A look at the headlines right now:

  1. Top Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani killed in airstrike at Baghdad airport: The strike also killed Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy commander of Iran-backed militias known as the Popular Mobilization Forces.
  2. India told other countries that CAA does not alter Constitution, says Ministry of External Affairs: The ministry’s spokesperson said India’s missions across the world had been instructed to share information on the amended law with the host governments.
  3. Citizenship Act protestors need to expose activities of Pakistan, not oppose Indian Parliament, says Narendra Modi: The prime minister is on a two-day visit to Karnataka.
  4. Indian Army is ready to attack PoK if ordered, new chief MM Naravane says: On Wednesday, Islamabad had said the general’s statement about India’s ‘right to preemptively strike at sources of terror’ was irresponsible.
  5. Nobel laureates Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo call for a rethink on NRC, Citizenship Act: The CAA and the NRC introduce ‘meddlesome officialdom into a question as fundamental to people’s lives as citizenship’, they said in an article.
  6. Calling Faiz’s poem ‘Hum Dekhenge’ anti-Hindu is absurd, says Javed Akhtar, criticises IIT-Kanpur: The institution has set up an inquiry committee to decide if the poem offends Hindu sentiments. His daughter said: ‘Never underestimate the power of Faiz’.
  7. Man dead for six years booked by UP Police, 90-year-olds on list of troublemakers: Meanwhile, an activist couple and 56 others in Varanasi were granted bail two weeks after being detained.
  8. US tells air carriers to avoid Pakistan airspace, cites ‘extremist, militant activity’: The Federal Aviation Administration said the advisory will be re-evaluated on January 1 next year.
  9. Gross GST collection for December crossed Rs 1 lakh crore: The gross GST revenue for December showed a growth of 16% from its December 2018 figure, the finance ministry said.
  10. At least 21 killed in floods due to heavy rain in Indonesia, tens of thousands evacuated: The natural disaster has been marked as the worst flooding since 2013 when dozens were killed due to monsoon rainfall.