As the world celebrated the coming of the new year on Thursday night, a hotel in Dubai, filled with New Year's eve revellers, caught fire just as the celebrations began to peak, reports The Telegraph The luxury hotel, a 63-storey- high skyscraper, Address Downtown Dubai, went up in flames just before a spectacular fireworks display was about to commence at the nearby Burj Khalifa. All the residents of the hotel were safely evacuated, however, with only light injuries reported. The fireworks display at Burj Khalifa went off as planned.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a shot at the Opposition Congress party on December 31, asking them to let Parliament function smoothly in the New Year. According to the Hindustan Times, the PM, during his speech at the foundation stone-laying ceremony of the Delhi-Meerut Expressway in Noida, said: "Tomorrow is January 1. When you celebrate the New Year, you should take a vow to allow Parliament to run and do its work, and not pose hurdles to the country's development." The attack came after the near failure of Parliament's winter session during which key bills could not be discussed due to protests by the Congress.The Congress hit back on Twitter, sparking a social media war.

Opposition parties in the Jammu & Kashmir Assembly plan to raise the contentious issue of the state's autonomy during the budget session that starts from January 18 this year. According to The Economic Times, Engineer Rashid, an MLA from the Awami Itehad Party,intends to raise a bill that seeks the restoration of Sadri-Riyasat and Prime Minister in the state,after a recent J&K high court judgment on the issue. In December, the J&K High Court had directed the state government to fly the state flag from all government buildings and vehicles. The BJP is against this move.

Delhi begins its clean air experiment on the first day of 2016 by kicking off its odd-even formula, report the Hindustan Times, The Telegraph and The Indian Express. For the next 15 days, cars with registration plates ending with odd numbers will ply only on odd dates, while those cars with registration plates ending with even numbers will ply only on even dates. This is Delhi's first major state intervention in the campaign for clean air, since the Supreme Court ruled 17 years ago that all public transport in the Capital should convert to CNG, says The Indian Express.