Breaking News December 16 | Highlights

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Wednesday ordered discontinuation of old one or two-digit registration numbers of vehicles to stop their misuse by owners as their status symbol, often tricking even police not to check them.

The chief minister asked the Transport Department to stop the practice of even transferring old and special registration numbers of an old vehicle to a new vehicle of the owner, a practice already banned in neighbouring Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.

The World Bank on Wednesday approved four India projects worth over USD 800 million to support development initiatives.

An earthquake measuring magnitude 3.1 on the Richter Scale was felt in Arunachal Pradesh on Wednesday. READ MORE

 A dedicated control centre for Space Situational Awareness (SSA) activities in the country, aimed at monitoring, tracking and protecting Indias space assets, has been set up here,the Indian Space Research Organisation said on Wednesday.

"ISRO SSA Control Centre, 'NETRA', is set up within the ISTRAC campus at Peenya.

The control centre is envisaged to function as a hub of all SSA activities within India," the space agency said.

India dropped one spot to 131 among 189 countries in the 2020 human development index, according to a report released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Human Development Index is the measure of a nation's health, education, and standards of living.

Very light rain occurred at isolated places over Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday, the Meteorological Department. Thunderstorm occurred at isolated places over east UP, while dense fog engulfed isolated places over western part of the state. Rainfall was recorded in Mahroni (Lalitpur), Chatnag (Allahabad), Mau (Chitrakoot), Churk (Sonbhadra) and Karwai (Chitrakoot).

Bareilly was the coldest place in the state where the minimum temperature was 5.3 degrees Celsius.

Lucknow recorded a minimum temperature of 12.0 degrees Celsius, while Allahabad recorded a low of 14.4 degrees Celsius.

Cold wave and cold day conditions are very likely at isolated places over the state on Thursday, the Met department said.

Weather is most likely to remain dry and shallow to moderate fog is very likely at isolated places over the state on December 18 and 19.

Nepal’s iconic Pashupatinath Temple, the 5th century holy Hindu shrine, opened for pilgrims on Wednesday after being closed for nine months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pashupatinath Temple is the largest temple complex in Nepal and stretches on both sides of the Bagmati River and sees thousands of worshippers from Nepal and India daily.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be the chief guest at the centenary celebrations of the Aligarh Muslim University via video link on December 22, an official statement said.

PM Modi will attend the online function along with Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, it said.

Extending his gratitude to the PM, AMU Vice Chancellor Professor Tariq Mansoor said the AMU community is thankful for his acceptance to participate in the celebrations marking 100 years of the university.

Ten air-conditioned local train services will be operated on the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus-Kalyan section from Thursday, replacing the
ordinary suburban services, the Central Railway said. READ MORE

Filling of fuel for the fourth stage (PS4) of PSLVC50 commenced: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)

Rebel Trinamool Congress leader Suvendu Adhikari on Wednesday submitted his resignation as an MLA to the West Bengal assembly secretary, party sources said.

Adhikari, the MLA of Nandigram constituency in Purba Medinipur district, resigned from the state cabinet last month.

He has been maintaining distance with the party leadership for quite some time.

A 16-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a middle-aged man in a village in Shamli district of Uttar Pradesh, police said on Wednesday. The incident took place in the Jhinjhana police station area on Tuesday, they said.

The accused lured the victim, who is mentally challenged, to his house and raped her, the minor's mother said in her complaint to the police.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday greeted former Karnataka chief minister and Janata Dal (Secular) leader H D Kumaraswamy on his 61st birthday.

"Best wishes to former Karnataka Chief Minister Shri @hd_kumaraswamy Ji on his birthday. May Almighty bless him with a long life, filled with the best health," Modi tweeted.

Kumaraswamy is son of former prime minister H D Deve Gowda.

Maharashtra Government ready to take back its 15th October 2020 order of land allotment to MMRDA for Metro car shed at Kanjur Marg. The Bombay High Court put a stay on the Metro car shed project at Kanjur Marg and asked MMRDA to maintain status quo

Seven people killed in collision between a bus and a gas tanker truck in Sambhal. Police, administration conducting rescue operation at the accident site

 Crime Branch has arrested a TV actor for robbing elderly persons by posing as cop in Mumbai

Two Pakistan Army soldiers killed along LoC opposite Naushera sector by Indian Army while retaliating to ceasefire violation by the Pakistan Army there yesterday: PTI Sources

BREAKING: Uttarakhand Health Secretary Amit Negi tests positive for COVID-19

Two suspected criminals were arrested following a brief exchange of fire in north Delhi's Kotwali area on Tuesday night. Kanahiya Jha (28) was wanted in nine cases of robbery and snatching while Mohd Ansari (24) was involved in a case of theft, police said.

An adult male elephant was killed after it was knocked down by a speeding truck near Jaldapara National Park in West Bengal's Alipurduar district. The 'Makna' (male elephant without tusks), aged around 15 years, was possibly crossing a highway at Madarihat on Monday night when it got hit by the truck which sped away. The carcass was sent for post-mortem examination.

Polling for the seventh phase of the District Development Council (DDC) elections in Jammu and Kashmir began on a dull note as freezing weather conditions in the Valley kept most people indoors early on Wednesday.

Polling for 31 DDC seats -- 13 in Kashmir division and 18 in Jammu division -- began at 7 am. However, there were little activity around polling stations early on due to sub-zero temperatures in most places of Kashmir Valley and some parts of Chenab Valley.