Pushpa 2 Producers to Meet CM Revanth Reddy Tomorrow

Security measures have been strengthened at temples and key sites here to ensure safety during New Year celebrations, officials said on Wednesday.

The intelligence system has been activated across the Mahakumbh Mela area, Prayagraj and neighboring districts, they said.

Under the directives of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, comprehensive preparations have been made for a secure Mahakumbh. Multiple checkpoints have been set up to screen every individual entering the district, according to an official statement.

Intelligence squads have also been deployed to monitor suspicious activities and maintain vigilance throughout the region, it said.

Senior Superintendent of Police, Mahakumbh Nagar, Rajesh Dwivedi, said that the chief minister aims to make this year's Maha Kumbh unforgettable, with a robust and hi-tech security system in place.

"With the global spotlight on the Mahakumbh, the Mahakumbh Nagar Police has gone into full alert mode ahead of the New Year celebrations," he said.

 The great literary figure of Malayalam and Jnanpith Award winner M T Vasudevan Nair, who had been undergoing treatment at a private hospital here following heart failure, has died, hospital sources said on Wednesday.

He was 91.

He had been undergoing treatment for over a month due to illness. The writer was admitted to the hospital in the early morning of December 16, following respiratory complications.

He passed away at 10 PM on Wednesday night at a private hospital in Kozhikode.

While he remained in critical condition, doctors had informed that his body was responding to the medication, which raised hopes and comfort that the beloved writer might recover. However, by night, hospital authorities confirmed his death.

"M T has died," a hospital source told PTI.

He had been under the care of a multidisciplinary team of specialists, including cardiologists and critical care experts, since his hospitalisation.

His last rites will be held at 5 PM on Thursday at the Mavoor Road crematorium.

The body will be brought from the hospital to his residence on Kottaram Road. Public viewing will be held at the house until 4 PM in the afternoon.

Popularly known as M T, he authored nine novels, 19 collections of short stories, directed six films, wrote around 54 screenplays, and published several collections of essays and memoirs over a career spanning seven decades.

His novel Naalukettu (The Ancestral House) solidified his place as a literary icon and is considered a classic in Malayalam literature. He also penned several acclaimed works, including Asuravithu, Manju, and Kaalam.

M T's literary achievements earned him the Jnanpith Award in 1995, India's highest literary honour, as well as numerous other accolades, including the Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award, Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award, Vayalar Award, Vallathol Award, Ezhuthachan Award, Mathrubhumi Literary Award, and O N V Literary Award.

In 2005, M T was awarded the Padma Bhushan, India's third-highest civilian honour.

He received the J C Daniel Award for lifetime achievement in Malayalam cinema in 2013, and in 2022, he was honoured with the inaugural Kerala Jyothi Award, the highest civilian honour from the Kerala government.

M T also served as the editor of Mathrubhumi Weekly for several years.

Condoling his demise, Governor Arif Mohammed Khan said the passing of M T marks a profound loss for both Malayalam and Indian literature.

"This multifaceted genius who enriched literature, cinema, and journalism authored some of the finest works in Malayalam literature. As a writer, M T championed modernism through characters that embodied modernist sensibilities, and as editor, advanced the movement by publishing the works of other modernist writers," he said, extending heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family.

"May his soul attain Mukti," the Governor wrote.

A fire broke out inside a moving Lamborghini car on the Coastal Road in Mumbai on Wednesday night, officials said.

No injuries are reported in the incident which occurred at around 10:20 PM.

A fire brigade official said one fire engine was promptly dispatched to the spot. The blaze was doused in approximately 45 minutes.

The information about the exact number of occupants in the car and the cause of the fire are not available immediately.

Business tycoon and car enthusiast Gautam Singhania shared a video of the affected car on his social media account.

Another video shows flames in the cabin of the orange-coloured car with Gujarat registration number, and a man attempting to put them out.

A Thar SUV suddenly caught fire on the Darbhanga-Muzaffarpur Highway, causing panic among bystanders. The vehicle, en route to Darbhanga, was quickly engulfed in flames.

Fortunately, the passengers managed to escape unscathed by jumping out of the vehicle in the nick of time.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Wednesday said Atal Bihari Vajpayee excelled in all the roles he donned, be it as the leader of opposition in Lok Sabha, prime minister or a poet.

Dhami was speaking at a lecture series organised in the memory of Vajpayee at the Writer's Village in Thano in Dehradun district on the occasion of the former prime minister's 100th birth anniversary.

"Uttarakhand owes a special debt of gratitude to him as it was during his tenure as prime minister that it attained statehood," Dhami said, adding India became a nuclear-capable country during his prime ministership.

Hundreds of aspirants held a protest against the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) on Wednesday, demanding a re-examination for the 70th BPSC Examination. 

The protest took place in Patna near the commission’s headquarters, with candidates alleging discrepancies in the examination process.

As the country remembers former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on his centenary birth anniversary, leaders of political parties in Kashmir on Wednesday lauded the BJP stalwart's humanistic approach to conflict resolution over a military solution.

Former chief minister and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said she misses the former prime minister.

"I miss him! For the first time, I saw a leader besides Jawaharlal Nehru or Indira Gandhi who had an emotional connect with Kashmir. He was a leader, and that too from BJP, who tried to cater to the humanitarian view of the Kashmir issue," she said.

Separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who was one of the key Hurriyat Conference leaders to engage in a dialogue with the Vajpayee government, credited the former prime minister with opening "a new chapter of hope in Kashmir".

 Delhi Metro has completed 22 years of its passenger operations, according to a statement issued on Wednesday.

It was on December 24, 2002 that the first Delhi Metro train, TS-01, was flagged off by the then Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, "introducing a new era of modern public transport" in Delhi NCR, the statement said.

The TS-01 train, which started DMRC's journey, has carved a legacy of its own in bringing modern public transport to Delhi, it said.

Commissioned in 2002, TS-01 began as a four-coach train but has been upgraded over the years to meet growing passenger demand, and expanded to six coaches in 2014 and further to eight coaches in 2023, it stated.

Over its 22-year journey, TS-01 has been a symbol of reliability and efficiency, covering approximately 27 lakh kilometers, safely transporting over 5.4 crore passengers, and executing an impressive 23 lakh door operations, it said.

A person died after a boat capsized near in the Arabian Sea off Calangute beach in North Goa on Wednesday. “One dead, around 20 others rescued after tourist boat capsizes off Calangute beach in North Goa”, police said. Of the total rescued, six people are reportedly in serious condition.  

The incident occurred around 1.30 pm. "A 54-year-old man died and 20 others were rescued and taken to a nearby hospital for treatment after the boat they were travelling in capsized," a senior police official said, adding that except for two passengers, all others were wearing life jackets.

Priyanka Gautam, the Aam Aadmi Party's councilor from Ghadoli, along with her supporters, officially joined the BJP on Wednesday, according to a statement.

Dharmveer Singh, a former councilor from south Delhi and a leader of the Gujjar community, also joined the BJP on Wednesday.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday called on Union Railways and I&B Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and discussed pending state issues.

The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief discussed various state issues, the official sources said.

The party MPs accompanied the chief minister for the meeting.

Earlier in the day, Naidu attended the NDA chief minister's meeting at BJP president J P Nadda's residence in New Delhi.

He also paid homage to former Prime Minister and BJP founding president Atal Bihari Vajpayee at his memorial, "Sadaiv Atal', on his 100th birth anniversary.

Two suspected members of a 'sleeper cell' of a terror network have been arrested along with a huge cache of arms and ammunition in Assam's Kokrajhar district, police said on Wednesday.

Addressing a press conference here, special director general of police Harmeet Singh said, "The Special Task Force (STF), along with Kokrajhar district police, carried out an operation in the district's Namapara area on Tuesday night and arrested the duo." "The team, led by STF inspector general Parthasarathi Mahanta, achieved a huge success in averting a possible terror act by jihadi elements of a global terrorist organisation. We seized war-like stores from them," he added.

The duo were 'sleeper cell' members of a network, having links with the Bangladesh-based Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), which is an affiliate of the Al-Qaeda in Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), Singh said.

Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Wednesday said the state, which has been in the grip of ethnic violence since May last year, needs immediate peace and appealed to two communities to reach an understanding.

Speaking at the Good Governance Day programme at the state BJP headquarters here, Singh asserted that the saffron party can save the northeastern state as it believes in the idea of living together.

"What is happening in Manipur today has many reasons. Today, those who have been trying to divide the state are asking what the government is doing...they are hungry for power," Singh said.

The chief minister said several initiatives such as 'Meeyamgi Numit' (People's Day), which aims at bringing the people and officials closer, have been rolled out.

"We are not against any particular community. The stand of the BJP is clear. We believe in the idea of living together. We have already started to build relations between the police and the people," he said.

Singh said the state government is working hard to meet the requirements of internally displaced people by making committees at several layers of the administration.

He also claimed that the administration is providing immediate solutions to the displaced people in education and agriculture.

Pushpa 2 Producers to Meet CM Revanth Reddy Tomorrow 

 At least four people were dead and several were injured on Wednesday when a Roadways bus plunged into a 100-meter-deep ditch in the Bhimtal area of Uttarakhand's Nainital, officials said.

This is nakli Congress, this is the fake Congress. This is not the real Congress. Congress has no right over Mahatma Gandhi legacy. Mahatma Gandhi is the father of the nation and BR Ambedkar is the father of the Constitution. Congress taking a stand for BR Ambedkar is completely bogus. Congress's legacy is to humiliate BR Ambedkar.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Wednesday paid tribute to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on his 100th birth anniversary, saying that despite his rightist ideology, he upheld the secular fabric of our country as Prime Minister.

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Wednesday paid tribute to Bharat Ratna and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, on his birth centenary.

In informal meeting at Nadda residence , JP nadda and HM spoke to NDA partners on what happened in parliament on Ambedkar debate and that all NDA partners have to follow same narrative and coordination on Ambedkar issue

Discussion also on One nation one poll on how this is for betterment of country and all NDA ruled states should support govt

NDA coordination committee has been made where each MoS and Minister have a group of 14 MPs from NDA and today it was briefed that there has to be full coordination between all these committees on schemes and govt programs

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of multiple development projects in Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh. PM Modi laid the foundation stone of the Ken-Betwa River linking national project, the country's first interlinking of rivers project under a national perspective plan. This project aims to provide irrigation facilities to various districts in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh benefitting lakhs of farmer families.

A meeting of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) leaders is underway at the residence of Bharatiya Janata Party National President JP Nadda on Wednesday.

An Azerbaijani Airlines has crashed in the Kazakhstani city of Aktau.

The Embraer 190 aircraft made an emergency landing. The number of people on board has not yet been confirmed. Local media outlets reported that the plane was carrying 67 passengers and five crew.

Cold weather conditions persisted in Punjab and Haryana on Wednesday with Faridkot recording the lowest minimum temperature at 4.2 degrees Celsius, according to the meteorological department.

Dense fog enveloped many areas of Rajasthan as cold conditions persisted in the state on Wednesday.

Light to moderate rain is likely to occur in some parts of Udaipur, Ajmer, Kota, Jaipur, Bharatpur and Bikaner divisions due to a new western disturbance from December 26, according to the Meteorological Department.

Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's foster daughter, Namita Kaul Bhattacharya on Wednesday offered floral tributes to Atal Bihari Vajpayee on his 100th birthday at the 'Sadaiv Atal' memorial in the national capital.

Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Wednesday said that the foundation stone of the Ken-Betwa project, which will be laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will transform the Bundelkhand region and improve the lives of farmers.

Union Minister G Kishan Reddy on Wednesday distributed fruits to patients at the Nallakunta Fever Hospital in Hyderabad as part of the centenary celebrations of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Deputy Chief Ministers KP Maurya and Brajesh Pathak on Wednesday paid floral tributes to former Prime Minister and Bharat Ratna, Atal Bihari Vajpayee on his 100th birth anniversary.

President Droupadi Murmu, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and other dignitaries on Wednesday paid floral tributes to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on his 100th birth anniversary at the 'Sadaiv Atal' memorial in New Delhi.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday paid tribute to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on his 100th birth anniversary and called him a great thinker of Indian politics and a true son of Mother India who dedicated his entire life to the prestige, service and development of the country.

Assam BJP President Bhabesh Kalita on Wednesday said that the party is fully prepared for the upcoming panchayat elections in the state. "We are fully prepared for the election. We have already formed two separate committees - one is the election manifesto committee and another is the election management committee," Kalita told.

Dense fog enveloped parts of Delhi on Wednesday morning, reducing visibility to 100 metres in the early hours. The mercury settled at a low of 8.4 degrees Celsius, 1.5 notches below the seasonal average, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

Dense fog and poor visibility in New Delhi caused major disruptions on Christmas morning, with 20 trains departing from the city delayed, including major services like the Mumbai Central Rajdhani Express and Dakshin Express. The fog, coupled with the persisting cold temperature and poor visibility, added to the problems.

Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar extended warm wishes to all citizens on Christmas, highlighting the festival's universal message of hope, compassion, and solidarity on Wednesday. In a post on X, VP Dhankhar mentioned, "Warm greetings to all on Christmas. May this joyous occasion illuminate homes across our nation with warmth, love, and harmony. Let the message of peace and goodwill that brings guide us in our journey toward a stronger nation."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday extended his greetings to the people of the country on the occasion of Christmas while wishing for peace and prosperity. President Droupadi Murmu also wished the nation on Christmas, and wrote, “Merry Christmas to all! This special day reminds us of Jesus Christ's timeless teachings of love, kindness, and compassion.” "On this joyous occasion, let us strive to spread happiness, promote equality and foster the spirit of unity in the society," she added.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday extended Hanukkah greetings to Israeli Foreign Minister Gidon Sa'ar and the global community celebrating the festival. Jaishankar wished "hope, health, and happiness" to all those celebrating, concluding his message with the traditional Hebrew greeting, "Chag Sameach," a traditional greeting said by Jews, which translates to "Happy Festival."

Delhi police have arrested two women for kidnapping a 4-year-old girl, the police said. The child was rescued after 20 days. The accused, Roma Gupta (36) and Mona Kashyap (32) revealed during interrogation that one of them, struggling with infertility issues planned to abduct a child, police said.

Bhaderwah, a serene town nestled in the Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir, is currently witnessing an influx of tourists, drawn by the region's fresh snowfall that blanketed the area on Tuesday.
In the Bhaderwah area, visitors could be seen joyfully playing in the snow, building snowmen, and soaking in the winter charm. To keep warm, they gathered around bonfires, sipping hot tea.

A cold wave and dense fog engulfed Delhi on Christmas morning, causing a sharp drop in temperatures and poor visibility across the city.
The Indian Meteorological Department recorded a minimum temperature of 10 degrees Celsius, while visuals from Kartavya Path, Janpath, Dwarka, and India Gate showed no visibility due to the dense fog.
 

The newly reopened Kartikeshwar Mahadev temple in Sambhal district witnessed its morning aarti on Wednesday, drawing devotees from across the country.

The rescue operation to save a three-and-a-half-year-old girl who fell into a 150-foot-deep borewell in the Kiratpur village of Kotputli district in Rajasthan entered its third day on Wednesday.

A six-year-old boy, Harsh Mavji Arethia, who was seated in the front seat of a car, died after being struck by an airbag following a two-car collision in the Vashi area of Maharashtra.

At least five people died and 15 others were injured after a car and bus collided head-on in the Salempur area in Rajasthan's Karauli, officials said on Wednesday. As per the officials, 3 out of 5 deceased were women.

Shimla, the capital of Himachal Pradesh, witnessed a wave of disappointment among tourists on Christmas Eve when the much-anticipated midnight prayers at Christ Church were unexpectedly cancelled on Tuesday.
Visitors who had gathered at the iconic church on Mall Road to attend or witness the prayers were left dismayed when, as the clock struck 12, the service did not begin. Many had specifically planned their trips to Shimla to attend this event.

As temperatures in Delhi continue to stay in the single digits, more homeless people have sought refuge in government-constructed night shelters across the national capital. The rain showers also brought temporary relief from the city's persistent pollution, settling dust particles and slightly improving air quality.

Cities across India were beautifully adorned with lights on Tuesday night, creating a festive ambience for the Christmas celebration. Churches and markets were illuminated with vibrant lights, sparkling stars, and beautifully arranged Christmas cribs a day before the main holiday.

Flights that are not CAT III compliant may get affected and the passengers are requested to contact the airline for updated flight information: Delhi Airport

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu arrived in the national capital on Tuesday to attend the 100th birth anniversary of former Prime Minister late Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief is scheduled to participate in a meeting of all NDA chief ministers with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, according to official sources. Naidu is also likely to meet Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah separately to discuss issues pertinent to the state, sources said.