The Morning Standard - December 22, 2024

In this issue

December 22, 2024

Rule tweak cuts access to certain poll documents

Congress says it'll challenge the move in court

1 min

AAP, BJP spar over ED probe on Kejriwal

IN a setback to former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, L-G VK Saxena has recommended the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to approve the ED's proposal to prosecute him under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in connection with the alleged liquor policy scam, according to Raj Niwas officials.

1 min

Love-all start: Sindhu-Sai set for match close to heart

THERE is always a sprinkling of condiments to add flavour to a celebrity marriage. The brouhaha it generates is sometimes bewildering. When P V Sindhu announced her engagement and marriage to a Hyderabad entrepreneur, interest grew as the date of marriage neared, especially surrounding the identity of her to-be-husband Venkata Datta Sai.

1 min

Pegasus liable in WhatsApp suit: US court

WITH a US court finding Israel's NSO Group — which sells spyware Pegasus — liable in a lawsuit filed by WhatsApp in 2019 flagging breaches in devices, snooping is back on the front burner, including in India.

1 min

PLAN TO FORMALISE SPECIAL CESS FOR DISASTER RELIEF

THE GST Council on Saturday decided to formalise a procedure for states to levy special cess to raise money for disaster relief.

1 min

School winter break declared from Jan 1-15

The Directorate of Education (DoE) announced on Saturday that all government schools in the city will be closed for winter vacation from January 1-15, 2025.

1 min

Schools told to identify Bangla migrant students

THE Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has directed schools to identify illegal Bangladeshi migrant children and ensure that they are not issued birth certificates.

1 min

NCRTC launches drive for tickets at 10% discount

TO connect with the Namo Bharat commuters and to provide an opportunity to avail 10% discount on Namo Bharat tickets, NCRTC on Saturday launched a Loyalty points programme for tickets purchased through the 'RRTS Connect' mobile application.

1 min

AAP unveils scholarship for Dalits

Amid row over Shah remark, Kejriwal says scheme a response to BJP's 'insult' to Ambedkar

2 mins

Chautala cremated with full state honours

FORMER Haryana CM Om Prakash Chautala was cremated on Friday with full state honours in Teja Khera village in Sirsa district.

1 min

DU students can finish a semester at foreign university

FROM the next academic year, DU students might have the option to complete a semester at a foreign university.

1 min

Govt to invite applications for child rights panel chief

THE Department of Women and Child Development issued a notification on Saturday inviting applications for the posts of chairperson and six members for Delhi's child rights body.

1 min

BJP hits markets to collect traders' feedbacks for poll manifesto

BJP MP Ramvir Singh Bidhuri and other party leaders on Friday initiated a series of outreach programmes across Delhi's major markets to gather inputs for the party's 2025 manifesto.

1 min

AAP leaders Balbir Singh, Dalal join BJP

AAP leaders Balbir Singh and Sukhbir Dalal joined the BJP on Saturday in the presence of Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva and Union Minister Harsh Malhotra.

1 min

Indian Oil clears investment plan for yarn project

INDIAN Oil has approved its investment in a proposed yarn project being set up in the state in a joint venture with a leading chemical company MCPI Pvt Ltd.

1 min

Revanth slams actor over stampede

T'gana CM says Allu Arjun didn't listen when ACP asked him to leave Sandhya theatre

2 mins

TN govt won't press for Guv's removal: Law Min

THE state government will not demand Governor RN Ravi's removal as it might make him more determined to hold onto his position, Law Minister S Regupathy said on Saturday.

1 min

Allu Arjun: Misinformation to assassinate my character

ASSERTING that the stampede at Sandhya Theatre on December 4 was an accident, actor Allu Arjun on Saturday said that there was no fault on part of anyone.

2 mins

Kannada Sahitya Sammelana displays ancient scripts, celebrates heritage

A school going boy with curiosity leaned closer to a monitor, trying to decipher an ancient Kannada script displayed on the screen.

1 min

WB loan to turn Amaravati into model capital

THE World Bank's Board of Executive Directors has approved an $800 million loan to support the Amaravati Integrated Urban Development Programme in Andhra Pradesh.

1 min

Errors spotted in list of beneficiaries for Wayanad landslide rehabilitation

SIGNIFICANT errors have been found in the beneficiary list for the Wayanad landslide rehabilitation project, including the exclusion of many affected families and duplication of names, triggering protests by survivors.

1 min

K'taka: Container lorry topples on SUV, family of six crushed to death

A 48-year-old director and CEO of a software company, along with five members of his family, including three children, were crushed to death after a container lorry carrying 40 tonnes of cement poles fell on their SUV in a serial accident on the busy Bengaluru-Tumakuru National Highway-4 near Talekere under Nelamangala police station limits at 11 am on Saturday.

1 min

Breaking barriers & inspiring change

Anil Khadse, the first person from Vidarbha's backward Mang community to crack the civil services exams, has become a beacon of hope. Sudhir Suryawanshi documents his inspiring journey from a small village to deputy director in Nagpur

2 mins

A GUARDIAN FOR UNDERPRIVILEGED CHILDREN

After helping a mother struggling to save her child, Sapna Upadhyaya never imagined that a simple act of kindness would lead her to discover her true calling, writes Namita Bajpai

2 mins

THE EDELWEISS OF BODOLAND

DR Birphung Narzary (45) is a born leader. From organizing monthly \"mazlis\" (a small gathering) with a group of friends to share their poetry, short stories, and experiences of life, he became a dedicated social worker. Today, this joint registrar of the Bodoland University is a household name in Assam's Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR), thanks to his continuous efforts to help those in need.

3 mins

THE RISE & RISE OF AMBEDKAR AS AN ICON

THE fracas over an insult to Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar leading to fisticuffs between the members of the ruling coalition and the opposition within the parliament complex underlined two distinctive trends.

4 mins

PROTECT SOIL AFTER A YEAR OF LANDSLIDES

YEAR 2024 saw huge landslides in several places across India, causing death, injury and devastation to people and animals.

3 mins

Cong launches campaign to uphold Ambedkar's legacy, lines up rallies

TAKING the Ambedkar row from Parliament to streets, the Congress launched a nationwide campaign on Saturday.

1 min

Govt to check commercial viability of D2M tech

AFTER the \"reasonably successful\" preliminary trials of direct-to-mobile (D2M) technology - telecast of live TV channels on smartphones without an internet connection - Prasar Bharati has sent a detailed proposal with findings to the government to seek approval for initiating large-scale testing to check its commercial feasibility.

1 min

Net forest cover rises, but decreases in biodiverse regions like Western Ghats

INDIA's net forest coverage increased by 1,445 square kilometers during 2021-23, but it lost the natural forest density in biodiverse-rich Western Ghats, Northeast, open natural ecosystems and mangrove forests, according to the biennial data released by the Central government on Saturday.

1 min

AGITATOR TO VICTIM & A BRUSH WITH GANDHI

MID the melee and uproar at Makar Dwar of Parliament, the image of Pratap Chandra Sarangi, frail and bloodied, with a handkerchief pressed against his forehead, evoked a strange sense of irony. It felt as though the wheels of time had come to a full circle for the BJP MP from Balasore.

3 mins

Indian skills will help build 'New Kuwait': PM

Modi addresses diaspora, meets 101-year-old former IFS officer Mangal Sain Handa after granddaughter's request

2 mins

No grounds to reject Oppn's no-trust notice against V-P

THERE is no constitutional ground to reject the impeachment notice submitted by the Opposition seeking the removal of Vice-President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar, said constitutional expert and former Lok Sabha secretary general PDT Achary.

2 mins

Alternative route to Leh-Ladakh: MoD seeks transport ministry nod for tunnel

THE Union Ministry of Defence has recommended that the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) approve the construction of the Bhubhu Jot tunnel.

1 min

Bihar Guv: Arms, not satyagraha drove British out

BIHAR Governor Rajendra Arlekar on Friday said British rulers left India not because of 'satyagraha', but when they saw arms in native people's hands and realised that they can go to any extent.

1 min

2 injured in parcel bomb explosion in Ahmedabad, family feud suspected

TWO people were injured when a parcel bomb exploded at a residence in the Sabarmati area of Ahmedabad, Gujarat, Police said on Saturday.

1 min

1st ‘Dome City’ with 360° view in Mahakumbh

IN a bid to blend faith and spirituality with modernity, the Uttar Pradesh government is building the country's first Dome City in Arail area of Mahakumbh Nagar.

1 min

C'garh cop kills self, note on palm blames officials

A constable, who was on duty during a police recruitment drive in Chhattisgarh's Rajnandgaon district, died by suicide on Saturday.

1 min

Ex-transport dept cop main suspect in huge gold and cash seizure in MP

FORMER MP transport department constable-turned-businessman Saurabh Sharma, whose premises were raided for two days by Lokayukta police, may emerge as the key suspect in the seizure of 52 kg gold and ₹11 crore cash from a car in Bhopal on Friday night.

1 min

Work for people, Shah tells cops in Northeast

Says police need to change approach as insurgency has been tackled

1 min

Petition seeking Yogi's removal in Allahabad HC

A public interest litigation (PIL) has been filed before the Allahabad High Court, seeking removal of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for publicly backing Justice Shekhar Yadav's controversial remarks at a Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) event in Prayagraj on December 8.

1 min

16 Israelis injured as rocket fired by Yemen's Houthis hit Tel Aviv

A rocket fired from Yemen hit an area of Tel Aviv overnight, leaving 16 people slightly injured by shattered glass, the Israeli military said Saturday, days after Israeli airstrikes hit Houthi rebels who have been launching missiles in solidarity with Palestinians.

1 min

Jail terms for 25 Pak civilians over May riot

PAKISTAN'S military courts sentenced 25 civilians to prison terms ranging from two to 10 years for attacking military installations during riots which erupted following the arrest of former prime minister Imran Khan in May last year, the Army announced on Saturday.

1 min

Musk backs Germany's far-right party

A post from Elon Musk on his platform X claiming that only the far-right AfD party can \"save Germany\" sparked accusations Friday that he was seeking to interfere in the country's upcoming election.

1 min

Congress approves last-minute bill to avert shutdown

FACING a government shutdown deadline, the Senate rushed through final passage early Saturday of a bipartisan plan that would temporarily fund federal operations and disaster aid, dropping President-elect Donald Trump's demands for a debt limit increase into the new year.

1 min

Pope Francis reprimands Vatican staff for gossiping in Christmas message

POPE Francis told Vatican bureaucrats on Saturday to stop speaking ill of one another, as he once again used his annual Christmas greetings to admonish the backstabbing and gossiping among his closest collaborators.

1 min

Ukraine strikes deep inside Russia

UKRAINE brought the war into the heart of Russia Saturday morning with drone attacks that local authorities said damaged residential buildings in the city of Kazan in the Tatarstan region, over 1,000 kilometers from the front line.

1 min

NEW GST INVOICING: A STEP FORWARD OR BACKWARD?

THE Goods and Services Tax (GST) framework in India has undergone several changes since its inception in 2017.

3 mins

Housing sales likely to fall 21% in Oct-Dec quarter

IN a not so positive development for the real estate sector, housing supply in top 9 cities is expected to decline 33% and housing sales to come down by 21% in the October-December period of CY2024 (Q4CY24), said real estate consultancy firm PropEquity on Saturday.

1 min

Council meet: Rates, clarifications

EVEN though the GST Council in its 55th meeting in Jaisalmer avoided \"thorny\" issues such as lowering GST rates on insurance premium and a discussion on rate rationalisation, it did make several changes in the rates of goods and services.

3 mins

No. of domestic migrants lowered by 12% since 2011'

THE number of domestic migrants have lowered by nearly 12% to 40.20 crore between 2011 and 2023, indicating increased economic opportunities across the country, said a report by prime minister's economic advisory panel EAC-PM.

1 min

Man City slump to 2-1 defeat at Aston Villa

ASTON Villa beat crisis-hit Manchester City 2-1 on Saturday to heap more misery on floundering manager Pep Guardiola, who has now suffered nine defeats in his past 12 matches.

1 min

Anmolpreet smashes record-breaking ton

ANMOLPREET Singh smashed the quickest List A hundred by an Indian, a 35-ball effort, to guide Punjab to an easy nine-wicket win over Arunachal Pradesh in a Group C Vijay Hazare match on Saturday.

1 min

Mastering art of leaving in practice

NET sessions sometimes work as a giant book of revelation.

2 mins

2032 OLYMPICS BRIS-BANE: PAUSE & EFFECT

Since the time it was announced as host city for 2032 Olympics, the road so far has been far from ideal for Brisbane and Queensland. Uncertainty over venues and spiralling costs have led to some confusion. With the 100-day review nearing completion, Gomesh S finds out how the city is gearing up for 2032 Summer Games...

4 mins

Mumbai overcome Chennaiyin fight

ONE step forward, two steps backwards. That has been the general theme of Chennaiyin FC in the ongoing season of the Indian Super League.

1 min

Suruchi shoots 4th gold in Nat'ls

TEENAGED Haryana shooter Suruchi continued to dominate the 67th National Shooting Championship for pistol events by winning her fourth gold in two days here on Saturday.

1 min

PROCESS TO IMPEACH MEMBERS OF THE HIGHER JUDICIARY

Impeachment is a lengthy parliamentary process to examine the alleged misconduct or incapacity by a public servant before the person is sacked.

4 mins

PROCESS TO IMPEACH MEMBERS OF THE HIGHER JUDICIARY

The VHP chief said he was not aware of the exact nature of the comments on \"majority,\" attributed to the HC judge, but \"I would not be apologetic,\" even if Justice Yadav had said so.

3 mins

Stepping Across the Worry Lines

The Raghu Dixit Project launches a new album Shakkar as a vernacular statement about India and diversity

3 mins

Untangled Threads He Weaves

An embroiderer who grew up poor is a celebrity in demand with collectors and artists

2 mins

Every Woman's Brushstrokes

A beautiful blue and pink-hued sky surrounded by lush greenery. Within this is a tree with specks of orange and yellow, besides which is a bed where a woman is sleeping her flowing tresses falling into the foliage.

1 min

Untangled Threads He Weaves

An embroiderer who grew up poor is a celebrity in demand with collectors and artists

1 min

Stop Inane and Diversionary Debates, and Focus on What Really Matters

I am neither an economist nor a financial expert, but I feel a perfect storm is brewing in the Indian economy.

4 mins

Market on the Sands

The Rathgama Wella Fish Market

2 mins

The Corrosive Power of Pride

Pride fosters a sense of superiority that harms relationships, distorts the mind, and impedes personal and spiritual growth

3 mins

Of Our Non-violent Ancestors

Pattanaik provides a comprehensive insight into the mysterious world of the Harappan civilisation

2 mins

'I Know How to Play Real Characters'

Jennifer Lopez speaks to Katie Ellis on how Unstoppable made her realise that she can overcome anything in life

3 mins

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