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12:43 PM

Modi launches health insurance scheme for residents of Jammu & Kashmir

12:23 PM

About 35 arrests, dozen FIRs as UP 'love jihad' law completes one month

Going full steam, the Uttar Pradesh police have made more than one arrest a day since the controversial anti-conversion ordinance came into effect a month ago, having apprehended about 35 people so far.

 

Nearly a dozen FIRs have been lodged since the Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, 2020, was notified on November 27.

 

Eight arrests were made from Etah, seven from Sitapur, four from Greater Noida, three each from Shahjahanpur and Azamgarh, two each from Moradabad, Muzaffarnagar, Bijnor and Kannauj and one each from Bareilly and Hardoi, officials said here.

 

The first case was registered in Bareilly just a day after the legislation came into force.

12:13 PM

India to become 5th largest economy in 2025

India, which appears to have been pushed back to being the world's sixth biggest economy in 2020, will again overtake the UK to become the fifth largest in 2025 and race to the third spot by 2030, a think tank said on Saturday.

 

India had overtaken the UK in 2019 to become the fifth largest economy in the world but has been relegated to 6th spot in 2020.

 

"India has been knocked off course somewhat through the impact of the pandemic. As a result, after overtaking the UK in 2019, the UK overtakes India again in this year's forecasts and stays ahead till2024 before India takes over again," the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) said in an annual report published on Saturday.

11:59 AM

Series of explosions target police in Kabul

A series of explosions hit the Afghan capital on Saturday morning, killing at least two police officers and wounding another two plus a civilian, officials said.

 

The officers died and a civilian was hurt when a magnetic bomb attached to a police vehicle detonated in western Kabul, said police spokesman Ferdaws Faramarz.

 

Two other police were wounded when a bomb attached to their car exploded earlier Saturday in southern Kabul, Faramarz said.

11:52 AM

Sri Lanka defers airspace reopening for commercial flights

Sri Lanka has postponed the reopening of its airspace for commercial flights, scheduled for Saturday, to prevent the spread of a new variant of the coronavirus, officials said.

 

The next date for resumption of flights will be announced later.

 

The Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka (CAASL) had announced last week that it will resume international flights operations from December 26, eight months after they were closed in view of the Covid-19 outbreak.

11:50 AM

Counting underway for Arunachal panchayat, civic elections

Counting of votes for panchayat and municipal elections in Arunachal Pradesh is underway on Saturday with officials adhering to Covid-19 protocols.

 

The counting began at 8 am for 142 Zila Parishad seats, 1,670 Gram Panchayat segments and 23 of 28 wards of two urban local bodies- Itanagar Municipal Corporation (IMC) and Pasighat Municipal Council (PMC), State Election Commissioner Hage Kojeen said.

11:38 AM

Millions of Americans lose jobless benefits as Trump refuses to sign aid bill

Millions of Americans saw their jobless benefits expire on Saturday after US President Donald Trump refused to sign into law a $2.3 trillion pandemic aid and spending package, protesting that it did not do enough to help everyday people.

 

Trump stunned Republicans and Democrats alike when he said this week he was unhappy with the massive bill, which provides $892 billion in badly needed coronavirus relief, including extending special unemployment benefits expiring on Dec. 26, and $1.4 trillion for normal government spending.

 

Without Trump's signature, about 14 million people could lose those extra benefits, according to Labor Department data. A partial government shutdown will begin on Tuesday unless Congress can agree a stop-gap government funding bill before then.

 

After months of wrangling, Republicans and Democrats agreed to the package last weekend, with the support of the White House. Trump, who hands over power to Democratic President-elect Joe Biden on Jan. 20, did not object to terms of the deal before Congress voted it through on Monday night.

11:00 AM

MP Cabinet clears Freedom of Religion Bill 2020

10:44 AM

No revision in petrol & diesel prices

Petrol and diesel prices remained unchanged on Saturday as oil marketing companies continued to maintain a wait and watch stance amid range-bound global oil prices.

 

Accordingly, the pump price of petrol remained at Rs Rs 83.71 a litre and diesel Rs 73.87 a litre in Delhi on Saturday. Across the country as well the price of the two petroleum products remained unchanged.

 

The price of petrol in Mumbai remains at Rs 90.34 and diesel Rs 80.51, the two fuels remains at Rs 86.51 and Rs 79.31 a litre respectively in Chennai. The retail price of petrol remains at Rs 85.19 and Rs 77.44 a litre in Kolkata.

10:20 AM

Cold conditions persist in Delhi

Cold conditions persisted in the national capital as the minimum temperature remained below five degrees Celsius for the fourth consecutive day on Saturday, the India Meteorological Department said.

 

The Safdarjung Observatory, which provides representative data for the city, recorded a minimum of 4.4 degrees Celsius, three notches below normal.

 

"Shallow" fog reduced visibility to 1000 meters at Safdarjung and 800 meters in the Palam area, Kuldeep Srivastava, the head of the IMD's regional forecasting centre, said.

10:16 AM

Indian auto industry expected to see stronger growth in 2021-22: Nomura

The Indian auto industry is expected to see stronger growth in 2021-22, after recovering from the devastating effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, with electric vehicle sales, especially two-wheleers, also likely to see positive movements, according to Nomura Research Institute Consulting & Solutions India.

 

However, in the personal vehicles segment, the levels reached in 2018-19 would be reached only in 2023-24, it added.

 

In 2018-19, passenger vehicle sales rose 2.7 per cent to 33,77,436 units from 32,88,581 units in 2017-18, according to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).

10:15 AM

4G internet ban in J&K extended till January 8

The ban on 4G internet in Jammu and Kashmir has been extended till January 8, said an order issued by the Union Territory's administration on Friday.

 

"The internet speed shall be continued to be restricted to 2G, except the districts of Ganderbal and Udhampur, where mobile internet connectivity shall be continued to be made available without any speed-related restrictions," said a statement issued by the Government of Jammu and Kashmir.

 

"The aforesaid directions shall be effective December 26, 2020 and remain in force till January 8, 2021, unless modified earlier," it further said.

9:19 AM

Pakistan resorts to firing, BSF retaliates

Pakistani troops resorted to unprovoked continuous firing in Jammu for four hours towards Indian posts, starting late last night till early morning today; BSF retaliated, reported ANI

9:00 AM

3 UN peacekeepers killed, 2 injured in attack in Central African Republic

Unidentified gunmen attacked United Nations peacekeepers in the Central African Republic on Thursday, killing 3 officials and injuring two, UN Secretary spokesperson Stephane Dujarric, said in a statement.

 

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the attack by unidentified armed combatants on Central African national defence and security forces, and the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) in Dekoa, Kemo Prefecture, and Bakouma, Mbomou Prefecture, said Stephane Dujarric.

 

"The Secretary-General expresses his deepest condolences to the families of the deceased peacekeepers, as well as to the people and Government of Burundi. He wishes a speedy recovery to the injured," the statement read.

8:24 AM

Goa: Empty beach shacks, cancelled chartered flights mark 2020

Coronavirus cast a long shadow over tourism in Goa as the coastal state normally bustling with domestic and foreign tourists tried to cope with effects of the pandemic.

 

Goa witnessed perhaps the worst tourist season with international chartered flights cancelled, beach shacks wearing empty looks and local businesses like taxi and bike rentals, dependent on this industry, suffering a body blow.

 

The coronavirus-induced has cost the state's tourism industry Rs 1,000 crore in earnings, Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry said.

 

A report by the state tourism department and a private consultancy firm said Goa's tourism industry may have suffered loss of between Rs 2,000 to Rs 7,200 crore and job losses in the range of 35 per cent to 58 per cent due to the pandemic.