Breaking News, January 11 | HIGHLIGHTS

The Congress on Thursday hit back at BJP leader Sudhanshu Trivedi over his claims that former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru opposed the association of then president Rajendra Prasad with the Somnath temple, and said Nehru was "completely transparent". Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, "Sudanshu Trivedi has apparently waved some letters on air — of Pandit Nehru on the Somnath Temple. These and many other letters of Nehru, including to then Home Minister Rajaji and President Rajendra Prasad, are all in the public domain and form part of Vol 16-I of the Second Series of the Selected Works of Jawaharlal Nehru available online at http://nehruselectedworks. com.

Federal officials are investigating whether Boeing failed to make sure a panel that blew off a jetliner in midflight last week was properly designed and safe to use. The Federal Aviation Administration said on Thursday that the investigation is focusing on plugs used to fill spots for extra exits when those doors are not required on Boeing 737 Max 9 jetliners. The plug that blew off an Alaska Airlines Max 9 was found near Portland, Oregon, and will be be examined in a government laboratory.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said on Thursday emphasis should be given to utilizing annual funds allocated to districts on schemes related to education, health, tourism, women and child development, and agriculture. He said impetus should be given to attract more investments and generate employment in Maharashtra to achieve the goal of the state becoming a USD 1 trillion economy. Pawar, who holds the finance portfolio, made the remarks while presiding over a district planning and development committee (DPDC) meeting for the Pune region here.

Former Chief Justice of India U U Lalit on Thursday said the LGBTQ community is not entitled to claim "vertical" reservations like those given to the Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), Other Backward Classes (OBC), or Economically Weaker Section (EWS). He, however, said they may claim "horizontal" reservation on the lines of the ones for women and persons with disabilities. Justice Lalit, who retired as the 49th CJI in November 2022, was answering a query during the question and answer session after delivering a special lecture on 'Áffirmative Action and Constitution of India' at the India International University of Legal Education and Research (IIULER) here.

At least 25 workers of a call centre in Noida have been arrested for duping foreign nationals through cyber fraud in a joint operation led by STF, Lucknow and Noida police. The cops seized 34 mobile phones, four laptops, five internet routers, four 4-wheelers, 22 computer accessories and two registers.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has hit out at the Opposition leaders for refusing the invitation to attend the Ram Mandir's 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony.

Around 416 Myanmarese soldiers crossed over to India following the situation arising out of the fighting between Myanmar's armed ethnic groups and government forces, and the Indian military is "closely watching" the unfolding developments, Army chief General Manoj Pande said on Thursday.

Papua New Guinea's prime minister declared a state of emergency on Thursday, suspending government and police officials after 16 people were killed in rioting in the Pacific island nation. Prime Minister James Marape told a press conference he had suspended Papua New Guinea's chief of police and top bureaucrats in the finance and treasury departments while the government conducts a review into the cause of the riots.

In a shocking incident, a student allegedly killed himself by hanging from the ceiling fan in his hostel room at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Kanpur.

Three persons were found dead in Manipur's Churachandpur district on Thursday. Four persons went missing while collecting firewood in a forest and one is still missing, said the police officials.

Railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw inspects control room at Dedicated Freight Corridor in Gujarat's Ahmedabad.

Bihar: Actor Sanjay Dutt offered prayers at Vishnupad Temple in Gaya and performed 'Pind Daan' of his parents and ancestors today.

Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah writes to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

Congress National Alliance committee meeting with AAP leaders at Mukul Wasnik's residence at 6.30 PM tomorrow.

Gujarat: ISRO Chairman S Somanath addresses International Space Conference 2024 in Gandhinagar

Governor of Himachal Pradesh Shiv Pratap Shukla met PM Modi

PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti’s car met with an accident en route to Anantnag in J&K today. The former CM & her security officers escaped unhurt without any serious injuries, informed PDP Media Cell.

 Army Chief Gen Manoj Pande on Thursday said the situation along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh is "stable" but "sensitive", and asserted that Indian troops are maintaining a "high state" of preparedness to deal with any challenge. Addressing a press conference ahead of Army Day, Gen Pande also said that both India and China continue to hold talks at military and diplomatic levels to find a resolution to the remaining issues.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the 27th National Youth Festival in Nashik on Friday and will later launch development projects worth over Rs 30,500 crore in Maharashtra. In line with his vision to boost people's ease of mobility by strengthening urban transport infrastructure and connectivity, Modi will inaugurate the Mumbai Trans-harbour link (MTHL), now named 'Atal Bihari Vajpayee Sewari-Nhava Sheva Atal Setu', constructed at a cost of over Rs 17,840 crore, a statement said.

The Supreme Court extended by six months the interim bail of former Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik in a money laundering case. A bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Pankaj Mithal extended the medical bail granted to Malik after Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for the Enforcement Directorate, said the probe agency has no objection to it. On October 12 last year, the top court extended by three months the interim bail of Malik in the case.

A case has been registered against the manager of a bank and two other persons for allegedly cheating a 37-year-old woman by forging documents of a shop sold to her in Navi Mumbai to take a loan, police said. In 2012, two of the accused sold the shop located in Kamothe area of Navi Mumbai to the woman, who is a resident of Antop Hill in neighbouring Mumbai.

The Congress party today alleged that the country's "jobs famine" has worsened in the last ten years of Modi government, and accused the prime minister of miserably failing to fulfil his promise of creating two crore jobs every year. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said India's youth deserve growth that delivers them good quality jobs not joblessness and 'pakora' shops.

The Congress on Thursday slammed the Centre for denying the state an opportunity to take part in the tableau presentation during the Republic Day parade, saying "this is the Modi mantra of vendetta and vengeance". Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday had hit out at the Centre for denying the state an opportunity to take part in the tableau presentation.

A blinding layer of fog affected road and rail traffic in the north and eastern parts of the country on Thursday, officials said. A spokesperson for the railways said that fog impacted the schedule of "24 trains approaching Delhi". The India Meteorological Department (IMD) reported “very dense” fog in isolated pockets of Punjab, west Uttar Pradesh, and Tripura; “dense” fog in parts of east Uttar Pradesh; Jammu, Haryana, Delhi, east Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, and Assam; and “moderate” fog in some pockets of north Rajasthan and west Madhya Pradesh.

A fire broke out in the office of a private company at an industrial complex in Thane city of Maharashtra early Thursday morning, an official said. No person was injured in the blaze, he said, adding that two rooms on the first floor of a two-storey building in the complex suffered damages. The blaze erupted at 4.32 am in the engineering office of Supertech Instrumentation Service (I) Pvt Ltd at the Vardhaman Industrial Complex in Gokul Nagar. 

The Mumbai police have seized gutka, a banned product, worth Rs 1.39 crore which was being transported in the city and arrested three persons in this connection, an official said. The crime branch officials had specific information about the transportation of gutka in Andheri area under DN Nagar police station jurisdiction on Monday.

The Jharkhand disaster management authority recommended declaring 158 blocks in 17 districts of the state as drought hit, an official said. The recommendation was made during a meeting at the state secretariat, chaired by Chief Minister Hemant Soren. He directed the disaster management department to prepare a proposal to declare all 158 blocks as drought hit at the earliest, so that it could be placed for approval in the meeting of council of ministers.

The parade rehearsal for the 75th Republic Day is underway at Kartavya Path in the national capital. The visuals surfaced showing contingents marching together along with the band. 

The head of the UN health agency said Wednesday holiday gatherings and the spread of the most prominent variant globally led to increased transmission of COVID-19 last month. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said nearly 10,000 deaths were reported in December, while hospital admissions during the month jumped 42% in nearly 50 countries — mostly in Europe and the Americas — that shared such trend information.