LIVE news: NTA not to conduct recruitment exams from 2025, says minister Dharmendra Pradhan

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Following disengagement at two friction points along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh, the Special Representatives of India and China will meet in Beijing on Wednesday less than a fortnight after India and China held official-level talks in New Delhi.

China's Special Representative for the dialogue is Foreign Minister Wang Yi while the Indian side is headed at the talks by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. 

The Centre's air quality panel for Delhi-NCR on Monday imposed the strictest Stage-IV curbs under the winter air pollution control plan, including a ban on all construction activities, as the region's air quality deteriorated to 'severe' due to unfavourable weather conditions. Stage-IV curbs under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) for winters also include a ban on the entry of polluting trucks carrying non-essential goods into Delhi and mandatory shifting of school classes, except those for X and XII, to hybrid mode.

 

The Meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee of the Members of Parliament for the Ministry of Women and Child Development was held in the National Capital on Monday. The subject of the meeting was 'Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0', the Ministry of Women and Child Development said in a press release. Union Minister for Women and Child Development, Annpurna Devi chaired the meeting. Minister of State for Women and Child Development, Savitri Thakur was also present. Members of Parliament of various political parties from Lok Sabha and Rajya took part in the meeting.

 

1:50 PM

CM Bhajan Lal Sharma, his team worked very hard to give direction to development of Rajasthan: PM Modi

People feel BJP is a guarantee of good governance which is reflected in the huge support it is getting, PM Modi said in Jaipur's Dadiya.

1:46 PM

Money laundering case: TN minister Ponmudy appears before ED

Tamil Nadu forest minister K Ponmudy on Tuesday appeared before the Enforcement Directorate here for questioning in a money laundering case investigation, official sources said. The minister's statement was recorded under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the sources said.

12:49 PM

Cold wave in parts of Maharashtra, Baramati shivers at 7.8 deg C

Cold wave has swept several parts of Maharashtra, with the minimum temperature slipping to single digit at several places in the state, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Tuesday. Baramati in Pune recorded a minimum temperature of 7.8 degrees Celsius, while Pune and Nashik districts recorded 8 degrees Celsius.

12:40 PM

Willing to resign as Maharashtra Congress chief, high command will take call: Patole

Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole on Tuesday said that he has expressed his willingness to resign from the post, and now the party high command will decide on it. Talking to reporters on Vidhan Bhavan premises, Patole said the Congress's group leader in the state legislature will be chosen today.

Following the party's worst-ever defeat in the assembly elections in Maharashtra, party sources had earlier claimed that the senior Congress leader had requested the central leadership to relieve him of the responsibility of the organisational post. 

12:06 PM

News update: Head of Russia's nuclear defence forces has been killed in an explosion in Moscow

11:59 AM

Rahul Gandhi visits Kerala to pay homage to Sonia Gandhi's personal secy

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday paid homage to P P Madhavan, his mother Sonia Gandhi's long-term personal secretary, who died in Delhi a day ago due to a heart attack, Congress party sources said. Rahul, who arrived in Kerala in the morning, reached Madhavan's residence at Cherussery village in Thrissur district around 9 am and met his family, party sources said. He spent around 45 minutes with the bereaved family, consoled them and expressed his condolences.

11:37 AM

NTA to conduct only entrance exams for colleges, universities from 2025, not recruitment, says Pradhan

Talks are on with Health Ministry on whether to conduct Neet-UG in pen-paper mode or online, says Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

11:10 AM

70 acres of illegal poppy cultivation destroyed in Manipur's Ukhrul

Around 70 acres of illegal poppy cultivation in three villages in Manipur's Ukhrul district were destroyed, police said on Tuesday. Thirteen huts, which were found on the poppy fields, were also burnt down during the drive on Monday, and an investigation has been initiated to identify the culprits involved in the illegal plantation, a senior officer said.

10:41 AM

6 killed, 10 injured as bus rams into dumper truck in Gujarat's Bhavnagar

Six persons were killed and nearly 10 others injured after a private bus rammed into a dumper truck on a highway in Gujarat's Bhavnagar district on Tuesday morning, police said. The accident took place near Trapaj village at around 6 am when the bus was on way towards Mahuva from Bhavnagar, Superintendent of Police Harshad Patel said. The bus hit the dumper truck from behind.

10:27 AM

BJP likely to get new president in February

The new BJP president, who will succeed incumbent J P Nadda, is likely to be elected by the end of February, according to a senior party functionary.

Party sources said the ongoing organisational election is on track to complete the polling process in more than half of its state units by mid-January, an exercise that will unveil the process of electing its new national president.

9:49 AM

Teacher and teenage student killed in shooting at Christian school in Wisconsin

A teenage student opened fire with a handgun Monday at a Christian school in Wisconsin, killing a teacher and another teenager during the final week before Christmas break. The shooter also died, police said. A shooting at a Wisconsin Christian school occurred in a study hall and was reported to police by a 2nd-grader, police said at a Monday night press conference. Wisconsin police identified the shooter as a 15-year-old female student.

9:31 AM

Infra works worth Rs 24,276 crore approved for Amaravati: Minister Narayana

The Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority (APCRDA) chaired by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has approved infrastructure works worth Rs 24,276 crore in greenfield capital Amaravati, Municipal Minister P Narayana said. The approval during the 43rd APCRDA meeting caters to trunk roads, layouts and iconic buildings, he said. "The 43rd CRDA meeting approved Rs 24,276 crore funds for the construction of trunk roads, layouts and iconic bhavans (buildings) in Amaravati capital," said Narayana addressing a press conference at the Secretariat on Monday.

9:22 AM

8 members of militant outfit arrested over killing of two migrant labourers in Manipur

Eight cadres of the banned militant outfit Kangleipak Communist Party (People's War Group) were arrested from Manipur's Kakching district in connection with the recent killing of two migrant labourers from Bihar, police said on Tuesday. Search operations were launched across Manipur on December 14 to apprehend those who were involved in the killing of the two labourers, and an active member of the proscribed outfit was first apprehended from Kakching Lamkhai area on Monday, a police statement said.

8:56 AM

Grap-4 curbs invoked in Delhi as air quality turns 'severe'

After air quality deteriorated to 'severe' in Delhi, Grap-IV curbs, including a ban on all construction activities, have been imposed in the national capital. Delhi's 24-hour average Air Quality Index (AQI), which was 379 at 4 pm, breached the 400 mark around 10 pm amid extremely calm wind conditions.