Breaking News, December 21 I LIVE Updates

Former Punjab minister and senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia has been booked in a drugs case. The FIR against Majithia was registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act at Mohali on Monday.

Reacting to the development, the SAD termed it as “political vendetta". 

Equity benchmark Sensex surged over 600 points in early trade on Tuesday, tracking gains in index majors ICICI Bank, Infosys and Reliance Industries amid a positive trend in other Asian markets.

The 30-share index jumped 635.96 points or 1.14 per cent to 56,457.97 in the opening trade. Similarly, the Nifty advanced 187.05 points or 1.13 per cent to 16,801.25.

An extortion case was registered against gangster Suresh Pujari, at Vakola Police Station. He had called up the director of a company on  March 22, 2021, and threatened to kill him if he didn't pay the money. Matter forwarded to Anti-Extortion Cell. He is currently in ATS custody.

Japan executes three persons on death row, first since December 2019, reports Kyodo News

Protesting employees of the Power Development Department in Jammu and Kashmir have called off their strike after written assurance from the administration to put on hold the proposed merger of PDD with Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCI).

The National Conference (NC) has suffered yet another setback in Jammu as senior leader Anil Dhar resigned from the party, blaming its leadership for allegedly holding former governor Jagmohan responsible for the migration of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley in 1990.

The capital city of Uttar Pradesh on Monday witnessed a drone show on the theme of India's freedom struggle at the Residency here with the state government claiming it to be the largest ever such event in the country.

The government on Monday cut the basic customs duty on refined palm oil to 12.5 per cent from 17.5 per cent as part of efforts to increase domestic supplies and bring down the retail prices of the cooking oil. The revised Basic Customs Duty (BCD) will be effective till the end of March 2022.