A look at the headlines right now:

  1. CBI Special Director Rakesh Asthana’s tenure curtailed by Centre, three other officers also removed: The other officers are Joint Director Arun Sharma, Deputy Inspector General Manish Sinha, and Superintendent of Police Jayant Naiknavare.
  2. Coalition government in Karnataka will complete full term, says Congress leader: Earlier in the day, the Congress called for a meeting of its legislature party on January 18 amid allegations of horse-trading.
  3. Election Commission asks Delhi Police to investigate fake Lok Sabha poll schedule on social media: The Delhi chief electoral officer said the fake news item being circulated on social media platforms was causing confusion among the public.
  4. Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh sentenced to life for journalist’s murder: The Dera Sacha Sauda chief, who at present is serving a 20-year prison term in Rohtak for raping two followers in 2002, was sentenced along with three others.
  5. Jayant Sinha denies media reports that he predicted an unstable government after Lok Sabha polls: He had been misquoted, the minister tweeted. ‘My most likely scenario is that the 2019 elections have already been won.’
  6. BJP leader shot dead in Mandsaur, Madhya Pradesh: Unidentified gunmen on a bike killed Mandsaur Municipal Corporation President Prahlad Bandhwar around 7 pm.
  7. Centre is using Ram temple, cow protection to divert attention from pressing matters, claims Amartya Sen: The economist criticised the move to grant citizenship to non-Muslim minorities from neighbouring countries and not Muslims.
  8. BSP-SP alliance in Uttar Pradesh has ‘anti-Dalit, casteist’ leaders on the edge, claims Mayawati: She accused these unidentified leaders of using sections of the media for cheap politics, and said her party would give them a ‘fitting reply’.
  9. Supreme Court asks Lokpal search committee to recommend names by end of February: The search panel, which was set up in September, has not met even once, the government reportedly told the court.
  10. SC strikes down stringent rules governing dance bars in Maharashtra, says there should not be a total ban: Following the court’s judgement, the Nationalist Congress Party accused the state government of a ‘nexus’ with bar owners.