The big news: Akhilesh Yadav gets legislators to support him in writing, and 9 other top stories
In other headlines: Four men were caught on CCTV molesting a woman in Delhi, and John Kerry said the Indo-US relationship was a 'defining partnership'.
A look at the headlines right now:
- More than 200 SP legislators have signed an affidavit in support of Akhilesh Yadav, say reports: The Uttar Pradesh chief minister is expected to meet the Election Commission on Friday to stake claim over the party symbol.
- Another New Year’s eve sexual assault reported, this time from Delhi: The accused later got together with a large mob to attack the police personnel who intervened and ransack their chowki, officers said.
- India-US relationship will be one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century, says John Kerry: In his exit memo, the secretary of state said Washington should continue to work with New Delhi to ‘expand the vast areas of cooperation between our nations’.
- CBI must finish probe into purchase of 111 Air India aircraft during UPA regime, says Supreme Court: The bench dismissed a petition that wanted the investigation supervised by the judiciary.
- Demonetisation may temporarily slow down the economy: President Pranab Mukherjee: In his New Year address to governors and lieutenant governors, he said the poor would need some help ‘to alleviate their suffering’.
- 30 seconds of confusion projected as mass molestation, Bengaluru’s police commissioner tells BBC: There is no evidence to prove that ‘sex attacks’ took place in the city’s MG Road-Brigade Road area on New Year’s Eve, Praveed Sood said.
- RBI will release fresh data on demonetised cash soon: A statement from the apex bank said the process would rule out accounting errors.
- Osama Bin Laden’s son’s name added to US counter-terrorism blacklist: Washington’s State and Treasury Departments also listed Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula leader Ibrahim al-Banna as a threat.
- Kashmir is an integral part of Pakistan, says Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif: He called Burhan Wani a martyr and added that all countries must urge India to change its policy towards the Valley.
- Tax collections for 2016-2017 will exceed Budget estimate of Rs 16.3 lakh crore, says Arun Jaitley: The finance minister said demonetisation had not affected revenue collections, even as states asked the Centre to relax borrowing limits.
