LIVE: Priyanka Gandhi replaced as UP in-charge in Congress reshuffle
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 "LIVE: Priyanka Gandhi replaced as UP in-charge in Congress reshuffle")
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1 min read Last Updated : Dec 23 2023 | 8:01 PM IST
8:01 PM
Ahead of Christmas and New Year's, the Uttar Pradesh government has extended the liquor sale timings by an hour, till 11 p.m. on Christmas eve--December 24) as well as New Year's Eve--December 31, said the Excise Department on Saturday.
A notification issued by the department on Saturday said that the liquor shops across Uttar Pradesh will remain open till 11 pm on 24th and 31st December.
The liquor lobby was, however, pushing for extending the current 10 a.m.-to-10 p.m. sale time till 11 p.m., but the state's Excise Minister made it clear that "sale time extension" would only be for defined occasions.
7:49 PM
A suspected drone attack on a merchant vessel with 21 Indian crew in the Arabian Sea off India's west coast caused an explosion on Saturday but there was no report of any casualties in the incident, according to PTI's military sources and a maritime agency.
A P-8I maritime patrol aircraft, deployed by the Indian Navy after the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, or UKMTO, reported the incident, ascertained the safety of the vessel and its crew, PTI's Indian military sources said.
An attack by Uncrewed Aerial System (UAS) on a vessel 200 nautical miles South West of Veraval, India, caused "an explosion and fire", the UKMTO said on its website.
6:55 PM
The Indian Navy's P-8I maritime surveillance aircraft has established communication with the distressed vessel MV Chem Pluto after taking off from INS Hansa naval air base in Goa, Navy officials said on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the Indian Navy warship is moving towards the vessel and is expected to reach the merchant ship in the next few hours.
The Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard vessels are moving towards a merchant vessel, MV Chem Pluto, in the Arabian Sea, which caught fire after a suspected drone attack.
6:27 PM
After a surge in the cases of the new COVID subvariant JN.1, doctors from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) have advised people to not panic but rather remain alert and vigilant.
"People are getting infected by the new sub-variant of COVID-JN.1 in many states of the country. The symptoms of the patients are mild. Therefore, there is no need to panic but the need to remain alert," doctor Neeraj Nischal said.
6:08 PM
Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur inaugurated three new facilities at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) National Centre of Excellence at Bengaluru on Saturday.
These three new facilities included an eight-lane synthetic athletic track and a 300-bed men's hostel. Both of these are developed under the Centre's Khelo India scheme. Also, a 330-bed women's hostel was also inaugurated.
All these facilities were built at a cost of Rs 69.35 crores.
5:10 PM
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday attended the BJP's national office-bearers meeting here and interacted with the party leaders.
Shah reached the BJP headquarters here in the afternoon on the second and last day of the meeting. BJP chief J P Nadda was present at the meeting which is also being attended by all state unit chiefs of the party.
On Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a closed-door meeting of the BJP's national office-bearers as the party took stock of its organisational preparedness and chalked out upcoming programmes for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
5:07 PM
The first meeting of the newly formed National Alliance Committee of the Congress concluded in Delhi on Saturday.
Speaking after the committee's inaugural meeting, Mukul Wasnik, convenor of NAC said the committee will decide on a "seat-sharing formula" after discussing with state units soon.
4:57 PM
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday paid tribute to former prime minister Charan Singh on his birth anniversary.
Modi said Singh was dedicated to farmers' welfare all his life.
A socialist who enjoyed strong support among farmers, Singh came from the Jat community and was one of the leading politicians of his era. He was India's prime minister between July 1979 and January 1980. Singh was born in 1902 in Uttar Pradesh and died in 1987.
4:57 PM
Air India officially took delivery of its first Airbus A350-900 on Saturday, making history as the first Indian carrier to operate the aircraft type.
"Air India, India's leading global airline, today welcomed the first of 20 Airbus A350-900 aircraft, registered VT-JRA, in the airline's bold new livery, marking a turning point in its ongoing transformation story," an official statement issued by the airline said.
4:57 PM
Deaflympics gold medallist Virender Singh Yadav, better known as Goonga Pehlwan, has now decided to return his Padma Shri to the government, showing solidarity with the country's top wrestlers who have objected to election of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh loyalist Sanjay Singh as WFI president.
Throwing his weight behind Olympic bronze medallist grappler Sakshi Malik, who announced her retirement from the sport soon after Sanjay Singh's victory in the recent WFI polls, Virender said he would return the honour as a mark of protest against the election of Brij Bhushan's close aide.
4:26 PM
4:25 PM
4:09 PM
The Enforcement Directorate has issued a fresh summons to Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav in the railway land-for-jobs scam case, asking him to appear on January 5, official sources said Saturday.
He was earlier called to appear on December 22 but the 34-year-old skipped the summons. He had called the ED notice a routine affair.
In the same case, his father and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav has been asked to depose on December 27 at the ED headquarters in Delhi.
4:00 PM
The United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 2720, penned by the United Arab Emirates, which demands substantive, concrete steps to increase the flow of life-saving humanitarian aid to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip while protecting UN and humanitarian staff on the ground who deliver it.
The resolution requests that the UN Secretary-General appoint a Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator who will monitor and verify that all shipments delivered in the Gaza Strip are humanitarian in nature.
3:46 PM
3:43 PM
The closing day of the meeting of the BJP's office-bearers is ongoing, with the state in-charges, state presidents, general secretaries and other key office-bearers in attendance.
CR Patil, G Kishan Reddy, Arun Singh, Tarun Chugh, BD Sharma, Dinesh Sharma, Vasundhara Raje and Tejasvi Surya are among the leaders attending the meeting.
A top party source, privy to the minutes of the meeting, told ANI, "The BJP presidents of 5 states, which polled for their assemblies last month, will give presentations on the party's performances."
3:43 PM
President Droupadi Murmu on Saturday reached Jaisalmer in Rajasthan to witness an integrated firepower demonstration at the Pokaran field firing range.
She was received at the air force station in Jaisalmer by Governor Kalraj Mishra and Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma.
The president is scheduled to witness an integrated firepower demonstration at the Pokaran field firing range during her one-day visit, according to an official.
3:42 PM
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the opposition Congress on Saturday clashed over the Gujarat government's decision a day earlier to allow liquor in GIFT City, which partially overturned the state's strict prohibition policy.
The state government, on Friday, lifted the ban on liquor in the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City with the aim of providing a "global ecosystem".
3:21 PM
Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Saturday said a small section of people in the country had no respect for its 5,000-year-old cultural legacy and asked those who take pride in it to retaliate against such forces.
"It is a matter of concern that a section of people in the country who are not many, have no respect for India's 5,000-year-old culture or its glorious past. They have a scornful attitude towards it and keep tarnishing the country's image. They are either misled or misguided. They deserve to be retaliated against by people who take pride in our own culture and roots," Dhankhar said at a programme held at the Gurukul Kangri University in Haridwar.
3:21 PM
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday said that farmers are respected in the new Uttar Pradesh of new India.
"This is the new Uttar Pradesh of new India, where farmers are respected. The government bows down and respects their hard work and efforts," he said.
3:17 PM
Newly elected Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday and apprised him of the steps being taken by his government to fulfil the party's poll promises, official sources said.
Deputy chief ministers Arun Sao and Vijay Sharma accompanied Sai in the meeting with Modi at his residence.
During the meeting, the chief minister apprised Modi of the steps being taken by the Chhattisgarh government to fulfil the promises made by him during the state assembly elections. They also discussed the formation of the state cabinet, the sources said.
3:01 PM
The Income Tax Department has notified ITR forms 1 and 4, which are filed by individuals and entities with annual total income of up to Rs 50 lakh, for assessment year (AY) 2024-25.
Individuals, besides Hindu Undivided Families (HUFs), firms having income up to Rs 50 lakh and those having earnings from business and profession in the current fiscal (April 2023-March 2024) can start filing returns for the income earned this financial year. Usually, ITR forms for a particular financial year are notified by the end of March or early April. But last year, the forms were notified in February.
2:50 PM
European automaker Volkswagen India has extended its enhanced service support to affected customers in Tamil Nadu following the impact of heavy rains and flooding in the state, the company said on Saturday.
The initiative, with effect from December 22, would offer service support to flood affected car owners including Roadside Assistance, special benefits on parts, labour costs and car care treatment among others.
2:25 PM
Amid the outrage over the defacement of the Swami Narayan temple in Newark, US, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday said he is aware of the incident, adding that such 'extremists' should not be given space.
He underlined that the Indian Consulate in San Francisco has already taken up the matter with the US authorities and an investigation is underway.
"I have seen it. Extremists, separatists and such forces should not be given space. Our consulate there complained to the government and the police and an inquiry is underway," the EAM told reporters.
2:11 PM
2:07 PM
Entrepreneurship development centres (EDCs) will be established in over 100 government-run skill training institutes in the Northeast to provide the youth with mentoring and handholding support, and assist them in developing financial linkages, a release said on Saturday.
The Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship (IIE) has been assigned the responsibility of establishing these centres in all 104 government Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) and three National Skill Training Institutes (NSTIs) in the eight states of the region.
1:47 PM
The domestic coal-based power generation increased 8.38 per cent to 779.1 Billion Units (BU) in April-November FY24 , an official statement said on Saturday. In the year-ago period, the domestic coal-based power generation stood at 718.83 BU.
India's power generation increased 7.71 per cent in the period under review, the coal ministry said in a statement.
1:21 PM
As many as 136 UN workers have lost their lives in the last 75 days in the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas while several employees of the world body have been forced out of their homes, the United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterrres said.
Guterres said that no one has ever seen such number of casualties of the UN staff in the history of the world organisation.
"136 of our colleagues in Gaza have been killed in 75 days--something we have never seen in @UN history. Most of our staff have been forced from their homes," the UN Chief wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
1:05 PM
A protest march by the opposition Congress towards the Kerala DGP office here on Saturday turned violent with agitators hurling stones and sticks at the police following which water cannons were used to disperse the crowd.
The march was organised by the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) to protest against the alleged police atrocities against its workers during their agitation against the ongoing 'Nava Kerala Sadas' outreach programme of the Left government.
12:54 PM
Assam Police and CRPF personnel in a joint operation arrested two people and recovered a large amount of ammunition from the Bokajan area in Assam's Karbi Anglong district on Saturday.
150 live ammunition of AK series rifle and Insas rifle, six magazines, and some other items were recovered from the possession of two people.
Based on a tip-off, a joint team of police and CRPF conducted naka checking at Khatkhati area under Bokajan Sub-Division on Friday evening and intercepted a passenger bus that was coming from Dimapur, Nagaland.
Topics :Odisha ElectionAssembly electionsAssembly pollsLok SabhaParliamentRajya SabhaBJPAAPCongressNew Delhiair pollutionLawSupreme CourtJammu and KashmirPunjabHamasisraeltradepalestineIndia economyPoliticsnational politics
First Published: Dec 23 2023 | 8:33 AM IST
