A day after four Army jawans were killed in an ambush by unidentified terrorists in the Poonch-Rajouri area of Jammu and Kashmir, three civilians who were picked up allegedly by the Army for questioning were found dead on December 22 with multiple injuries. Five more persons have been admitted to hospital with serious injuries. A relative of one of the deceased civilian told The Hindu that the three men were tortured to death and the families were asked to collect the bodies from an Army camp on Friday evening.
Priyanka no longer U.P. in-charge; Sachin Pilot to handle Chhattisgarh
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is now a Congress general secretary “without any assignment portfolio” while Sachin Pilot will be the general secretary in-charge of Chhattisgarh as part of a major organisational reshuffle that Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge carried out on Saturday .Ms. Vadra was in charge of Uttar Pradesh earlier. The much-awaited reshuffle displays a sense of urgency in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha poll and comes just two days after a meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), the party’s highest decision-making body.
Row over Calcutta High Court judge’s husband being quizzed by Bengal CID
At a time when the Trinamool Congress government and its leaders are defending allegations of corruption before the Calcutta High Court, the husband of a sitting High Court judge has alleged torture by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the West Bengal Police. Pratap Chandra Dey, husband of Justice Amrita Sinha, was summoned for questioning by the CID earlier this week and his allegations have triggered a political row. Justice Sinha is hearing a number of cases including those related to the State recruitment scam and allegations against Trinamool leader Abhishek Banerjee.
BJP devises micro-level plans to increase vote share in 2024 Lok Sabha elections
Chaired by BJP president J.P. Nadda, the meeting was attended by national office-bearers, morcha presidents and those in charge of particular States as well State-level generation secretaries of organisation, with the Prime Minister addressing the gathering on Friday and Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday. Plans by the BJP to reach out to at least 10 crore people by the time the Ram Temple in Ayodhya is inaugurated on January 22 was also discussed.
Dhoni to resume training in the next few weeks: CSK CEO
Chennai Super Kings skipper M.S. Dhoni is set to resume training in the next few weeks as part of his preparation for the 2024 IPL, according to the franchise’s CEO, K.S. Viswanathan .The former India skipper underwent surgery on his left knee after leading the Super Kings to a fifth IPL title earlier this year. The 42-year-old was often seen sporting knee strapping during the 2023 edition and struggled a bit, especially while running between the wickets. Giving an update about Dhoni’s fitness, Viswanathan said, “He is doing well now. He has started his rehab and is working in the gym. And, probably in another 10 days, he will also start working in the nets.”
Air India’s 1st wide-body A350-900 aircraft lands in Delhi
Air India’s first wide-body A350-900 aircraft, sporting new brand livery, arrived in New Delhi from European aviation major Airbus’ Toulouse facility in France. The aircraft, registered as VT-JRA, touched down at the national capital’s Indira Gandhi International Airport at 1346 hrs, making the Tata Group-owned airline the first aircraft operator in India to have this type of aircraft in its fleet, a statement said. The delivery flight is operated using a special call sign AI350, it said.
Sai Sudharsan always looking to learn and improve, says Hemang Badani
Rising star Sai Sudharsan has had a stellar run in the last 12 months. He has won the TNPL, Deodhar Trophy, Irani Cup, and County Championship (playing for Surrey) this year. His batting exploits in the 50-over Vijay Hazare tournament helped Tamil Nadu make the knockouts, which culminated in his India call-up for the ODI series against South Africa .In his debut against South Africa in the first ODI, he looked very comfortable facing a strong Proteas’ bowling unit and scored a match-winning half-century in tough conditions.
Granting a nearly month-long reprieve to the Eknath Shinde-led government concerning the Maratha reservation issue, pro-quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil on Saturday announced an indefinite strike at Azad Maidan in Mumbai from January 20 to intensify his demands for reservation to the community. Mr. Jarange-Patil was addressing a mega rally in Marathwada region’s Beed district. In his address, he said that “crores of people from the Maratha community” will march to Mumbai on January 20.
U.S. Federal Reserve’s rate cuts come into view as inflation retreats
Federal Reserve policymakers are set to start the new year with fresh evidence that their 2022-2023 interest-rate hike campaign put U.S. price pressures firmly in retreat, with data on Friday showing that by some key measures inflation is now at or below their 2% goal. Traders broke out the champagne after a government report showed the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index fell 0.1% in November from October, responding to the first decline on that measure since April 2020 by boosting bets not only that the Fed will begin reducing borrowing costs in March but will continue to cut them throughout the year.
Turkey says 12 soldiers killed in clashes with Kurdish militants
Twelve Turkish soldiers have been killed in the past two days in clashes with Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants in northern Iraq, the Defence Ministry said on December 23. The military carried out air strikes on PKK targets, “neutralising” at least 13 PKK militants on Saturday in ongoing clashes, the ministry said in a statement on social messaging platform X. Turkey typically uses the term “neutralised” to mean killed. The ministry also said seven militants had been killed on Friday.
Liquor in GIFT City: Congress, AAP slam Gujarat’s BJP govt. over decision
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Opposition Congress on Saturday clashed over the Gujarat government’s decision a day earlier to allow liquor in GIFT City, which partially overturned the State’s strict prohibition policy. The State government, on Friday, lifted the ban on liquor in the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT) to provide a “global ecosystem”. While the Congress and Aam Aadmi Party said it was an unfortunate decision that would ruin the youth, the BJP said it would provide proper environment for the development of business in the region.
U.S. court rules Twitter breached contract over failure to pay bonuses
A U.S. federal court ruled on Friday that social media company Twitter, now branded X, violated contracts by failing to pay annual performance bonuses it orally promised its workers. The breach-of-contract lawsuit was brought by former employer Mark Schobinger in June. The lawsuit said Twitter had promised workers a 2022 performance bonus if they stayed with the company through the final possible payout date, which was the first quarter of this year. The court threw out Twitter’s attempts to have the case dismissed, ruling that Schobinger’s claim of breach of contract under California law was valid.
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