Security Heightened In Delhi Ahead Of New Year's Eve

Balasore BJP MP Pratap Chandra Sarangi criticised Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, alleging that he behaved like a "bouncer" rather than the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, a position once held by esteemed personalities like Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Sarangi, who was injured and had to be admitted to a hospital following a scuffle in Parliament on December 19, told reporters, "I am comparatively better now and was discharged from the hospital on December 28. I still need to be cautious as the stitch on my head has not fully healed." Recalling the incident, Sarangi said, "It happened when we (BJP MPs) were standing near an entry gate, peacefully protesting against the insult of Dr Ambedkar, holding placards." "Suddenly, Rahul Gandhi came along with some of his party colleagues and started pushing people to move ahead. He was behaving like a bouncer, not like the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, a post once occupied by great personalities like Vajpayee ji," Sarangi said.

A 55-year-old woman was allegedly murdered by her relative at Kunnamkulam in Thrissur district on Monday evening, police said. Residents apprehended the suspect named Kannan and handed him over to the police.

Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena has advised the city's AAP government to increase the stipend of ASHA workers and release at the earliest the pending salaries of Anganwadi supervisors, Raj Niwas officials said on Monday. A delegation of Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) and Anganwadi workers met Saxena and raised their grievances. They also sought his intervention in the matter. Notably, ASHA workers act as non-medical health workers in the community under the National Health Mission.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday conducted searches at three locations in the Chatra district of Jharkhand to probe extortion and money laundering by a Maoist group, according to an official statement. During the searches, several mobile phones, SIM cards etc. were seized, it said.

Five months after devastating landslides destroyed three villages in Wayanad, the Union Government has declared it a disaster of "severe nature," recognising its intensity and impact for all practical purposes, an official source said on Monday. In a communication to the Kerala government, the Union Home Ministry explained that financial aid for such severe disasters is initially provided by the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF), which is then supplemented by the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) based on assessments conducted by an Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT).

On illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, DCP (South East Delhi) Ravi Kumar Singh said, "We received two complaints from the Electoral registration officer, Okhla which was against a total of 8 people. Two FIRs have been lodged. After investigation, we have arrested six people. The cyber cafe owner has been arrested who was involved in making fake voter ID cards. Further investigation into the matter is underway and we are taking action."

On ISRO PSLV Launch And Space Docking Experiment, W Selvamurthy (Indian Scientist) said, " To end the year, when we are bidding farewell to 2024, ISRO, is launching the PSLV C-60, which is a very important technology demonstrator to see how the docking technology, arbitral docking can be achieved. That is the primary mission...there are two primary payloads, which will be the 'target' and 'chaser'. Then there will also be 24 other payloads, among which Amity University is sending a very important biological payload, which is the callus of a plant."

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that unconventional methods like Artificial Intelligence-based warfare and cyber attacks pose a big challenge. Addressing officers at the Army War College (AWC) in Mhow Cantonment in Madhya Pradesh, Singh said India's defence exports have crossed a record Rs 21,000 crore from Rs 2,000 crore a decade ago. He said a target has been set to achieve defence exports of Rs 50,000 crore by 2029.

On alleged sexual assault in Anna University, Chairman of the National Commission for Women (NCW), Vijaya Rahatkar said, "Taking cognisance of the matter, NCW has instructed the police. It seems that the accused is a habitual offender and has committed such crimes previously but was not attended to by the police. NCW has therefore constituted a fact-finding committee of two members and is meeting different people in the (Anna) University as well as the parents of the victim."

NHRC member Priyank Kanoongo visited night shelters around Delhi's Red Fort area, where he interacted with the homeless people taking refuge in a night shelter

AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal announced on Monday a monthly honorarium of Rs 18,000 for Hindu temple priests and Gurudwara granthis in the city after his party returns to power in Delhi, evoking sharp reactions from the opposition BJP and the Congress.

Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Monday emphasised the importance of enabling municipalities to thrive independently. During a meeting with Itanagar Municipal Corporation (IMC) mayor Tamme Phassang, who called on him at the civil secretariat here, Khandu shared his ambitious vision for empowering urban local bodies.

The BJP has expelled 11 functionaries, including a Zilla Parishad member, for six years in Maharashtra's Akola district for anti-party activities in the recently concluded Maharashtra assembly elections. The Mahayuti, comprising the BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP, had seen rebellion in the district in the run-up to the November assembly polls, which triggered the action.

The stalemate over the demand for cancellation of a recent Bihar PSC exam continued on Monday, despite Chief Secretary Amrit Lal Meena holding talks with a section of protesters over an alleged leak of question paper for the competitive test. Governor Rajendra Arlekar also summoned Bihar Public Service Commission Chairman Parmar Ravi Manubhai over the paper leak allegation.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday said the asset quality of banks improved further, and their gross non-performing assets (GNPA) or bad loans ratio declined to a 12-year low of 2.6 per cent in September 2024 on the back of falling slippages and steady credit demand. The RBI also flagged concern over a sharp rise in write-offs, especially among private sector banks (PVBs), which could be partly masking worsening asset quality in unsecured lending segment and dilution in underwriting standards.

Severe cold gripped Haryana and Punjab on Monday, with maximum temperatures hovering well below normal limits in the two states. A thick blanket of fog reduced visibility early in the morning at many places in the two states. Piercing cold prevailed in Chandigarh during the day with the city recording a maximum temperature of 11.3 degrees Celsius, it's the coldest day of the winter season so far, over eight notches below normal, according to the local Met office.

In Haryana, severe cold prevailed during the day in most places.

Kerala Minister P Rajeeve said on Monday that the health condition of Thrikkakara Congress MLA Uma Thomas, who suffered severe head and spinal injuries from a fall earlier, was showing signs of improvement. In a medical bulletin issued on Monday morning, the private hospital treating her said that while her vital signs remain stable, she needs to stay on the ventilator for several days due to severe lung injuries.

Abhijit Mukherjee, son of former president Pranab Mukherjee, said that there should be no controversy surrounding the death of former prime minister Manmohan Singh. The remarks come after his sister Sharmistha Mukherjee said she felt bad when no CWC meeting was convened after her father's demise. The Congress Working Committee (CWC) is the highest decision-making body of the party.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, accompanied by the Chief of the Army Staff, General Upendra Dwivedi, visited the premier training institutes of the Indian Army in Mhow on a two-day official visit from 29–30 December. The visit included engagements at the Army War College (AWC), Infantry School, and the Military College of Telecommunication Engineering (MCTE). Senior officers of the Indian Army were also present during the visit.
 

Ahead of the New Year celebrations, Commissioner Of Police, Twin City, Bhubaneswar, Suresh Dev Datta Singh says, "A large number of people come here to celebrate New Year...Several arrangements have been made for the tourists...PCR women staff have been deployed...The hotels have been issued an advisory...We hope the people will follow the advisories..."

In a letter to Delhi CM Atishi, LG VK Saxena expressed objection to AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal calling Atishi a temporary Chief Minister

"...I found this very objectionable and I was hurt by it. It was not only an insult to you, but also to your appointee, the President of India and to me as her representative… As a Lieutenant Governor, I am concerned about this level of public discourse and at the same time, I am hurt by the conversation of presenting the full-time Chief Minister of my government as a temporary Chief Minister..." reads the letter.

Ministry of Defence has signed two contracts, worth approx. Rs 2,867 crore, for the construction of Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) Plug for the DRDO-AIP system & its integration onboard Indian Submarines, and the integration of Electronic Heavy Weight Torpedo (EHWT) onboard the Kalvari-Class submarines. Both the contracts were signed in the presence of Defence Secretary Shri Rajesh Kumar Singh in New Delhi on December 30, 2024: Ministry of Defence

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Monday that India's defence exports have crossed a record Rs 21,000 crore from Rs 2,000 crore a decade ago.

Addressing officers at the Army War College (AWC) in more than two-centuries-old Mhow Cantonment, Singh said a target has been set to achieve defence exports of Rs 50,000 crore by 2029.

He said mastering frontier technologies is the need of the hour in the constantly evolving times, noting that military training centres are playing a crucial role in equipping and readying soldiers to deal with future challenges.

"Our defence exports, which were around Rs 2,000 crore a decade ago, have crossed the record figure of Rs 21,000 crore today. We have set an export target of Rs 50,000 crore by 2029," Singh said.

He said Made-in-India equipment is being exported to other countries.

Singh mentioned radical changes in warfare in his speech, saying that unconventional methods like information warfare, Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based warfare, proxy warfare, electromagnetic warfare, space warfare, and cyber-attacks are posing a big challenge.

Pujaris and Granthis from Various parts of Delhi meet AAP Convenor Arvind Kejriwal at his residence 

BJP MP Pratap Sarangi says, " We were protesting peacefully (at the entrance of the Parliament)...during this protest, Congress MPs led by Rahul Gandhi reached there...since no BJP MP was trying to resist him, he started pushed everyone himself...he suddenly came near me and pushed MP Mukesh Rajput, who was standing in front of me...he fell on me. My head hit the wall next to the step of the Parliament...doctors were surprised how my eye was fine..."

Union Minister Hardeep Puri says, "...Just because a lie is spread again and again, it won't become truth...truth is that till now no Rohingya has been ever provided with any flat anywhere. Those who are doing this fake sloganeering also know this...Arvind Kejriwal's MLA made Rohingyas stay in Delhi and gave them free ration, water and electricity, also provided Rs 10,000 and got their voter ID card made. The whole country knows, whose voters Rohingyas are. By supporting Rohingyas again and again, Kejriwal is tampering with India's security. This is a very low level of politics..."

Prashan Kishore speaking to Republic on BPSC protests in Bihar said, ‘want justice justice for BPSC students on the streets.'

Samajwadi Party MP Iqra Hasan says, "I think that all these things are not needed because the law of our country has to be followed by everyone. We are a republic, we are a democracy...Now there is no one's rule here. There is no dictatorship of anyone. Now everyone will have to follow the rules and laws written in the Constitution and according to the book, there is the Places of Worship Act in the Constitution. Whatever was there in 1947, whatever church, temple, or mosque, it should remain in the same condition...."
 

ABVP workers hold protest outside Tamil Nadu House in Delhi over the alleged sexual harassment incident in Chennai's Anna University.

Delhi BJP President Virendraa Sachdeva says, "Priests of the temple and Granthis (Sikh religious official) should get salaries, the BJP was continuously putting pressure on the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi govt for the last two years. We have staged protests as well...

A person has died after being hit by a car in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal district, an official said on Monday. The individual was riding his motorcycle when he was hit and dragged by the same car. As this happened, the family members of the deceased started protesting.
 

Jan Suraj Party Chief Prashant Kishore on Monday criticised the use of lathi-charge and water cannon to disperse protesting BPSC aspirants at Gandhi Maidan, calling it "wrong" and said the “protest will not stop.” He further said that the students can neither be intimidated by force nor can they be stopped by resorting to lathicharge.

After Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav took a jibe at ongoing excavation claiming a Shivling can be found at the Chief Minister's residence, Uttar Pradesh Minister OP Rajbhar asked him why did he not get the excavation done when he was the Chief Minister. Hitting out at Yadav, OP Rajbhar stated that he is making such "baseless" statements to secure his Muslim votes.

Independent Lok Sabha MP from Purnia, Pappu Yadav, on Monday said that the Bihar Governor spoke to the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) chairman, Parmar Ravi Manubhai, on the phone to discuss the ongoing protests on the 70th Combined Competitive Preliminary Examination (70th CCE Prelims).
 

The Andhra Pradesh government has appointed K Vijayanand as the Chief Secretary to the state government, as the incumbent, Neerabh Kumar Prasad, will retire on December 31. 

Congress candidate from New Delhi Assembly Constituency Sandeep Dikshit on Monday took a dig at former Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal over the welfare schemes announced by the ruling AAP for the upcoming assembly election, stating that Kejriwal will not be able to implement schemes even after he becomes Chief Minister again.
 

Major General Manoj Tiwari, Zonal Recruiting Officer, Uttar Pradesh-Uttarakhand, met Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami at his camp office on Monday. CM Dhami said that 4500 candidates have been selected from Uttarakhand in Agniveer recruitment. Recruitment will also be done soon for 2000 vacant posts. Major General Manoj Tiwari said that camps will be set up at the state and district levels so that maximum youth from the state can participate in the upcoming recruitments.
 

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal has again announced a freebie scheme. Kejriwal has announced Rs 18,000 monthly salary scheme for priests under the 'Pujari Granthi Samman Yojana.’. 
 

Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson Anand Dubey on Monday hinted that his party, led by Uddhav Thackeray, may contest the upcoming Mumbai local body polls alone, without an alliance with the Congress and Sharad Pawar's NCP.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday pointed out 'unconventional methods' of warfare as new challenges before the country, in Mhow. He was addressing senior Army officers at Army War College.

After the conclusion of the two-day meeting, Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Temple Construction Committee Chairman Nripendra Misra on Monday said that the construction of the Ram Mandir complex was in full swing and will be "hopefully" completed within the first six months of 2025.

Fiji's Deputy Prime Minister Biman Prasad signed the condolence book at the Indian High Commission in Suva to offer condolence on the passing away of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The north Indian hill town of Dharamshala and its surrounding areas continue to shiver under an intense cold wave, with the minimum temperature hovering between 0 and 1 degree Celsius last night. The Dhauladhar mountains are blanketed in fresh snowfall, a challenging environment for residents.
 

Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal on Monday paid a visit to Sangam Vihar in the national capital and challenged her own Aam Aadmi Party saying that Former Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal and Chief Minister Atishi must come here. She further stated that the people here have been inhabiting hell-like conditions and that such a situation does not even persist in the most backward districts of the country.
 

ISRO's Space Docking Experiment onboard a PSLV rocket later on Monday has been rescheduled by two mins, the space agency said.

After facing a prolonged dry spell, farmers in the Udhampur district of Jammu and Kashmir have got relief with the arrival of rainfall.The farmers had been struggling with harsh conditions, uncertain about the fate of their crops, given the four-month dry spell.
 

Bihar Police has registered an FIR against 600-700 individuals, including Jan Suraaj Chief Prashant Kishore, for unauthorized gathering, instigating people and creating law and order issues in Gandhi Maidan.
 

Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, along with Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari, on Sunday visited Gajapati and Ganjam districts to assess crop damage due to recent unseasonal rainfall and interacted with affected farmers in the region. During his visit, CM Majhi directed the officials to assess the damage and provide assistance through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT).

Thousands of devotees converged in Haridwar early Monday morning to take a holy dip in the sacred Ganga on the occasion of Somvati Amavasya. The day is regarded as highly significant in Hinduism, marked by rituals such as bathing, donations, Shraddha Tarpan for ancestors, and prayers to the Peepal tree.
 

The Assam Rice Research Institute of Titabar, nestled in the heart of Jorhat district in the state, continues to make contributions to rice cultivation. Over the years, the institute has developed more than 45 rice varieties tailored for diverse environmental conditions, ensuring the resilience and profitability of rice farming. Preserving a rich genetic heritage, the institute houses around 7,000 rice germplasms, including 2,000 indigenous varieties.
 

Uttar Pradesh Assembly LoP and Samajwadi Party leader Mata Prasad Pandey on Monday stated that as Akhilesh Yadav announced to provide the kin of each deceased in Sambhal Rs five lakh, the cheques will be handed over today.
 

The Tripura Kumbh Mela has begun, filling the sacred banks of the Howrah River at Kumbhnagar, Ranirbazar, with devotion and festivity on Sunday.

Farmers blocked roads at many places across the state on Monday as part of their Punjab bandh call, hamstringing the commuter traffic. A call for a shutdown was given last week by Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha over the Centre not accepting the demands of protesting farmers.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath met President Droupadi Murmu in New Delhi on Sunday and invited her to attend the Maha Kumbh 2025. The Chief Minister also extended an invitation to Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinay Kumar Saxena for the Maha Kumbh 2025 to be held in Prayagraj.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma described the late former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as a great leader and slammed the Congress for allegedly politicising his passing just days after the leader's cremation.

World leaders have expressed condolences following the death of former US President James Earl Carter Jr, who passed away at the age of 100 in Plains, Georgia. The tributes highlighted his lifelong commitment to peace, democracy, and humanitarian efforts.
 

US Vice President Kamala Harris paid tribute to former President James Earl Carter Jr, who passed away on Sunday (local time), calling him an inspiration and highlighting his lifelong dedication to fighting for peace, democracy, and human dignity.