Breaking News, December 23 | HIGHLIGHTS

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Friday wrote to Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena alleging that his "recent actions" of giving orders directly to officers were contrary to law. Citing various provisions of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) Act and Article 239AA of the Constitution, Sisodia said it is imperative for all constitutional functionaries to "work closely, cohesively and in tandem with each other so as to best subserve the interest of the people". He requested Saxena to "take timely and necessary corrective steps so as to eschew avoidable controversy and embarrassment which would doubtless not be in the best interest of the residents of the NCT of Delhi".

The government on Friday approved revision of pension of armed forces personnel under 'One Rank One Pension' scheme with retrospective effect from July 1, 2019 and the decision will benefit around 25 lakh pensioners. The decision taken at a meeting of the Union Cabinet presided over by Prime Minister Narendra Modi will result in an additional annual expenditure of Rs 8,450 crore, according to the defence ministry.

The CBI has filed a charge sheet against former Mumbai police commissioner Sanjay Pandey and former NSE CEO Chitra Ramkrishna and other top executives of the bourse in connection with alleged tapping of phones of executives of the stock market, officials said Friday. The agency, in its charge sheet filed before a special court here, has alleged that National Stock Exchange (NSE) had paid Rs 4.54 crore (approx) in 8 years to ISEC Services Pvt Ltd, where Pandey was a director, for carrying out illegal interception of phones at the bourse employees in the name of cyber vulnerability study, they said.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Friday said the state is leading in terms of public welfare schemes being implemented in the health sector. Addressing the birth anniversary celebrations of former prime minister Chaudhary Charan Singh here, Gehlot said schemes dedicated to farmers are also being run by the state government.

The Sensex plunged 981 points to end below the 60,000-mark following across-the-board selling on Friday, marking its fourth straight day of losses during which investors have lost over Rs 15 lakh crore. Surging COVID cases in China and a few other nations have fanned fears of another global pandemic wave, while stronger US growth data has cemented expectations of the Federal Reserve continuing with its hawkish stance, experts said.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday chaired a meeting of top leaders on ways to strengthen the organisation and to take forward the party's soon-to-be launched outreach initiative. Kharge held deliberations with party general secretaries, in-charges of various states, PCC presidents and CLP leaders on ways to take forward the two-month-long 'Haath se haath jodo abhiyan' that would start from January 26.

Aviation regulator DGCA will put in place norms to compensate a passenger whose ticket for a particular class has been involuntarily downgraded by an airline. The move comes against the backdrop of rising complaints about airlines involuntarily downgrading tickets issued to passengers.

DMK MP Kanimozhi joined the Congress's "Bharat Jodo Yatra", led by party leader Rahul Gandhi, here on Friday and said she was delighted to be a part of the foot march that celebrates India's diversity.

The Lok Sabha was adjourned sine die on Friday, six days ahead of schedule. Before adjourning the House, Speaker Om Birla informed the members that 97 per cent of work productivity was clocked during the winter session.

A fire broke out at a marriage hall in Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad on Friday. Six fire tenders reportedly reached the spot in order to douse the fire.

Police arrested 17 persons including 5 policemen, a political activist,a Contractor & a shopkeeper from different areas of Kupwara & Baramulla which has led to the unearthing of another narcotics smuggling module originating from Pakistan.

Aftab Poonawala, accused in the Shraddha Walkar murder case, will be produced before the Saket court through video conferencing at 2 pm today.

Two men were killed in a collision between a car and a mini-truck on the Delhi-Yamunotri National Highway in this district. Shahrukh (18) and Arif (20), residents of Babil Buzurg village, were travelling by car at around 11 pm on Thursday when it collided with a DCM (mini-truck) on the highway in Behat police station area.

AAP has decided to field Shelly Oberoi for the post of Mayor and Aaley Muhammad Iqbal for the Deputy Mayor post in the upcoming polls.

PM Narendra Modi, Congress MP Sonia Gandhi and other leaders attended the customary meeting at Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla’s chamber at the end of the Winter Session.

A blast was heard in Pakistan's Islamabad on Friday. An investigation has also been launched into the matter.

Bihar BJP MPs organised a protest in front of the Gandhi statue in Parliament, demanding compensation to the families of the victims who died in the Chhapra hooch tragedy.

The Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, Shri. Pushkar Singh Dhami, and Member of Parliament from Ayodhya, Shri. Lallu Singh unveiled the Atal Community Innovation Centre at Shree Guru Gobind Singh Tricentenary (SGT) University on Wednesday. The pioneers of SGT University have taken the responsibility of creating the next generation of leaders with a vision and mission to bridge the existing skills gap and develop world-class industry professionals.

According to sources, a mock drill for an emergency response to deal with COVID-19 cases will be conducted in hospitals across the country on Tuesday, 27th December.

Govt of India approved the use of the Nasal vaccine today. It will be used as a heterologous booster & will be available first in private hospitals. It will be included in the COVID19 vaccination programme.

India logged 163 new coronavirus infections, while the active cases declined to 3,380, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday. The Covid case tally was recorded at 4.46 crore (4,46,76,678).

The Goa government will hold a meeting of various departments on Friday over rising COVID-19 cases in some parts of the world, wherein it will discuss its preparedness for a possible surge in infections amid the ongoing tourist season in the state. Talking to reporters on Thursday, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said precautionary measures that need to be taken in view of the spike in coronavirus cases in countries like China will be discussed at the meeting. "The meeting will take stock of the situation in Goa," he said. Due to the upcoming Christmas and New Year celebrations, the coastal state has been witnessing a rise in tourist footfall.

All Delhi government schools will have a two-week winter vacation from January 1, according to a circular issued by the Directorate of Education (DoE). However, remedial sessions for Classes 9 to 12 will be held from January 2 to 14 to revise the syllabi and enhance the students' learning-level academic performance, the circular issued on Thursday said. "All government schools under the Directorate of Education will remain closed for winter vacation from January 1, 2023, to January 15, 2023. "To revise the syllabus and enhance the learning-level academic performance of the students, remedial classes will be held for classes 9 to 12. These classes will enable the students in revising the basic concepts of the subjects from examination point of view," the circular said.

At the end of November 2022, UK prime minister Rishi Sunak announced that the “golden era” between Great Britain and China was over. China may not have been too bothered by this news however, and has been busy making influential friends elsewhere. In early December, Chinese president Xi Jinping met with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) – a group made up of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – to discuss trade and investment. Also on the agenda were talks on forging closer political ties and a deeper security relationship.

Allaying fears about BF.7 variant of coronavirus, a prominent scientist on Friday said it is a sub-variant of Omicron strain and that India need not worry too much about its severity on the population. Speaking to PTI, Rakesh Mishra, Director, Tata Institute for Genetics and Society (TIGS), Bangalore, however cautioned that wearing face masks and avoiding unnecessary crowds is always advisable. The former director of CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology further said China has been witnessing an unprecedented surge in COVID-19 cases as the neighbouring country has not passed through different waves of the infection that India had faced.

The Congress's Bharat Jodo Yatra, led by party leader leader Rahul Gandhi, resumed on Friday from Kherli Lala in Sohna on the third and last day of its Haryana leg in the first phase. Senior Congress leaders from the state have been part of the foot march that entered Nuh in Haryana from Rajasthan on Wednesday. Braving the morning chill, among those who walked along with Gandhi were former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and senior leaders Randeep Singh Surjewala and Kumari Selja. The yatra will pass through Faridabad district, including Pakhal village, Pali Chowk and Gopal Garden, during the day. After entering Nuh on Wednesday, Gandhi had targeted the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), suggesting that while the Congress gives voice to farmers and labourers, another ideology benefits only a select few. The former Congress chief had also slammed the ruling party over inflation and unemployment.

Three Cabinet ministers from Myanmar attended an informal regional meeting in Thailand's capital on Thursday to discuss efforts to restore peace in the military-run country, Thai officials said. “The open-ended informal consultation was meaningful, with ministers engaging in free-flow and proactive discussions,” Thai Foreign Ministry spokesperson Kanchana Patarachoke said. Representatives from Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam also attended the meeting. There was no indication that the talks made any progress toward resolving Myanmar's crisis or in facilitating more engagement with its generals. Myanmar's military government is shunned by many nations for seizing power and violently suppressing opposition to its rule, but neighboring Thailand has remained on good terms with the generals and refrained from serious criticism.

The white tiger cub which died at the Delhi zoo on Sunday did not show any sign of infection or common diseases, officials said on Thursday, citing a report. This suggests that the cub died from genetic problems associated with inbreeding, an official told PTI on condition of anonymity. The report received from the India Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI), Bareilly, rules out infection and common diseases, a second official said. Seven-year-old tigress Sita had given birth to three cubs -- two males and a female -- on August 24. One of the male cubs died on Sunday. Zoo officials said he was limping on his rear legs. The two other cubs have been showing similar symptoms. The official quoted above explained that white tigers are not a species but a result of a genetic mutation. They are produced when two Bengal tigers having rare recessive forms of a gene, called alleles, breed. To maintain a population of white tigers, captive tigers with regressive alleles are inbred over multiple generations which often results in genetic problems, he said.

Ukrainians hailed President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's wartime visit to the United States as a success, while Russian officials said Thursday that it only fueled the conflict. The U.S. has announced a new $1.8 billion military aid package, including supplies of the Patriot air defense systems, the most powerful such weapons to be delivered to Ukraine yet. Ukraine also stands to receive an additional $44.9 billion in U.S. aid as part of a massive government spending bill the Senate approved Thursday. “We are returning from Washington with good results, with things that will really help,” Zelenskyy said on a video message shared Thursday night on his Telegram account. He thanked President Joe Biden and the U.S. Congress for supporting Ukraine's fight against Russia.

Pakistan's Punjab province plunged into a constitutional crisis as Governor Baligur Rehman on Friday de-notified Chaudhry Parvez Elahi as Chief Minister with "immediate effect" for not complying with his order to obtain a vote of confidence. The governor who belongs to PMLN took extreme action to stop Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan from dissolving the Punjab Assembly. Former prime minister Khan had announced to dissolve the Punjab and Kyber Pakhtaunkhawa provincial assemblies where his party is in power to push the federal coalition led by the Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PMLN) to call for snap polls. In the early hours of Friday, the governor issued an order denotifying chief minister Elahi and his Cabinet. "Since chief minister, Chaudhry Parvez Elahi has refrained from taking a vote of confidence at the appointed day and time (last Wednesday) therefore he ceases to hold office with immediate effect. He however can continue working as chief minister of Punjab till his successor is appointed," the governor said.

A poster bearing a cartoon figure resembling Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari surfaced in parts of Bankura district on Thursday. In the poster, information was sought from people about the whereabouts of any such "spineless person". The poster, which has the words 'information wanted' inscribed on top, also describes the cartoon figure with a saffron scarf as someone who speaks "nonsense and frequently issues threats to topple the state government". The poster, carrying the name of TMC IT Cell, came up in Machantala, College More, district administrative building, a police official said.

The Florida Supreme Court will convene a grand jury at Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis' request to investigate any wrongdoing with respect to the COVID-19 vaccines, the court announced Thursday. The Republican governor, who is often mentioned as a possible presidential candidate in 2024, earlier this month called for the investigation. He suggested it would be in part aimed to jog loose more information from pharmaceutical companies about the vaccines and potential side effects. Vaccine studies funded by pharmaceutical companies that developed COVID-19 vaccines have been published in peer-reviewed journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine, and government panels reviewed data on the safety and effectiveness of the shots before approving them for use.