News LIVE: IMD says Cyclone Mandous landfall started near Mamallapuram

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7:28 PM

I am not a CM candidate in Himachal Pradesh, says Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu

7:24 PM

Amid high drama in Himachal Cong, Rajeev Shukla says high command will take final decision

Amid high drama by supporters of Congress leaders in Shimla over who will become the next Himachal Pradesh chief minister, the paty's state in-charge Rajeev Shukla tells reporters that a final decision o the matter will be taken by the "high command". 

He denies there's been a flurry of meetings by Congress leaders, says he is awaiting the arrival of all the MLAs for the legislature party meeting in Shimla. 

Shukla says a propsal will be passed at the meeting of the MLAs but the final decision will be taken by the party's high command.

7:13 PM

No report of starvation deaths from states and UTs, Smriti Irani tells LS

There is no report of starvation deaths from any states or union territories, the government informed the Lok Sabha on Friday. Union women and child development minister Smriti Irani said the Global Hunger Index did not reflect India's true picture as it was a flawed measure of "hunger". It should not be taken at face value, she said.

India ranked 107th among 121 countries in the Global Hunger Index-2022 with its child wasting rate, at 19.3 per cent, being the highest in the world.

"There is no report of starvation deaths from states/UTs," Irani said in a written reply to a question on the number of starvation-related deaths among children and adults in India since 2014.

Responding to another question, Irani provided data as per which 140,575 children had gone missing since 2019 and 125,445 children were recovered during the same period.

7:05 PM

Cyclone Mandous: 12 shelter homes readied near coastal areas in TN

Twelve shelter homes have been readied near coastal areas in Tamil Nadu's Villupuram district as Cyclone Mandous is likely to make a landfall by Friday midnight.

Villupuram district collector D Mohan inspected the coastal areas and told media persons that the district has equipped itself with 12 shelter homes so that anyone who wants to shift from home can be accommodated.

The cyclone, according to the IMD, is expected to cross, north Tamil Nadu ,Puducherry and Andhra Coast and is expected to touch land at Mamalapuram.

The district collector also said that two teams of SDRF personnel are ready and stationed at Marakkanam and Kottakapum coasts in Villupuram district.

The Tamil Nadu revenue department and police have asked people to stay indoors and not to go outside during Friday late night and to be more cautious.

 

6:07 PM

Show of strength ahead of Congress MLAs meet to pick Himachal Pradesh CM

5:55 PM

Congress observers meet Himachal governor, hectic lobbying for CM's post ahead of MLAs' meet

As hectic lobbying for the chief minister's post continued in Himachal Pradesh, Congress observers met Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar on Friday. They shared shared a list of the party's winning MLAs with him and "sought time" to formally stake claim to form the government in the state.

Pratibha Singh, Congress MP and wife of former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, indicated that she is in the running for the top job. Some Congress workers raised slogans in support of Singh, who is also the state party chief. Former state chief of the party Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu and outgoing legislature party leader Mukesh Agnihotri are also believed to among the frontrunners for the chief minister's post. The MLAs are set to meet later this evening.

The Congress wrested power from the BJP in the hill state winning 40 of the 68 assembly seats. The polling was held on November 12 and the results were declared Thursday.

 

5:47 PM

Private member's bill on Uniform Civil Code introduced in Rajya Sabha

A controversial private member's bill that seeks to provide for a panel to prepare a Uniform Civil Code was introduced in Rajya Sabha on Friday amid protests from opposition parties. 

BJP MP Kirodi Lal Meena moved for leave to introduce the 'The Uniform Civil Code in India Bill, 2020' to provide for the constitution of the national inspection and investigation committee for preparation of a Uniform Civil Code and its implementation throughout India and for matters connected therewith during the private member's business.

However, Opposition members from the Congress, CPI, CPI(M), Trinamool Congress protested against the introduction of the bill, saying it will "destroy" the social fabric and unity in diversity that is prevalent in the country.

With the Opposition members seeking withdrawal of the Bill, Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar called for division and the motion for introduction of the bill was passed with 63 votes in favour and 23 against it.

The bill envisages a collection of laws to protect the personal rights of all citizens without considering religion.

5:04 PM

HM Amit Shah to meet Maha, Karnataka CMs on Dec 14 over boundary row: NCP

Union Home Minister Amit Shah will meet the chief ministers of Maharashtra and Karnataka in Delhi on December 14 to soothe tempers on the border dispute between the two states, NCP leader Amol Kolhe on Friday.

Kolhe was speaking to reporters after a delegation of parliamentarians of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) -- Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress coalition -- met Shah to air their grievances on the border dispute. The MVA delegation also complained to Shah about the insulting references to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj by Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshiyari and some other BJP leaders.

"The home minister gave us a patient hearing and assured the MVA parliamentarians that he will call chief ministers of Maharashtra and Karnataka on December 14 and work towards finding a cordial solution to the issue," Kolhe, the Lok Sabha member from Shirur in Maharashtra, told reporters here.

 

4:19 PM

Isro conducts hypersonic vehicle trials, says achieved all required parameters

4:05 PM

MCD mayor to be from AAP, BJP to play role of 'strong oppn': Adesh Gupta

The MCD mayor will be from AAP and BJP will play the role of a "strong opposition", Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta says, adding his part will resist AAP if it indulges in corruption.

Gupta's statement comes amid speculation that the BJP will contest for the post of mayor in the newly elected Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).

"We will play the role of a strong opposition in the MCD to save Delhi from the AAP, which has become synonymous with corruption," Gupta said during a press conference.

BJP, which ruled the MCD, won 104 seats in the civic polls against AAP, which won 134 seats out of the total 250 seats contested. 

 

4:02 PM

Twitter deleting 1.5 bn inactive accounts, account names up for grabs: Musk

New Twitter owner Elon Musk on Friday said the company will delete and free names of 1.5 billion accounts that have been inactive for years on the platform.

"Twitter will soon start freeing the name space of 1.5 billion accounts. These are obvious account deletions with no tweets and no login for years," said the tech billionaire.

Musk also said the micro-blogging platform is working on a process to inform users whether their tweets have been suppressed under a process known as "shadow banning" and how they can appeal against the ban. "So you know clearly if you've been shadowbanned, the reason why and how to appeal," he said.

Twitter has been accused of suppressing certain political comments on the platform.

 

3:49 PM

Odisha CM Patnaik attempting to garner sympathy ahead of 2024 election: BJP

Senior BJP leader Jay Narayan Mishra on Friday rejected BJD president Naveen Patnaik's "anti-women" jibe at the saffron party and said the chief minister's statement was not based on facts but an attempt to garner sympathy of women ahead of 2024 general elections.

Patnaik, in a video message immediately after the victory of BJD candidate Barsha Singh Bariha in Padampur on Thursday, had accused the state BJP leadership of disrespecting a grief-stricken woman who recently lost her father. "I was hurt by the disrespect shown by the BJP towards the rookie nominee Barsha," he said.

Bariha scored an emphatic win against BJP's Pradip Purohit by 42,679 votes.

Mishra, the leader of opposition in Odisha assembly in a statement, claimed that Patnaik has a habit of creating new stories for getting sympathy. "If the chief minister's claim that BJP is anti-women were true, today Narendra Modi would not have established himself as the chief servant of the country. BJP would not have won in the Dhamnagar by-poll, more than 78,000 voters in Padampur would not have supported the party."

3:11 PM

Cyclonic storm Mandous aka 'treasure box' brings rainfall to Tamil Nadu

Several parts of Tamil Nadu witnessed light-to-moderate rainfall and some places heavy showers as the cyclonic storm 'Mandous' continued to move closer to the coastline. It is set to cross coast near Chennai around midnight tonight, the India Meteorological Department said.

Under the influence of the cyclonic storm, several areas in Chennai witnessed heavy rainfall and some experienced light-to-moderate rainfall. The IMD said the cyclone weakened into a cyclonic storm Friday after remaining a severe cyclonic storm for nearly 24 hours. It now lay about 260 km south-southeast of Chennai and 180 km east-northeast of Karaikal.

Mandous, pronounced 'man-dous' is an Arabic word and it means treasure box; the name was reportedly picked by the United Arab Emirates.

3:05 PM

Demonetisation failed to meet its objectives: Cong leader Adhir Chowdhury in LS

Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Friday criticised the government's November 2016 decision to demonetise high-value currency notes, claiming the move did not meet the desired goals as cash in circulation and fake currency have gone up.

 

The comment made in the Lok Sabha was vehemently countered by the BJP's Nishikant Dubey who said the Reserve Bank of India took the "big step" to eliminate corruption and terror financing which were "rampant" under the Congress rule.

 

Raising the issue during the Zero Hour in the Lok Sabha, Chowdhury said cash in circulation increased from Rs 18 lakh crore in 2016 to Rs 31 lakh crore currently. Also, fake currency and deposits in Swiss banks have increased, he claimed.

3:00 PM

US readies sanctions on Russia over human rights

The US is preparing a fresh round of sanctions on Russia and China for what it describes as human rights abuses by both countries, according to an official familiar with the matter.

 

The European Union is set to boost the size of a fund to finance weapons for Ukraine by at least 2 billion Euro ($2.1 billion) as early as next week and the facility could be topped up later, according to people familiar with the discussions.