Breaking News, December 28 | HIGHLIGHTS

Uttar Pradesh: Visibility affected in Ayodhya as a blanket of dense fog covers the city. 

Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal launched DGFT India's E-Commerce Export Handbook for MSMEs, in Delhi.

Tamil Nadu: Actor Vijay pays tribute to DMDK chief Captain Vijayakanth, who passed away earlier today.

Delhi Police East District executed a Mock Drill today at V3S Mall Nirman Vihar East Delhi for security preparedness ahead of New Year and Republic Day. 

Delhi: Dense fog engulfs national capital.

Maharashtra: Congress party put bar codes behind the chairs during the Rally in Nagpur, held earlier today, for crowdfunding.

 Punjab: A layer of dense fog engulfs Amritsar city.

EAM Dr S Jaishankar addresses Indologist in Russia's St Petersburg.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah chairs meeting with Mandal Presidents of BJP Telangana.

 Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj visits LNJP Hospital amid rising COVID-19 cases.

DMDK founder leader Vijayakanth's mortal remains brought to party headquarters in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

Jaipur, Rajasthan: Bulldozer action was taken at the residence of Rohit Rathore, the main accused in the Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi murder case.

Agartala: Tripura CM Dr Manik Saha speaks on the death of Tripura BJP MLA Surajit Datta.

JD(U) leader Lalan Singh reacts to media queries about talks regarding his resignation after the party's national executive meeting in Delhi.

J&K: Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan visited Shri Mata Vaishno Devi cave shrine today.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, JD(U) president Lalan Singh reach the party's office in Delhi to attend its office-bearers meeting.

UP: Security heightened in Ayodhya ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit.

Will attend Ram Mandir inauguration if invited, said Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge arrives in Nagpur for the party's 'Main Taiyyar Hun' rally on its foundation day.

"On 31st December, Delhi Police will ensure arrangements and deployment at places where people are expected to gather," Special CP Traffic, SS Yadav said.

The Delhi Police Special Cell took the Parliament security breach accused to places where they assembled and the shop from where they bought flags before the security breach on December 13, police sources said. According to sources, Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan D, who had entered the parliament, were on Wednesday taken to Sadar Bazar where they bought Indian flags and India Gate where they assembled before entering the Parliament.

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Thursday said the government will not allow anyone to take law into their own hands in the state in the name of fighting for the Kannada language.

JD(U) will hold a two-day national executive meeting in Delhi, starting today.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday conducted simultaneous raids at nine different places in the city in connection with its investigation into the alleged teachers' recruitment scam, a senior official said. Nine teams of ED officers conducted raids at offices and residences of different people located in the city's busy Burrabazar area, Kakurgachi and EM Bypass, he said.

A 20-year-old man was stabbed to death in northeast Delhi's Gokalpuri area, police said on Thursday. The body of the man identified as Mahir alias Imran was found by a roadside in Bhagirathi Vihar on Wednesday night, they said.

India saw a single-day rise of 702 cases of COVID-19, with the number of active cases of the infection rising to 4,097, the health ministry said on Thursday. Six new fatalities -- two from Maharashtra and one each from Karnataka, Kerala, West Bengal, and Delhi -- were reported in a span of 24 hours, according to the ministry's data updated at 8 am.

The Lord Ayyappa temple, closed late Wednesday night after Mandala Pooja, is set to reopen on the evening of December 30 for the Makaravilakku festivities, the temple authorities said. Various rituals including "prasada shudha kriya" and "bimba shudha kriya" would be held on January 13 and 14 ahead of the Makaravilakku festival on January 15, the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) said in a statement on Thursday.

The matter is to be heard on January 2, 2024.

Offline and online booking for obtaining 'aarti pass' began at Ayodhya Ram temple.

A "militant associate" of the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) has been arrested in Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla district and arms and ammunition have been seized from him, police said on Thursday. Following information about terrorist movement in the Kreeri area, security forces set up a checkpoint at Shrakwara Kreeri, a police official said.

A 23-year-old engineering student was crushed to death by a truck in Jharkhand's Dhanbad district, police said on Thursday.

"Let the individuals make a reasonable choice," he said.

"This is all politics, who wants to attend an event by BJP?" he asked.

"Remembering Arun Jaitley Ji on his birth anniversary. An astute lawmaker Jaitley Ji also lent his vast expertise in the field of law to the cause of guarding the rights of the citizens. Through his contributions to our social and political life, Arun Jaitley Ji will always remain in our collective memory," Amit Shah tweeted.

The rupee appreciated 8 paise to 83.26 against the US dollar on Thursday, tracking a weak American currency against major overseas rivals and positive cues from domestic equity markets.

DMDK founder-leader and popular yesteryear Tamil actor Vijayakanth passed away on Thursday following illness. MIOT International said in a press release: "Captain Vijayakanth was on ventilatory support following his admission for pneumonia. Despite the best efforts of the medical staff he passed away in the morning on 28th December 2023."

The Congress is set to kickstart its campaign for next year's Lok Sabha elections with its mega rally 'Hain Tayyar Hum' in Maharashtra's Nagpur city on Thursday, the party's 139th foundation day.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah will be on a day-long visit to Telangana today. He will hold a meeting with the Core Group of BJP Telangana in Shamshabad. He will also offer prayers at Bhagyalakshmi Temple in Hyderabad and later Union HM will hold a meeting with Mandal Presidents of BJP Telangana in Ranga Reddy.

During the meeting, Russian President Vladimir Putin said "We know the position of Prime Minister Modi and have talked about this more than once. I am referring to his position, his attitude to complicated processes, including hot spots, the situation in Ukraine".

Due to breathing issues, Vijayakanth has been put on a ventilator, the party said.