Vyapam scam: 2 sent to jail
In the first conviction in the the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board - or Vyapam - scam, two people were sentenced to jail on Saturday - for a three-year term each.
A student Prakash Kumar had allegedly paid Akshat Singh to appear for him in the examination. The court found the duo guilty under sections 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) and 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) and under relevant sections of MP Recognised Examination Act.
34 Akali Dal and 21 AAP leaders move to Congress fold
Punjab Congress President Amarinder Singh on 26 December announced that 34 leaders of the Akali Dal, from the Suman district and 21 leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party from Sangrur district had joined the state Congress.
The new party members include former Shiromani Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee's Inder Mohan Singh. On 25 December, Congress leader Sukhpal Khaira joined the Punjab Aam Aadmi Party.
BJP loses out in Madhya Pradesh civic polls
The BJP lost five of eight urban civic bodies to Congress for the urban civic body polls held in Madhya Pradesh on 22 December. The Congress won Bhedaghat, Majholi, Sehore and Shahganj while the BJP took Mandsour, Sehore and Shahgank.
Madhya Pradesh BJP head Nand Kumar Chouhan said "local factors" were to blame for the defeat.
Last month, the ruling BJP lost Ratlam Lok Sabha seat to Congress. Party sources claim the BJP is losing their grip on semi-urban and rural areas.
No mention of Jaitley in Delhi government's DDCA report
The Delhi government's report on the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) affairs makes no mention of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
The 247-page report, by the three-member panel appointed last month to probe the case - does not record any act of wrongdoing by Jaitley - in contradiction to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's allegations of embezzlement during Jaitley's tenure as DDCA chief.
What PM Modi said in his last 'Mann ki Baat' for 2015. Time to 'Start up, India'!
Seeking to boost entrepreneurship at the grassroots level, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the action plan for 'Start up India, Stand up India' will be unveiled on 16 January.
PM Modi said the programme will focus on ensuring benefits reach the youth from the lowest strata of the society.
-- PTI
The world's purest water in Chile's Puerto Williams village
A new scientific study has reached the conclusion that the fresh water found in Puerto Williams town in southern Chile's Magallanes region is the purest in the world, the University of Magallanes said.
According to Ricardo Rozzi, director of the Antarctic Biocultural Conservation Program, the area "is like something out of the movie 'Jurassic Park'," because "the air and water have a purity and an ecosystem that existed before the Industrial Revolution".
Now, an app to guide you through delivery
The Safe Delivery app provides instructions for health workers who need to help deliver babies or handle complicated pregnancy cases.
The app is a collaborative effort by the Maternity Foundation, University of Southern Denmark and the University of Copenhagen.
It includes instructional video guides for issues such as labour pain and maternal sepsis and others. The information is mostly sourced from World Health Organisation's clinical guidelines.
What does the US want for Christmas? Why, more guns of course!
If you're in the US over Christmas, soak in the festive spirit and gift someone a... gun.
According to the latest reports, the sales of firearms and general customer interest has seen a sharp increase during Christmas time.
November saw FBI running close to 2.2m gun background checks, a 24 per cent increase from last year. Apparently the figures were at the highest on Black Friday, when 185,345 background checks were processed by the FBI.
French journalist in China faces ire for probing Uighur issue
Chinese authorities have announced tha they will not renew the press credentials for Beijing-based correspondent for French magazine L'OBS, Ursula Gauthier.
In an 18 November article, Gauthier slammed China's handling of the Uighur community, drawing parallels with the Islamic State's activities and claiming China was engaging in a "merciless crushing" of the minority group.
A number of journalist and human rights activists have backed Gauthier.
1 killed in fire at Kolkata's Harichand Pally slum
One person was killed and around 150 shanties were gutted in a major fire that broke out in the Harichand Pally slums of Kolkata's Dum Dum Park area on 26 December, police said.
"A 42-year-old man died in the blaze, which gutted around 150 shanties. There are no reports of any major injuries as yet," said Shivani Tewari, ACP, Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate. The fire, which broke out at around 6.45 PM in the slum area under Baguihati police station limits, quickly spread after around ten LPG cylinders reportedly blasted off, the police said.
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