Breaking News, December 23 | HIGHLIGHTS

The letter reads, "...I shall be grateful if you spare time for interaction on December 25 at 4pm or a time of your convenience at Up Rashtrapati Niwas."

Liquor shops will remain open till 11 pm on December 24 and 31 across Noida and Greater Noida on account of Christmas and New Year festivities, officials said on Saturday. The move follows an order of Uttar Pradesh Excise Commissioner Senthil Pandian C, who issued similar directions regarding extending the period of sale of liquor from all retail shops on the eve of Christmas and New Year.

Several student groups held a torch march on the Jawaharlal Nehru University campus here on Saturday, demanding the withdrawal of the new rules of conduct. Nearly 100-150 students from outfits including JNUSU, AISA, SFI and NSUI along with hostel presidents participated in the protest against the revised Chief Proctor Office manual which they allege is "dictatorial".

A man was killed in a collision with an unidentified vehicle on the Jind-Narwana national highway here on Saturday, police said on Saturday. The deceased has been identified as Naresh of Baroda village here, they added.

The police here have busted a fake call centre duping foreign nationals and arrested 36 persons in connection, officials said on Saturday. The accused allegedly duped people by posing as employees of an American bank, they added.

The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) unit of Hazaribag in Jharkhand on Saturday arrested an assistant sub-inspector of police (ASI) for accepting bribe, SP (ACB Hazaribag) Arif Ekram said. ASI M Kujur of Bishnugarh police station here was investigating a land dispute case at Hetley Bodhra village, police said.

Achieving the goal of celebrating India's centenary of Independence as a developed nation hinges on the strength, self-reliance and empowerment of every woman in the country, President Droupadi Murmu said Saturday. She also stressed the role of self-help groups in uplifting the marginalised sections, particularly women.

The Enforcement Directorate has arrested three vivo-India executives in connection with its money laundering probe against the Chinese smartphone maker and some others, official sources said on Saturday. Interim CEO of vivo-India Hong Xuquan alias Terry, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Harinder Dahiya and consultant Hemant Munjal have been taken into custody under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), they said.

President Murmu interacted with the troops and appreciated them for their commitment and preparedness to defend the country.

Delhi cabinet minister Atishi on Saturday directed the Public Works Department (PWD) to complete the repair and maintenance of the city's footpaths and central verges ahead of the Republic Day. Atishi, who holds the PWD portfolio, in an official communication to the department's principal secretary, directed that the weekly reports on the work progress be submitted to her office every Monday.

A cleric of a mosque in a village here has been booked for allegedly molesting a few women, police said on Saturday. A resident of a village under the Bithri Chainpur police station area alleged that his wife and a few other women were allegedly molested by Yunus, the cleric, Station House Officer Sanjay Tomar said.

A passenger who reportedly smoked inside the Muscat-Chennai flight was handed over to the airport police here on Saturday, a source at the airport said. The traveler smoked inside the flight in violation of the rules. Following this, the crew handed him over to the airport police.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who interacted with some students of Harvard University last week, told them that India’s economy is growing but the wealth is getting “concentrated” in a few hands. He attacked the central government claiming that his social media accounts are “fully capped” and alleged that India is not running a “free and fair democracy anymore”.

In a tragic incident, a man and his three-month-old daughter were burnt alive, and his wife sustained injuries in a fire caused by heater in their room in the Khairthal-Tijara district of Rajasthan, police said.

The famous ski resort of Gulmarg and some other areas in the higher reaches received fresh light snowfall but the minimum temperature improved by several degrees to provide relief from the intense cold conditions in Jammu and Kashmir, officials said on Saturday.

The Sindh Counter Terrorism Department has foiled a terror attack at the main railway station of Pakistan’s biggest city Karachi when a time bomb was found in a train. Asad Raza, DIG Operations CTD, said that on Friday they found an IED device in a bag which was placed under a seat of the Peshawar Express from Peshawar which had just reached the Karachi Cantt Station.

Congress MP Karti Chidambaram on Saturday appeared before the Enforcement Directorate for his questioning in a money laundering case linked to the issuance of visa to some Chinese nationals in 2011, official sources said.

Bihar Police have decided to make it binding on investigators to complete investigation of cases within 75 days of registration of FIR from January 1 next year, a senior officer said.

India's embassy in France has received consular access to its citizens after a Nicaragua-bound flight carrying 303 people, mostly Indians, was detained by French authorities during "a technical halt" at an airport near Paris over suspected "human trafficking".

A total of 83 Congress members in Assam, including all three sitting MPs in the state, have sought party tickets for next year's Lok Sabha elections, an APCC release said.

The local Met Office has forecast rain and snow at isolated places in Himachal Pradesh on Saturday as a feeble Western Disturbance has affected the state from Friday night, however, White Christmas may elude Shimla city.

France on Friday completed the withdrawal of its troops after they were asked to leave Niger by the country's new junta, ending years of on-the-ground military support and raising concerns from analysts about a gap in the fight against jihadi violence across the Sahel region of Africa.

Two civilian workers were charred to death in a fire inside an Army camp in Jammu and Kashmir’s Doda district on Saturday, police said.

Mobile Internet services were suspended in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch and Rajouri districts early Saturday as security forces continued their massive search operation to track down terrorists behind the recent ambush on two Army vehicles that left five soldiers dead, officials said.

The liberal-controlled Wisconsin Supreme Court overturned Republican-drawn legislative maps on Friday and ordered that new district boundary lines be drawn as Democrats had urged in a redistricting case they hope will weaken GOP majorities.

Israel's war to destroy Hamas has killed more than 20,000 Palestinians, health officials in Gaza said Friday, as Israel expanded its offensive and ordered tens of thousands more people to leave their homes.