TODAY NEWS ON January 01, 2025

News Headlines for CAT,CLAT and IPM aspirants

Source: THE HINDU

National News

• World welcomes 2025 with light shows, embraces and ice plunges
• Yemen death sentence for Kerala woman: India adopting a cautious route in conflict-hit Sanaa
• Court gives Punjab three more days to shift Dallewal
• Delhi Police send teams to Assam, West Bengal to verify identities of ‘illegal’ Bangladeshi immigrants
• NCP leader’s close aide surrenders in Beed sarpanch murder case, Opposition calls it staged
• Government websites down after outage at NIC data centre in Delhi
• Jaishankar in Doha for talks, to prepare for Qatari Emir visit in February amidst West Asia outreach
• PSLV-C60 Mission | 10 payload from non-government entities successfully deployed on POEM-4
• GSLV mission planned in January would be 100th launch from Sriharikota: ISRO chief
• Hockey India League: Hyderabad Toofans opens account with shootout win over Delhi Pipers

International News

• Quad vows to work vigorously towards free, stable Indo-Pacific
• Iran security chief says ‘new resistance’ against Israel to emerge in Syria
• Russia advanced nearly 4,000 square km in Ukraine in 2024: AFP analysing ISW
• France says it struck Islamic State positions in Syria
• Xi Jinping says China must apply ‘more proactive’ macroeconomic policies in 2025
• Elon Musk reignites debate on H-1B visa programme, calls it ‘broken’ which needs to be reformed

Headlines

World welcomes 2025 with light shows, embraces and ice plunges

From Sydney to Vladivostok to Mumbai, communities around the world have begun welcoming 2025 with spectacular light shows, embraces and ice plunges. Auckland became the first major city to celebrate, as thousands thronged downtown or climbed the city’s ring of volcanic peaks for a fireworks vantage point. A light display recognized Indigenous people.

Quad vows to work vigorously towards free, stable Indo-Pacific

India and other Quad member-nations reaffirmed the grouping’s steadfast commitment to work towards a free, open and peaceful Indo-Pacific amid China’s increasing military muscle-flexing in the region. Foreign Ministers of the member nations of the grouping pledged in a joint statement commemorating the 20th anniversary of “Quad cooperation”.

Yemen death sentence for Kerala woman: India adopting a cautious route in conflict-hit Sanaa

India is handling the “sensitive” case of death sentence awarded to Nimisha Priya from Kerala in Yemen with great caution as New Delhi does not maintain any official contact with the Houthis, who control the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, sources here indicated on Tuesday (December 31, 2024). Ms. Nimisha received the death sentence after being convicted of killing her Yemeni business partner Talal Abdo Mahdi.

Court gives Punjab three more days to shift Dallewal

The Punjab government informed the Supreme Court on Tuesday (December 31, 2024) that protesting farmers had written to the Centre, saying their leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, who has been on a hunger strike for 35 days, would seek medical help only if the Centre invited them for talks. Mr. Dallewal has been on a hunger strike at Khanauri on the Punjab-Haryana boundary since November 26 to press the Centre to accept their demands, including a legal guarantee for minimum support price for crops.

Delhi Police send teams to Assam, West Bengal to verify identities of ‘illegal’ Bangladeshi immigrants

Continuing its action against “illegal” Bangladeshi immigrants in the Capital, the Delhi Police sent multiple teams to districts in Assam and West Bengal to verify documents of individuals whose nationalities they are doubtful of. The move comes after the Delhi Lieutenant Governor (L-G) ordered an intensive drive against “illegal” Bangladeshi immigrants living in the Capital on December 11, and directed the Chief Secretary and the police chief to launch a two-month special drive to identify and take strict action against such persons.

NCP leader’s close aide surrenders in Beed sarpanch murder case, Opposition calls it staged

Walmik Karad, a close aide of Maharashtra Cabinet Minister and NCP leader Dhananjay Munde, surrendered before the State Criminal Investigation Department (CID) headquarters in Pune on Tuesday (December 31, 2024) in connection with an alleged ₹2 crore extortion case linked to the murder of a village sarpanch.

Government websites down after outage at NIC data centre in Delhi

Several government websites went down on Tuesday (December 31, 2024) following a power outage at the National Informatics Centre’s (NIC) data centre in Shastri Park in Northeast Delhi, sources said. While the outage was resolved, the websites continued to be down until 7.30 p.m.

Jaishankar in Doha for talks, to prepare for Qatari Emir visit in February amidst West Asia outreach

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar is in Doha for a 3-day visit over the New Year for a series of bilateral meetings, as well as to prepare for a visit by Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim ibn Hamad Al Thani to India, expected early next month, sources told The Hindu.

PSLV-C60 Mission | 10 payload from non-government entities successfully deployed on POEM-4

The Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe) on Tuesday (December 31, 2024) said that it facilitated the successful establishment and operationalisation of 10 hosted payloads from Non-Government Entities (NGEs) on board the POEM-4 module of the PSLV-C60/SPADEX mission. The mission was launched by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) on December 30.

GSLV mission planned in January would be 100th launch from Sriharikota: ISRO chief

ISRO is gearing up to achieve a significant milestone with a Geosynchronous Launch Vehicle mission scheduled in January set to become the 100th launch from the Sriharikota spaceport, a top official said.

Iran security chief says ‘new resistance’ against Israel to emerge in Syria

Iran’s security chief Ali Akbar Ahmadian said a new group would emerge in Syria to fight Israel following the fall of president Bashar al-Assad, state media reported. “With the occupation of Syrian territories by the Zionist regime, a new resistance has been born that will manifest itself in the years to come,” said Ahmadian, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, IRNA news agency reported late Monday.

Russia advanced nearly 4,000 square km in Ukraine in 2024: AFP analysing ISW

Russian forces advanced by 3,985 square km (1,539 square miles) in Ukraine in 2024, seven times more than in 2023, according to an AFP analysis of data from the U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

France says it struck Islamic State positions in Syria

French aircraft have bombed Islamic State positions in Syria, Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu said Tuesday (December 31, 2024), in its first such strike on the country’s soil since the fall of Bashar al-Assad. “Our armed forces remain engaged in battling terrorism in the Levant,” Mr. Lecornu wrote on X while on a New Year visit to French U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon.

Xi Jinping says China must apply ‘more proactive’ macroeconomic policies in 2025

President Xi Jinping said China must put “more proactive” macroeconomic policies in place next year, State media reported, as he addressed a top political advisory body on New Year’s Eve. The country has struggled this year to climb out of a slump fuelled by a property market crisis, weak consumption and soaring government debt.

Elon Musk reignites debate on H-1B visa programme, calls it ‘broken’ which needs to be reformed

After vowing to “go to war” to defend the H-1B visa programme, tech billionaire Elon Musk has reignited debates surrounding the programme used to bring skilled foreign workers to the U.S. by labelling it “broken” and in urgent need of “major reform.” Mr. Musk, along with Indian-American tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, has been tapped by Mr. Trump to lead his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Last week, Mr. Musk argued that foreign workers were needed for tech companies like Musk’s SpaceX and Tesla.

Hockey India League: Hyderabad Toofans opens account with shootout win over Delhi Pipers

Two goals in a space of one minute capitalising on defensive blunders by Delhi SG Pipers and holding nerve in a tense sudden death helped Hyderabad Toofans get its first point after the teams were tied 2-2 at the end of regulation time in the Hockey India League at the Birsa Munda Stadium in Rourkela on Tuesday (December 31, 2024).