A look at the headlines right now:

  1. Six out of eight Trinamool leaders leave Assam after being detained overnight at Silchar airport: Meanwhile, three party leaders from Assam, including the state president, resigned in protest against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s opposition to the NRC’s final draft. 
  2. Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa wins elections, opposition rejects results: The incumbent won 50.8% of the vote, while his opponent, the MDC Alliance’s Nelson Chamisa, secured 44.8%.  
  3. Lok Sabha passes bill to grant constitutional status to panel for backward classes: Rajya Sabha chairperson Venkaiah Naidu adjourned the House after protests by Opposition legislators against the National Register of Citizens draft.
  4. Complainant turns hostile in rape case, says she had consensual sex with Kerala priest: The complainant also told the court that she was not a minor at the time of the incident, which took place in 2016.   
  5. No decision yet on Donald Trump attending India’s Republic Day celebrations, says White House: The press secretary said the defence secretary and secretary of state will begin ‘dialogue and the process and potential discussion for a presidential visit’.   
  6. Apple becomes world’s first private sector company worth $1 trillion: The technology giant is now worth more than the economies of countries such as Saudi Arabia, Switzerland and Taiwan.   
  7. Jet Airways asks employees to take up to 25% pay cut, pilots’ union rejects demand: Meanwhile, the airline has reportedly approached investment bankers to help sell a stake.   
  8. Opposition parties may request poll panel to use ballot papers during 2019 elections, say reports: Seventeen political parties are planning to send a delegation to the Election Commission next week.   
  9. Indian Coast Guard rescues 343 people from flooded passenger ship off Car Nicobar Islands: It diverted one of its ships to the site and deployed a Dornier aircraft to aid the rescue mission.   
  10. Death penalty is inadmissible in all cases, says Pope Francis: The pontiff changed the teachings to say that the punishment was an attack on the ‘inviolability and dignity of the person’.