India News Live Updates: President Droupadi Murmu, LoP Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge and others extend new year wishes

President-elect Donald Trump said he planned to attend next week’s state funeral for Jimmy Carter, the former U.S. president who died on Sunday at the age of 100.

“I’ll be there. We were invited,” Trump said in response to a reporter’s question on whether he would attend Carter’s funeral as he entered a New Year’s Eve Party at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida on Tuesday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said late on Tuesday that no one would give peace to his country as a gift, but he believed the United States would stand alongside Kyiv as it fights to stop Russia’s 34-month invasion.

Zelenskiy, in a slick 21-minute New Year video greeting to his compatriots, also said only a strong Ukraine could secure peace and earn worldwide respect.

“We know that peace will not be given to us as a gift, but we will do everything to stop Russia and end the war, something each of us desires,” Zelenskiy said against a backdrop of the blue-and-yellow national flag, battlefield scenes and pictures of children.

Israel’s military said two projectiles were fired from Gaza on Wednesday in the first minutes of the new year, one of which was intercepted while the other landed in an open area.

Alert sirens sounded around midnight (2200 GMT) in the western Negev, the Israeli military said, and “two projectiles were identified crossing from the central Gaza Strip into Israeli territory”.

“One projectile was successfully intercepted and the second projectile fell in an open area,” the army said on Telegram.

Israel’s Minister of Defense announced the imposition of economic sanctions against an operation to raise funds for Hezbollah terrorists who were wounded in September’s “Operation Grim Beepers,” in which dozens of Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon were killed when their pagers exploded. The pagers had been booby-trapped by Israeli agents.

The campaign, which was run on various crowdfunding platforms, allowed donations via credit cards, bank transfers, and PayPal, and has raised tens of thousands of dollars so far. This funding was used to strengthen the organization’s activists and restore its operational capabilities.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has slammed the “organised effort” to portray social reformer and spiritual leader Sree Narayana Guru “as the advocate and proponent of Sanatana Dharma.”

The Chief Minister claimed that Guru was a great sage who transcended Sanatana Dharma, dismantling its rigid framework and proclaiming a new-age dharma suited for modern times.

“There is an organised effort underway to portray Sree Narayana Guru as the advocate and proponent of Sanatana Dharma. However, Guru was neither an advocate nor a proponent of Sanatana Dharma,”Vijayan said while inaugurating the 92nd Sivagiri Pilgrimage at Varkala on Tuesday.

The United Arab Emirates conducted the 23rd evacuation flight on Tuesday (local time), in cooperation with the World Health Organisation (WHO), as part of a humanitarian initiative to evacuate 55 critically wounded people and patients from the Gaza Strip – including children and cancer patients in need of extensive treatment – from Ramon airport in Israel, via Karam Abu Salam crossing, to receive medical treatment in the country’s hospitals, accompanied by 72 family members.

The evacuation of the injured Palestinians and cancer patients is part of the initiative launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE President, in October 2023, to provide medical treatment for 1,000 children and 1,000 cancer patients from the Gaza Strip in the UAE’s hospitals. So far, 2,254 patients and family members have arrived in the UAE.

Emirates is bringing forward the deployment of its Airbus A350 to Kuwait and Bahrain. Services will start 8 January, making them the second and third destinations to be served by the airline’s newest aircraft, according to a press statement released by the air carrier today.

Emirates will operate its Airbus A350 on the following services to Kuwait and Bahrain

Kuwait: The Emirates A350 will operate on EK853 and EK854. EK 853 departs Dubai at 0125hrs, arriving in Kuwait at 0215hrs. The return flight, EK 854 leaves Kuwait at 0340hrs, arriving in Dubai at 0625hrs.

Bahrain: The Emirates A350 will operate on two of the three daily flights to the Kingdom – EK837/838, and EK839/840. EK 837 departs Dubai at 0820hrs, arriving in Bahrain at 0840hrs. The return flight, EK 838, departs Bahrain at 1000hrs, arriving back to Dubai at 1215hrs. The second flight operated by the Airbus A350, EK 839, takes off at 1600hrs, arriving in Bahrain at 1620hrs. EK 840 leaves Bahrain at 1745hrs, arriving back to Dubai at 2000hrs.

As the construction of the police post near Jama Masjid in Sambhal continues, District Magistrate (DM) Rajender Pensiya informed that the administration has received some documents raising objections to the ongoing construction.

However, “no rationality” was found in them upon examination.

Additionally, only one person has approached the administration in person so far, and if others do so, the necessary action will be taken.

Popular tourist destinations in Uttarakhand, including Kedarkantha, Harshil, and Dayara, saw a significant increase in footfall on New Year’s Eve, with over 5,000 tourists staying at key spots in Uttarkashi District.

“In Devbhoomi Uttarakhand, which is gaining fame as a ‘New Year Destination’, scenic places like Kedarkantha, Harshil, Dayara are bustling with tourists coming from different parts of the country these days. Even today, more than 3 thousand tourists arrived in Harshil, Dayara and Sankri area. More than 5 thousand tourists are reported to have stayed at the major tourist places of the district,” said a post on the offical X account of the State government’s Department of Information and Public Relations.

The government also mentioned that special security arrangements were made due to the increased number of tourists.

“Uttarakhand Police and Administration have also made special security arrangements in view of the increasing movement of tourists on New Year. Teams of SDRF, Police, Disaster Management’s Rapid Action Squad have been sent to tourist-crowded Kedarkantha, Harshil, Dayara areas,” the post said.