Breaking News, December 17 | HIGHLIGHTS

A mother-son duo was arrested from Kolkata's Haridevpur area on Saturday in connection with the alleged rape of a girl a couple of months ago, police said. Acting on a complaint lodged by the survivor, police arrested the woman and her son and booked them under POCSO Act, an officer said.

The body of a 17-year-old girl was recovered from a mustard field in the Ujhani area here on Saturday, police said. Relatives of the teenager alleged that she was murdered.

The air quality in Delhi was recorded in the 'poor' category on Saturday as the minimum temperature was recorded at 6 degrees Celsius, the lowest of the season, the India Meteorological Department said.

The body of a 20-year-old man who was kidnapped for ransom three weeks ago from a village in Punjab's Muktsar district was found on Saturday, police said. Harmandeep Singh’s body was found buried in a field in Sham Khera village in Malout, more than 40 km from his village, they said. Station House Officer of Kotbhai police station (Muktsar) Inspector Raman Kumar said five people, natives of Punjab and Rajasthan, have been arrested in the case.

A 27-year-old woman was found hanging from the ceiling fan of her flat in a society here, police said on Saturday. The woman identified as Anita, a native of Aligarh in UP, shared the flat with her live-in partner named Manjeet. Both had shifted in the sector 83 society around 15 days ago, they said.

The UN General Assembly has postponed the decision on whether representatives of the Taliban authorities in Afghanistan and Myanmar’s military junta can take their countries’ seats in the 193-member world body. The UN Credentials Committee had before it two communications concerning the representation of Afghanistan at the 77th session of the general assembly, indicating different individuals as representatives to the current session.

Two men were arrested here on Saturday for allegedly firing at a constable inside a police outpost, a police official said. The incident took place at the Nakatiya outpost, which falls under the Cantt police station, on National Highway 24 on Friday night, he said.

A labourer died when a portion of an under-construction roof collapsed in a village here, police said on Saturday. The incident occurred in Paras Patti village under Motigarpur police station area on Friday evening, they said.

A raid on a restaurant-cum-bar in Dahisar area of Mumbai led to several women being rescued from a specially-built cavity, while others were found dancing, a police official said on Saturday.

Rahul Gandhi is not only insulting the Indian Army but also damaging the country's image, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said on Saturday, hitting out at the Congress leader for his remarks on China and the Army.

A day after the killing of an Indian-origin nurse from Kerala and her two young children was reported from the UK, her family on Saturday alleged that her husband was a "cruel" man and he had assaulted his wife in the past also. To add to their woes, they need around Rs 30 lakh for bringing the bodies back to India and to see their daughter and grandkids for one last time.

"BJP is getting nervous about Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra. Our soldiers were harmed and if Rahul Gandhi said so, this is not an anti-national statement. This was told by a person whose family members have sacrificed their lives for the country," says HP CM Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu.

Fire broke out in Parekh Hospital in Mumbai's Ghatkopar. Eight fire tenders have reached the spot. Further details awaited.

The Delhi HC has directed the Govt of NCT of Delhi to ensure that appointments are made within a time duration of 6 months. This is in relation to pending vacancies of Medical Officers, Paramedical staff, Welfare Officers, Counsellors, Teachers for Education, Yoga teachers etc in jail.

Close on the heels of the hooch tragedy in dry Bihar that left 30 people dead in Saran district, eight more died allegedly after consuming some spurious liquor in two other districts, officials said on Saturday. Six people died in Siwan district adjoining Saran, while Begusarai witnessed two other deaths.

Security has been tightened across Tripura for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's December 18 visit to the northeastern state, where polls are due early next year, officials said. The PM is expected to land at Maharaja Bir Bikram airport at 2:25 pm and leave for Vivekananda Ground in Agartala, where he would be addressing a rally amid tight security, said District Magistrate (DM), West Tripura, Debapriya Bardhan.

Commenting on Rahul Gandhi's recent attack on the Centre in the India-China border dispute, BJP President JP Nadda said, "Rahul Gandhi's statement works to demoralize our Army; no matter how much it is condemned, it is less. Indian army is a symbol of bravery and valour. We know that the Communist Party of China had signed MoU with the Congress party."

After Cong leader Rahul Gandhi's attack on the Centre, politicos and ministers like Union Minister Kiren Rijiju, and UP CM Yogi Adityanath have come out with their responses. Calling Rahul Gandhi a 'problem for Congress,' they said Mr Gandhi should apologise. 

The Supreme Court has dismissed a plea challenging the election of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in 2019 from Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency in Kerala. A bench of justices A S Bopanna and Dipankar Datta rejected the petition filed by Saritha S Nair, who had moved the apex court against an October 31, 2019 decision of the Kerala High Court by which her election petitions challenging the Lok Sabha polls in Wayanad and Ernakulam also were dismissed.

PM Modi will visit Meghalaya and Tripura on 18th December. In Shillong, PM will participate in the golden jubilee celebration of the North Eastern Council & will attend the meeting of the North Eastern Council at the State Convention Centre, Shillong.

Aftab Amin Poonawala, accused of strangling his live-in partner Shraddha Walkar and chopping her body into pieces, Saturday informed a court here that he had signed on the vakalatnama but was not aware a bail petition would be filed on his behalf. The accused appeared before Additional Sessions Judge Vrinda Kumari through video-conferencing.

Supreme Court has dismissed the plea of Bilkis Bano seeking review of its earlier order by which it had asked the Gujarat government to consider the plea for the remission of convicts under 1992 policy.

"In 1949, China's GDP was lower than that of India. Until 1980, India was not even in the list of top 10 economies... In 2014, India was on the 9th position in world economies. Today India is close to a $3.5 trillion economy & is 5th largest in the world," said Defence Minister Rajnath Singh speaking at the conference.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh addresses 95th FICCI Annual Convention & AGM in Delhi says, "we want to be a superpower to work for the welfare of the world."

Delhiites woke up to a cold Saturday morning as the minimum temperature in the city settled at six degrees Celsius, two notches below the season's average. The relative humidity at 8:30 am was 91 per cent, according to the meteorological department.

The death toll in the Chapra hooch tragedy rose to 70.

Fire has broken out in the basement of Phoenix Hospital in Greater Kailash Part 1. Five fire tenders have reached the spot.

Members of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha protest against Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari over his statement on PM Narendra Modi.

The Combined Graduation Parade has begun in Hyderabad to mark the successful completion of the pre-commissioning training of Flight Cadets of various branches of the Indian Air Force.

Six people, including two children, were charred to death after a fire broke out in their house in Telangana's Mancherial district last night.

Two police inspectors and a sub-inspector have been suspended for allegedly suppressing an incident of rape of a specially-challenged 13-year-old girl in this Uttar Pradesh district, officials said on Saturday. Police said the hearing-and-speech-impaired girl was allegedly raped by Chandrapal (24) on November 24.

One of the strongest earthquakes in Texas history has struck in a western region of the state. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries in the quake near Midland.

Indraprastha Gas Ltd (IGL) increases CNG prices with effect from today. CNG now cost Rs 79.56 per kg in Delhi while Rs.82.12 per kg in Noida, Greater Noida & Ghaziabad. Rs.87.89 per kg in Gurugram.

Naxals killed a villager under the Malewahi police station area in Dantewada today.

Two people including the driver died and two others suffered injuries in a road accident after a vehicle carrying five family members rammed into a divider in Telangana's Nalgonda on Friday.

Russia fired more than 70 missiles at Ukraine on Friday, which's one of the biggest attacks since the start of the war, & forcing Kyiv to implement emergency blackouts nationwide, reports Reuters citing Ukrainian officials.