TODAY NEWS ON December 28, 2024

News Headlines for CAT, CLAT and IPM aspirants

Source: The HINDU

National Headlines

• Former PM Manmohan Singh cremated with full state honours
• Government releases factsheet regarding memorial for former PM Manmohan Singh
• An Indian visionary committed to regional peace: South Asian leaders remember Manmohan Singh
• Average household spending rose 3.5% from August 2023 to July 2024, shows govt. survey
• Excavation conducted, measurement done for police outpost opposite Shahi Jama Masjid in U.P.’s RBI allows PPI holders to have UPI transactions through mobile app of third-party UPI apps
• After UG, Delhi University plans to implement single girl child quota in PG admissions Sambhal
• India women’s team beats West Indies by 5 wickets to take ODI series 3-0
• Madras HC says women IPS officers team to probe Anna University sexual assault case
• Supreme Court holds special Saturday sitting on issue of shifting farmer leader to hospital
• Heavy snowfall disrupts life in Kashmir; Flights, rail services suspended, Jammu-Srinagar highway closed

International News

• China defends plan to build world’s largest dam over Brahmaputra River in Tibet; says will not affect lower reaches
• Osamu Suzuki, who led Japanese automaker into India, dies at 94
• Climate change led to 41 additional days of extreme heat in 2024: new report
• North Korean soldier captured in Russia-Ukraine war: Seoul
• Israeli airstrikes hit a Yemen airport as a jet with hundreds onboard was landing, U.N. official says

Headlines in detail

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. Singh’s funeral pyre was lit by his eldest daughter Upinder Singh at the Nigambodh Ghat amid the chanting of religious hymns.

Government releases factsheet regarding memorial for former PM Manmohan Singh

The Government has decided to allocate space for a memorial for former Prime Minister late Dr Manmohan Singh, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said. According to the MHA, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, immediately after the Cabinet meeting, communicated to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge that the Government will allocate space for the memorial.

An Indian visionary committed to regional peace: South Asian leaders remember Manmohan Singh

“Take steady steps and take your time” was the advice then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh gave Hamid Karzai, who became President of Afghanistan at the age of 45, when he first met him in 2004. Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Karzai said India and Afghanistan had the “best relations” during Dr. Singh’s tenure, as India became Afghanistan’s first Strategic Partner in 2012. “I was in a hurry, as a young President, and one day he told me - you can’t build a nation in a hurry, you have to have patience for institutions to be built and human capital to develop,” Mr. Karzai said, recalling Dr. Singh’s famous speech on South Asian connectivity and a vision of being able to have “Breakfast in Amritsar, Lunch in Lahore and Dinner in Kabul”.

Average household spending rose 3.5% from August 2023 to July 2024, shows govt. survey

India’s average household consumption spending on a per capita basis rose about 3.5% in real terms through August 2023 to July 2024 from a year ago, as per the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES), and the Centre asserted this signals a decline in consumption inequality as well as a narrowing gap between urban and rural spends.

Excavation conducted, measurement done for police outpost opposite Shahi Jama Masjid in U.P.’s Sambhal

Heavy police force has been deployed at the site for the new police post to be built in front of Shahi Jama Masjid in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal with excavation speeded up with the help of the local municipality as police want to complete the outpost construction and set it up soon.

China defends plan to build world’s largest dam over Brahmaputra River in Tibet; says will not affect lower reaches

China defended its plan to build the world’s largest dam on the Brahmaputra river in Tibet, saying the project will not “negatively affect” lower riparian states and that safety issues have been addressed through decades of studies. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning played down apprehensions about the massive project to dam the Brahmaputra river, which is called Yarlung Zangbo in Tibet.

Shutdown in J&K’s Katra against ropeway project enters third day, more people join hunger strike

The shutdown in Katra against the proposed Vaishno Devi ropeway project entered its third day, with more people sitting on the hunger strike to demand the release of those detained during earlier demonstrations.

Osamu Suzuki, who led Japanese automaker into India, dies at 94

Osamu Suzuki, an ingenious pennypincher who led Japan's Suzuki Motor for more than four decades and played a key role in turning India into a flourishing auto market, has died aged 94. He died on Christmas Day of lymphoma, said the company, which he steered ambitiously, during his time as either chief executive or chairman, out of its primary market of minivehicles.

RBI allows PPI holders to have UPI transactions through mobile app of third-party UPI apps

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to enable UPI payments from/to full-KYC Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPIs) through third-party UPI applications as per it’s previous announcement made in the Statement on Development and Regulatory Policies dated April 5, 2024. “This will enable PPI holders to make/receive UPI payments through the mobile application of third-party UPI applications. The relevant provisions have been amended,” the RBI said in a statement.

After UG, Delhi University plans to implement single girl child quota in PG admissions

Delhi University (DU) plans to reserve one seat in each postgraduate (PG) course for single girl child starting from the 2025-26 academic session, for which a proposal will be discussed in the academic council meeting. The University already reserves one seat per course for single girl child at the undergraduate level, a policy introduced in the 2023-24 admission cycle. Under this scheme, 764 students were admitted across 69 colleges this year.

Climate change led to 41 additional days of extreme heat in 2024: new report

Due to climate change, the world experienced an average of 41 more days of extreme heat in 2024, a new report said. According to the European climate agency Copernicus, 2024 is set to end as the warmest year on record and the first year with a global average temperature 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

North Korean soldier captured in Russia-Ukraine war: Seoul

South Korea's spy agency said it had confirmed that a North Korean soldier sent to Russia's war against Ukraine had been captured by Ukrainian forces. Pyongyang has deployed thousands of troops to reinforce Russia's military, including in the Kursk border region where Ukraine mounted a shock border incursion in August, 2024.

Supreme Court holds special Saturday sitting on issue of shifting farmer leader to hospital

The Supreme Court on Saturday (December 28, 2024) witnessed an unprecedented hearing on the issue of providing medical aid to Punjab farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, who has been on fast-unto-death for over a month at Khanauri border seeking legal guarantee of minimum support price of crops among other demands.

Manipur CM Biren condemns firing by militants in Imphal East district

Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh on Saturday (December 28, 2024) strongly condemned the indiscriminate firing by militants in the Thamnapokpi and Sanasabi areas of Imphal East district in Manipur in which four persons were injured.

Heavy snowfall disrupts life in Kashmir; Flights, rail services suspended, Jammu-Srinagar highway closed

Normal life was thrown out of gear in Kashmir on Saturday (December 28, 2024) as most areas of the valley received snowfall, disrupting flight and railway operations and also leading to the closure of the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway, officials said.

Israeli airstrikes hit a Yemen airport as a jet with hundreds onboard was landing, U.N. official says

Israeli airstrikes hit Yemen’s main airport as a civilian Airbus 320 with hundreds of passengers on board was landing and a U.N. delegation was waiting to leave, the U.N.’s top humanitarian official in Yemen said on Friday (December 27, 2024).

India women’s team beats West Indies by 5 wickets to take ODI series 3-0

India women’s cricket team recorded a five-wicket win over the West Indies in the third and final ODI to make a clean sweep of the series here on Friday, December 27, 2024. In a low-scoring contest, India held their nerves despite a shaky start as skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (32), Jemimah Rodrigues (29), Deepti Sharma (39 not out) and Richa Ghosh (23 not out) played crucial knocks.