Former Punjab CM Rajinder Kaur Bhattal meets farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal who is fasting to death, at the Khanauri border in Sangrur on December 28, 2024. | Photo Credit: ANI
Punjab ‘helpless’ as farmer leader’s condition worsens
The Punjab government on Saturday told the Supreme Court that a “forcible evacuation” of farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, who is on a fast-unto-death, to a hospital will lead to “collateral damage” to both the State Police and agitating farmers. Mr. Dallewal has been on a hunger strike at the Khanauri border since November 26 to press the Centre to accept the agitating farmers’ demands, including a legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) for crops.
Azerbaijan plane crash: Russian President Vladimir Putin apologises to Azerbaijani leader for ‘tragic incident’
Russian President Vladimir Putin apologised to his Azerbaijani counterpart for what he called a “tragic incident” following the crash of an Azerbaijani airliner in Kazakhstan that killed 38 people. The plane was flying on Wednesday (December 25, 2024) from Azerbaijan’s capital of Baku to Grozny, the regional capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya, when it turned toward Kazakhstan and crashed while making an attempt to land. There were 29 survivors.
Former PM Manmohan Singh cremated with full state honours
Former prime minister Manmohan Singh was cremated with full state honours on Saturday (December 28, 2024) in the presence of top dignitaries from India and abroad. Mr. Singh’s funeral pyre was lit by his eldest daughter Upinder Singh at the Nigambodh Ghat amid the chanting of religious hymns.
Jaishankar meets Trump’s NSA-pick Waltz; discusses bilateral ties, global issues
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has met Congressman Michael Waltz, who is President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for National Security Adviser, during which they had a wide-ranging conversation on the bilateral partnership between India and the U.S. as well as current global issues. Mr. Jaishankar is on an official visit to the U.S. from December 24 to 29. This was the first highest-level in-person meeting between the Indian government and the incoming Trump administration.
Modi government ‘insulted’ Manmohan Singh by cremating him at Nigambodh Ghat, charges Congress
Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said the present government “insulted a great son of Mother India” by not allocating a separate place for the funeral of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. On Friday (December 27, 2024), Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging the Centre to identify a designated place where the last rites of the departed leader could be held and a memorial built thereafter. As a political row broke out over the issue, the Centre said a decision to set up a memorial has already been taken and a trust would be formed to identify the place soon.
Inaccurate maps leave travellers stranded, put their safety at stake
Google Maps’s turn-by-turn navigation is massively popular around the world. In India alone, the tech giant said last December, 2.5 billion kilometres of navigation were requested by users per day. Google amasses map data from Indian cities and highways through a combination of commercial third-party sellers and user contributions. Roads, pedestrian walkways, expressways, buildings — these are all labelled by lane count, direction, permissible vehicle classes, and speed limits. Thanks to its massive user base and real-time data from these phones, Google is able to also use real-time data to provide travel duration estimates, and suggest alternate routes to avoid congestion. But the real world does not always operate or change in ways that are immediately flagged by Google’s systems.
Frequent GPS interference, including ‘spoofing’, near India’s border with Pakistan, Myanmar
Instances of GPS interference on passenger aircraft, including ‘spoofing’ with false signals, are on the rise over conflict zones globally, including on India’s borders with Pakistan, which are among the top sites for such occurrences, according to OPSGROUP, a voluntary group of 8,000 aviation personnel, including pilots, who share information on risks to flights. The GPSjam portal also lists India’s borders with Pakistan and Myanmar as among the top five regions where more than 10% of aircraft reported low navigation accuracy.
Indian Army unveils statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji at eastern Ladakh’s Pangong Tso
The Indian Army has installed a statue of Maratha warrior Chhatrapati Shivaji on the bank of Pangong lake at an altitude of 14,300 feet, a region that is close to the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China in the eastern Ladakh sector.
China, Iran FMs agree West Asia is ‘not a battleground for big powers’
The top diplomats of China and Iran agreed on Saturday (December 28, 2024) that West Asia is “not a battleground for the big powers” and should not be an arena of geopolitical competition between countries outside the region. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi agreed that “the international community should respect the sovereignty, security, stability, unity and territorial integrity of Middle East countries,” according to a readout from Beijing’s Foreign Ministry.
Elon Musk backs AfD party in German newspaper opinion piece
U.S. billionaire Elon Musk backed Germany’s Alternative for Germany (AfD) in a guest opinion piece for Germany’s Welt am Sonntag newspaper published online on Saturday (December 28, 2024) that prompted the commentary editor to resign in protest. In the commentary, published in German by the flagship paper of the Axel Springer media group, Mr. Musk expanded on his post on social media platform X last week claiming that “only the AfD can save Germany.”
SA vs PAK first Test: South Africa stumbles to 27-3 in pursuit of tricky 148-run target against Pakistan
South Africa’s top-order stumbled against Pakistan’s pace attack as the first cricket test headed towards an exciting finish after Marco Jansen’s six-wicket haul had set the home team a tricky 148-run target on Saturday (December 28, 2024). South Africa, needing a win in one of the two matches against Pakistan to seal its place in next June’s World Test Championship final, wobbled to 27-3 at stumps on a wicket where the quick bowlers have consistently troubled the batters.
India bowled out for 369, Australia take 105-run lead in 4th Test
India bowled out for 369 with Nitish Kumar being the last man to be dismissed at 114 as Australia took a 105-run lead in the fourth Test. Reddy made his runs off 189 balls with 11 fours and one six and was the last wicket to fall, caught by Mitchell Starc off Nathan Lyon in only the fourth over of the day.
Published – December 29, 2024 06:50 am IST