-old woman, hailing from Himachal Pradesh, died after she was pulled out of the debris of a four-storey building that collapsed in the Sohana village of Punjab's Mohali district on Saturday, officials said. Rescue operations by the personnel of the Indian Army and NDRF are underway.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday held Janta Darshan at Gorakhnath temple, where he listened to the grievances of the people and also gave instructions to the officials to resolve their issues.