Breaking News, December 25 | HIGHLIGHTS

Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma Monday said his government would not tolerate laxity ‌in duty by any employee as he suspended three staff of state-run Sawai Man Singh Hospital for being absent. During his surprise inspection at the hospital, the chief minister found senior nursing officers Mukesh Babu Agrawal, Alam Ali Khan and nursing officer Mukesh Kumar absent from duty following which they were suspended, an order stated.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma on Monday said none of the welfare schemes launched by the previous Congress government in the state will be discontinued.

Telangana recorded ten new COVID-19 cases on Monday with nine new infections reported from Hyderabad and one case was from Karimnagar. The total number of cases under treatment/ isolation stood at 55, a Health department bulletin said.

The Aligarh Police on Monday said it has registered a case in connection with objectionable slogans found scribbled on the wall of a mosque in the Old City area here and was working to identify those responsible. Superintendent of Police (City) M Shekhar Pathak said the case was registered against unidentified persons on Sunday after the matter came to the fore the previous night.

Two friends were sent to hospital after they were severely thrashed by the bouncers at a club in Gurugram's Sector 29, police said on Monday. The two were part of a group which had gone to the club to celebrate a birthday and allegedly got into an argument with another group, said police.

President Droupadi Murmu pays tribute to Atal Bihari Vajpayee on his birth anniversary, at 'Bhajan Sandhya' programme, in Delhi.

The week-long carnival, starting today, will continue till January 5 and aims to revive tourism.

A top official of the Border Security Force (BSF) on Monday reviewed the operational preparedness along the India-Bangladesh border. He also visited border outposts in Coochbehar district of West Bengal, a BSF release said.

A 24-year-old man was stabbed to death when a scuffle broke out between two groups at a birthday party, police said on Monday. At least seven people have been booked in connection with the incident that took place on Sunday evening, they said.

A 24-year-old woman died of burn wounds on Monday allegedly after she was set on fire by her in-laws for dowry in an area under the Baradari Police Station. The husband of the woman has been arrested in the matter, a senior police officer said on Monday.

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge has told Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar that the mass suspension of MPs was "premeditated" and "weaponised" by the ruling party to sabotage Parliamentary practices as he declined the Chair's invite for an interaction on Monday, saying he was not in Delhi.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Monday expressed gratitude to Indian authorities at Andaman and Nicobar Islands for taking care of 142 Rohingya refugees, whose boat was intercepted by coastal security agencies near Shaheed Dweep a day ago.

A fire gutted 25-30 two-wheelers at Phoenix Mall in Mumbai's Lower Parel area on Monday afternoon, though no one was hurt in the incident, a civic official said. The blaze started on the premises at 1:15pm and was doused some time later at 1:40pm, the fire brigade official said.

A rescue operation is underway.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Tuesday participate in a programme marking 'Veer Baal Diwas', which commemorates the martyrdom of Guru Gobind Singh's two sons. A statement said the prime minister will flag off a march-past by the youth in Delhi on the occasion.

Three men have been booked for allegedly poaching a deer at Hajipur village in the forest area of Garhshankar subdivision of this Punjab district, police said on Monday.

Former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot slammed the BJP government in the state on Monday over the delay in cabinet formation, claiming that disappointment has started being spread among people due to it and governance has come to a standstill. He also said people are watching which ministers they should approach with their problems and added that the cabinet should be formed at the earliest so that the government can run smoothly.

Twenty eight legislators, including former Union minister Prahlad Patel and BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, were on Monday inducted into the Madhya Pradesh cabinet led by Chief Minister Mohan Yadav. A total of 18 MLAs took oath as cabinet ministers, while 10 were sworn in as ministers of state including six with independent charge.

Three people, including two passengers of a bus, died and 20 others were injured when it collided head on with a rice-laden truck on Monday morning, police said.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP president J P Nadda are scheduled to arrive here on Monday night on a two-day visit to assess the organisational landscape in West Bengal ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls next year, according to a party leader. Shah and Nadda are expected to arrive in the city late tonight and will preside over a series of organisational meetings on Tuesday.
However, there are no plans for them to address any public events or meetings.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi heaped praise on the Christian community on Monday for its role in giving direction to the society and sense of service, and said the country proudly acknowledges this. In an interaction with the members of the community at his residence here on Christmas, Modi recalled his old, intimate and warm relations with Christians, and said they have always been at the forefront in serving the poor and deprived.

A man was beaten to death by four-five people on the suspicion of cable theft in the Churu district of Rajasthan, police said. he incident occurred on Sunday when the accused, who were working for a contractor engaged by the electricity department for ensuring high tension line safety at Suratgarh to Babai, caught two men from a farm over the suspected theft.

Three persons have tested positive for coronavirus in Maharashtra’s Beed district, an official said on Monday.

Pakistani police on Monday freed 290 Baloch activists who were arrested when they attempted to hold a protest last week in the capital, Islamabad.
Their release came days after protest organizers gave authorities a deadline to release all those detained.

A fire broke out in a flat in a building in the Chembur area of Mumbai. Fire officials reached the spot and controlled the fire. No one has been injured in the incident. Further details awaited, said the Mumbai Fire Department.

Three men were killed when an unidentified vehicle hit their motorcycle from behind in the Laharpur area of this Uttar Pradesh district, police said on Monday.

At least 68 people were killed by an Israeli strike in central Gaza, health officials said Sunday, while the number of Israeli soldiers killed in combat over the weekend rose to 15.

A Naxal belonging to the banned Jharkhand Jan Mukti Parishad (JJMP) outfit was arrested and five rifles were seized from his possession in Jharkhand's Garhwa district on Sunday, police said.

Excise and Narcotics Department personnel seized 1 lakh tablets of methamphetamine worth over Rs 1.27 crore and arrested two persons from Khatla area here, officials said on Sunday.

Three men were shot and wounded early on Sunday in New Orleans' French Quarter.

Police in Serbia fired tear gas to prevent hundreds of opposition supporters from entering the capital's city council building on Sunday in protest of what election observers said were widespread vote irregularities during a general election last weekend.