THE HEADLINES:-
- Supreme Court stays its earlier judgement concerning change in definition of Aravalli Hills; Government welcomes Apex Court’s decision.
- Centre clears 79 thousand crore rupees defence proposals to enhance capabilities of Armed Forces.
- India rejects Pakistan’s remarks claiming attacks on minorities; Cites Islamabad’s own abysmal record.
- Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan says Viksit Bharat-G Ram G scheme will address shortcomings and irregularities of MGNREGA.
- Country’s Industrial output growth climbs to two-year high of 6.7 per cent in November led by robust manufacturing.
- In Shooting, Neeru Dhanda clinches gold in Women’s trap event at National Championship in New Delhi.
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The Supreme Court has put a stay on its earlier judgement concerning the change in definition of Aravalli Hills. The court took suo motu cognisance of concerns surrounding the revised definition of the Aravalli range, amid mounting criticism from environmentalists over its potential impact on the fragile mountain ecosystem. The government has welcomed the Apex Court’s decision. We have a report:
“A bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice JK Maheshwari and Justice AG Masih expressed concern that the expert committee report and the Apex Court’s observations were being misconstrued. The top court, keeping in abeyance its 20th of November order, said further clarification was required before the report or the Court’s directions could be implemented, and issued notice on the suo motu case returnable on 21st January. The Apex court also ordered the formation of a new expert committee to monitor issues required to be examined in terms of the definition of Aravallis. It also issued notice to the Centre and the four Aravalli States, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Delhi and Haryana, seeking their response to its suo motu case on the issue. The development comes following objections to the Centre’s newly notified definition of the Aravalli mountain range, which is based on a 100-metre height criterion. On 24th of this month, the Union Environment, Forest and Climate Change Ministry had also issued directions to the States for a complete ban on the grant of any new mining leases in the Aravallis. Meanwhile, Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Bhupender Yadav has welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision. In a social media post, Mr Yadav said the government is committed to providing all assistance sought from his Ministry for the protection and restoration of the Aravalli range. The Minister said, as of now, a complete ban remains in force for new mining leases as well as the renewal of existing ones. Shagun Chopra from New Desk”
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The Supreme Court today also put a stay on the Delhi High Court’s order that had allowed suspension of the life sentence and granting bail to former Uttar Pradesh MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar in the Unnao rape case. The top court issued notice to the former legislator seeking his response on the CBI’s plea challenging the high court order.
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The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) has cleared proposals worth 79 thousand crore rupees to enhance the capabilities of the Armed Forces. Chairing the Defence Acquisition Council meeting in New Delhi today, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh accorded Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for these proposals of the three Services. More from our correspondent:
“For the Indian Army, DAC approved the procurement of loiter munition systems for artillery regiments, low-level lightweight radars, long-range guided rocket ammunition for the Pinaka multiple launch rocket system, and the Integrated Drone Detection and Interdiction System Mk-II. Loiter munitions will be used for precision strikes on tactical targets, while low-level lightweight radars will detect and track small-sized, low-flying unmanned aerial systems. For the Indian Air Force, the Acceptance of Necessity was approved for the procurement of Automatic Take-off Landing Recording System, which will fill the gaps in the aerospace safety environment by providing high-definition all-weather automatic recording of landing and take-off. Further, the procurement of Bollard Pull Tugs for Indian Navy has also been approved. These tugs will assist naval ships and submarines in berthing, unberthing, and manoeuvring in confined waters. Pallavi Parmar, Akashvani News, Delhi.”
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The Ministry of External Affairs today rejected Pakistan’s remarks claiming attacks on minorities in India. Responding to media queries regarding the remarks of spokesperson of Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, Pakistan’s abysmal record on this front speaks for itself. Mr Jaiswal said, Pakistan’s horrific and systemic victimisation of minorities of various faiths is a well-established fact and no amount of finger pointing will obfuscate it.
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Agriculture, Farmers’ Welfare and Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan today said, the Central Government has introduced a new law, Viksit Bharat-G Ram G, to address shortcomings and irregularities in the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), 2005. The Minister was speaking at the State-Level Kisan Diwas-2025 programme at Gauchar in Uttarakhand. He said, the guaranteed employment has been increased from 100 days to 125 days under the new law.
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Home Minister Amit Shah has said, Assam and other northeastern states have witnessed tremendous development during the past 11 years. Mr Shah was speaking after inaugurating redeveloped Batadrava Than, the birthplace of Srimanta Sankardeva, in Nagaon district of Assam. The Home Minister launched multiple development projects during a daylong visit to the state.
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President Droupadi Murmu has said, Viksit Bharat will be achieved not just by building strong economy but also by ensuring equal opportunities and life of dignity to poor people. The President was addressing the 15th convocation ceremony of National Institute of Technology (NIT) at Jamshedpur in Jharkhand today. The President said government initiatives across traditional and emerging sectors are creating entrepreneurial opportunities for skilled youth to generate employment for themselves and others.
Earlier in the day, the President attended the Centenary celebrations of Ol Chiki script of Santhali Language in Jamshedpur.
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Vice President C.P. Radhakrishnan today said educated youth must embrace technology with enthusiasm and ethical responsibility in a rapidly changing world driven by artificial intelligence and digital innovation. Addressing the 30th convocation ceremony of Pondicherry University, the Vice President urged the graduates to become ambassadors of the National Education Policy 2020.
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India will host the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi in February next year. The India AI Impact Summit will begin on the 15th of February and conclude on the 20th. Addressing a press conference on the event, Secretary of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, S. Krishnan, said the summit will help shape the future of inclusive, responsible and resilient Artificial Intelligence (AI).
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Government has approved a new project to protect breeding habitats of sandbar-nesting birds, including the Indian Skimmer, for conservation of endangered bird species in the Ganga basin. The project was approved during the 68th meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) in New Delhi today. In line with Namami Gange Mission-2, the project focuses on long-term monitoring, community participation, and evidence-based conservation.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi today expressed happiness over the embarkment of INSV Kaundinya on her maiden voyage from Gujarat’s historic coastal city of Porbandar to Muscat in Oman. In a social media post, Mr Modi said, the ship is built using the ancient Indian stitched-ship technique, highlighting the country’s rich maritime traditions. The Prime Minister extended his best wishes to the crew for a safe and memorable journey, as they retract national historic links with the Gulf region and beyond.
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Country’s industrial production growth surged to over two-year high of 6.7 per cent in November this year on an annual basis. According to the data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) staged a solid comeback, edging higher from upwardly revised rate of 0.5 per cent in October. This surge in the industrial output was driven by eight per cent growth in manufacturing sector. The IIP growth had previously hit a high of 11.9 per cent in November 2023.
Speaking to Akashvani News, senior business journalist Shishir Sinha highlighted the key take aways from the November data and shed light on the factors behind the robust growth.
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The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast very dense fog conditions in Delhi, Haryana, Chandigarh, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab for the next two days. IMD has said, dense fog conditions are expected over Jammu, Kashmir, Ladakh, Gilgit, Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh till tomorrow. Meanwhile, speaking to Akashvani News today, a Delhi Airport official said, around 130 flights were cancelled due to low visibility at Indira Gandhi International Airport. In addition, the air quality in Delhi-NCR has been registered in the severe category. According to the Central Pollution Control Board, the average Air Quality Index (AQI) of the National Capital was recorded at 406 as of 8 tonight
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In Shooting, Asian Championships gold medallist Neeru Dhanda cliched the yellow metal in the women’s trap event at the National Championship at Dr Karni Singh Range in Delhi today. Delhi’s Kirti Gupta took silver, while Neeru’s Madhya Pradesh teammate Pragati Dubey won the bronze. In junior men’s trap, Aryavansh Tyagi won gold, Keshav Chauhan silver, and Zuhair Khan bronze. In women’s trap team event, Madhya Pradesh took the yellow metal, Delhi won silver, and Punjab bagged the bronze. In junior men’s trap team event, Haryana claimed gold while in junior women’s trap team event, Delhi won the gold.
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In West Bengal, harassment against Special Roll Observer C. Murugan was reported today at a hearing centre in South 24 Parganas district. Allegedly, Booth Level Agents (BLA) of the Trinamool Congress protested when Murugan arrived in connection with the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process in the state.
Yesterday, Trinamool Congress General Secretary and MP Abhishek Bandopadhyay reportedly instructed party BLAs to attend hearing centres across the state. The Election Commission, however, had denied permission for the BLAs to enter the centres as part of the SIR proceedings.
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THE HEADLINES ONCE AGAIN :-
- Supreme Court stays its earlier judgement concerning change in definition of Aravalli Hills; Government welcomes Apex Court’s decision.
- Centre clears 79 thousand crore rupees defence proposals to enhance capabilities of Armed Forces.
- India rejects Pakistan’s remarks claiming attacks on minorities; Cites Islamabad’s own abysmal record.
- Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan says Viksit Bharat-G Ram G scheme will address shortcomings and irregularities of MGNREGA.
- Country’s Industrial output growth climbs to two-year high of 6.7 per cent in November led by robust manufacturing.
- In Shooting, Neeru Dhanda clinches gold in Women’s trap event at National Championship in New Delhi.
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