Top news: Lok Sabha passes triple talaq bill
The biggest stories of the day.
The triple talaq bill was passed in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, after the Congress and AIADMK walked out. The bill has earlier faced stiff resistance in the Rajya Sabha. The Bharatiya Janata Party had issued a three-line whip to its Lok Sabha members asking them to be present in Parliament when the bill is taken up for discussion.
The Madras High Court on Thursday took suo motu cognisance of a pregnant woman contracting HIV after blood transfusion at a government hospital. The court asked the Tamil Nadu government to file an action taken and status report by January 3. Meanwhile, the National Human Rights Commission issued a notice to the chief secretary of Tamil Nadu calling for a detailed report in the matter within four weeks.
Fiscal deficit rises to 114.8% of the full year target at the end of November
The tax receipts for the April-November 2018 period were Rs 8,96,583 crore, while the expenditure was Rs 16,13,208 crore, the Ministry of Finance said. This gives a fiscal deficit of Rs 7,16,625 crore, which is 14.8% above the targeted deficit for the entire 2018-’19 financial year.
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Akhilesh Yadav attacks Congress for denying his party a ministerial berth in Madhya Pradesh
Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav attacked the Congress on Wednesday for not giving his Samajwadi Party a ministerial berth in the Madhya Pradesh cabinet. The Congress formed the government in Madhya Pradesh earlier this month with support from the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party.
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Bombay High Court issues notice against lawyer who allegedly slapped judge
The Bombay High Court has taken suo motu notice of the alleged assault of a sessions court judge by a lawyer in the court premises in Nagpur and issued a notice against the lawyer. Vacation judge RK Deshpande of the High Court’s Nagpur bench said such incidents are a “threat to independence of the judiciary”.
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Madras HC asks Tamil Nadu government for report after woman gets HIV from transfused blood
The court took cognisance of the matter when advocates George Williams and Krishnamoorthy mentioned it before the vacation bench of judges S Vaidyanathan and PT Asha. Williams also said he wanted to bring the matter to the court’s notice, and would not file any petition.
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NIA arrests: Delhi court sends all 10 arrested men to the agency’s custody for 12 days
The agency had claimed to have conducted raids in 17 locations in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh and detained 16 people, suspected to be members of a terror module inspired by the Islamic State group, called Harkat ul Harb-e-Islam. The agency said the group was planning bomb blasts targeting politicians and government installations in Delhi and other parts of north India.
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Religious hate crimes in India rose to a decade-high level in 2018: Report
Hate crimes motivated by religious bias shot up to a decade-high of 93 in 2018, according to a multi-organisation project led by FactChecker.in. In 2018, 30 people were killed in such attacks – the most since 2009, when the project began tracking hate crimes – and at least 305 were injured. Eighteen victims were Muslim, 10 were Hindu and two were Christian.
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Jallikattu: Tamil Nadu allows bull-taming sport in three places in Madurai next month
The Tamil Nadu government has issued a government order to conduct bull taming sport jallikattu in three places in Madurai in January. The government has permitted the sport in Avaniayapuram in South Madurai taluk on January 15, Palamedu in Vadipatti taluk on January 16 and Alanganallur, also in Vadipatti, on January 17.
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Himachal Pradesh: Projects worth Rs 26,000 crore underway in state, says PM Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that the government has allocated development projects worth Rs 26,000 crore to various sectors in Himachal Pradesh. He was addressing a public rally in Dharamsala to celebrate a year of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government in the state.
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Lok Sabha passes triple talaq bill
The Lok Sabha passed the triple talaq bill with all its clauses on Thursday, after the Congress and All India Anna Munnetra Kazhagam walked out. Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had said the bill was not against any community, religion or belief.
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Air India: Government has prepared a revival plan for national carrier, minister tells Lok Sabha
Union minister Jayant Sinha on Thursday said that the central government has prepared a revival plan for state-owned Air India that will provide for a comprehensive financial package, differentiated strategies for the airline’s core businesses, and strong organisational reforms.
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Karnataka: Congress-JD(S) government will collapse within 24 hours, claims BJP leader
Bharatiya Janata Party legislator and former Karnataka minister Umesh Katti has claimed that the HD Kumaraswamy government in the state will collapse within 24 hours and the saffron party will form government in the state next week.
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Assam: AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal apologises for threatening to smash journalist’s head
All India United Democratic Front chief Badruddin Ajmal on Thursday apologised for abusing a journalist the previous day.
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Vadodara: Police warn citizens against consuming alcohol, ‘indecent behaviour’ at New Year parties
The Vadodara Police on Wednesday issued a notification banning the consumption of alcohol, “indecent behaviour” and rash driving ahead of the New Year celebrations in the city.
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Jammu and Kashmir: Srinagar records coldest December night in 28 years at minus 7.8 degrees Celsius
Jammu and Kashmir’s summer capital Srinagar recorded the coldest December night in 28 years with a low of minus 7.8 degrees Celsius on Thursday. The city had recorded a minimum of minus 8.8 degrees Celsius on December 7, 1990.
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NIA arrests: ‘Would crackdown be possible without intercepting communications?’ asks Arun Jaitley
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday praised the National Investigation Agency for busting an alleged module of the Islamic State group that was reportedly preparing to carry out bomb attacks in the country.
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Markets surge as Sensex gains over 390 points, Nifty 50 reclaims 10,800 level
The Indian benchmark indices surged on Thursday with BSE Sensex rising more than 390 points and the NSE Nifty 50 reclaiming the 10,800 level.
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Meghalaya trapped miners: Rescue workers report foul odour, Coal India team to reach today
Divers of the National Disaster Response Force attempting to rescue 15 miners trapped for two weeks in an illegal rat-hole mine in Meghalaya said on Wednesday that a “foul odour” was emanating from the mine.
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Aligarh: Vehicles taking stray cows to shelters attacked following cattle slaughter rumours
The Uttar Pradesh Police have arrested four people in Aligarh district for allegedly attacking vehicles transporting 800 stray cattle.
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Kerala: Two Navy personnel dead after aircraft hangar collapses at Kochi naval base
Two Navy personnel died in an accident at the naval base in Kochi, Kerala, on Thursday. A defence spokesperson said an aircraft hangar collapsed at the naval base.
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Railways develops robot powered by artificial intelligence to check for faults in trains
The Indian Railway’s Central Zone has developed a robot powered by artificial intelligence to take pictures and record videos of the under-gears of trains and send them to engineers for repairs and maintenance.
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Parliament: Lok Sabha passes triple talaq bill, Rajya Sabha adjourned for day
The triple talaq bill was passed in the Lok Sabha on Thursday even as Opposition members of the Congress and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam walked out of the House before voting began. The motion for Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2018, was adopted with 238 votes for and 12 against it.
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‘Forget bullet trains, focus on ones that are already running,’ Punjab BJP leader tells PM Modi
A senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader from Punjab on Wednesday urged the Narendra Modi-led government to first focus on the existing trains and railway infrastructure instead of planning bullet trains.
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Five Lok Sabha MPs resign after being elected legislators in state Assemblies
Three MPs who were elected on the Bharatiya Janata Party’s ticket and two from the Congress have resigned from the Lok Sabha after being elected legislators in their state Assemblies. Speaker Sumitra Mahajan has accepted the resignation of the five parliamentarians.
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Maharashtra: Woman arrested for allegedly cutting off harasser’s genitals
The Maharashtra Police on Tuesday arrested a woman who allegedly chopped off the genitals of a man who she said had harassed her. The incident took place in Thane’s Nandivali.
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Rajasthan: Cabinet portfolios allocated, CM Ashok Gehlot keeps finance and home
Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh on Wednesday night allocated portfolios to the council of ministers with the help of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. The ministers had already taken oath on Monday.
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2019 Lok Sabha polls: Election Commission bans all kinds of tobacco at voting booths
The Election Commission has prohibited all kinds of tobacco at polling booths during the Lok Sabha elections next year in a bid to effectively implement tobacco control laws.
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Unnao rape case: Complainant and her family booked for ‘falsely’ claiming she was a minor
The Uttar Pradesh Police have booked a teenager for fraud and forgery months after she had accused a Bharatiya Janata Party MLA in Unnao of raping her. She, her mother and uncle have been accused of tampering with documents to prove she was a minor.
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NIA arrests: Modi government delivered on promise of zero tolerance against terrorism, says BJP
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government had “delivered” on its promise of zero-tolerance against terrorism.
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1984 anti-Sikh violence: Protestors deface Rajiv Chowk signboard in Delhi, want the locality renamed
A group of people who were affected during the 1984 anti-Sikh violence allegedly defaced a “Rajiv Chowk” signboard in central Delhi on Wednesday, and demanded that the area be renamed after revolutionary leader Bhagat Singh.
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Delhi HC issues notice to Centre on plea alleging caste-based recruitment for President’s bodyguard
The Delhi High Court has sought the responses of the Centre and the Army chief on a petition alleging that candidates from only three castes were considered for the recruitment of the President’s Bodyguard.
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