Vishwa Hindu Parishad today "re-converted" over 200 tribal Christians to Hinduism by holding rituals at Aranai village in Valsad district of BJP-ruled Gujarat, claimed a local leader. 

A high-level meeting, attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Saturday discussed ways to make the Somnath temple complex in Gujarat more attractive for tourists and create the related infrastructure for the purpose.

Special Secretary in Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), the country's external intelligence gathering agency, Rajinder Khanna was today appointed as its new chief. 

BJP is projected to get a majority in Jharkhand while Jammu and Kashmir may return a hung verdict with PDP emerging as the single largest party followed by BJP in assembly elections in the two states,according to two separate exit polls today. 

Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti today met with Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav at his official residence and discussed in detail the irrigation projects in the state and issue of cleaning of Ganga and other rivers.

Atletico de Kolkata defeated Kerala Blasters 1-0 and became the first champions of the Indian Super League at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Saturday.

The Department of Defense announced repatriation of Shawali Khan, Khi Ali Gul, Abdul Ghani, and Mohammed Zahir from the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay to the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.

An anti-terrorism court on Saturday issued non-bailable arrest warrants for Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Mullah Fazlullah, spokesman Shahidullah Shahid and nine others for storming the Karachi airport in June, according to the Pak publication Dawn.

Expressing his support for the anti-conversion bill proposed by Centre, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat asked opposition parties to facilitate bringing a law in Parliament, if they did not like conversion.        

According to the Election Commission, the estimated total turnout in Jammu & Kashmir stands at 65 per cent, four per cent more than the last assembly poll turnout. 

India's official entry "Liar's Dice" is out of Oscars' race after it failed to make the cut in the Academy's shortlist in the best foreign film category. Nine films advanced to the next round of voting in the category for the 87th Academy Awards out of 83 movies that had qualified in the category.

America's picturesque state Hawaii is keen on collaborating with Indian cinema and inviting Indian filmmakers to shot films, US Congress member Tulsi Gabbard said in Panaji today. 

By delivering an offshore patrol vessel to Mauritius, India today exported its first warship.

"This is the first time that the export barrier has been breached. This would be the first among the long line of ships that we hope to export to various parts of the world," Minister of State for Defence Rao Inderjit Singh said during the warship handing over ceremony.

Built by defence PSU Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Limited  in Kolkata, the $58.5 million 'CGS Barracuda' measures 74.10 m in length. It is capable of moving at a maximum speed of 22 knots with an approximate displacement of 1350 tonnes.

Describing it as a red-letter day in the history of ship-building in India, Singh said it proves that the industry has come of age.

A federal appeals court has dismissed a 1984 Sikh rights violation case filed against the Congress  by a rights group, saying that the case does not sufficiently "touch and concern" the US.   

A three-judge panel of the US Second Circuit Court of Appeals threw out the case, dismissing charges made by rights group Sikhs for Justice that the Congress was responsible for extra judicial killings and the riots that followed the assassination of the then prime minister Indira Gandhi.   

The panel ruled that "even assuming that, as plaintiffs allege, defendants-appellees Indian National Congress Partyand (Congress leader) Kamal Nath carried out or were responsible for acts of violence against Sikhs, those acts were taken by Indian nationals against other nationals in the country. Under the presumption against extraterritoriality,we lack jurisdiction over plaintiffs' claims."

The Delhi today court slapped a fine of Rs 10,000 on Union Minister Nitin Gadkari for not complying with its order in a defamation case filed by him against Aam Aadmi Party chief Nitin Gadkari.

Gadkari was reportedly fined for his failure to provide relevant documents in the case.

In October, the Patiala house court had fixed December 20 for hearing the criminal defamation case filed by Gadkari against Kejriwal. During the hearing, counsel for Kejriwal had informed the court that there was a possibility of compromise in the complaint and they were in the process of finalising it. 

The mercury dipped further in Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, to record the season's lowest temperature on the eve of Chillai-Kalan, the 40-day harshest winter period.

Leh continues to be the coldest recorded place in the state with minimum temperature recorded at minus 13.9 degrees Celsius, a decrease of one degree from the previous night's minus 12.5 degrees Celsius.

Srinagar recorded the minimum temperature of minus 4.4 degrees Celsius, down from the previous night's minus 4.2 degrees Celsius, a MeT official said today. The city had recorded the same minimum temperature on December 11 and it was the lowest so far of the season.

The famous hill resort of Pahalgam in south Kashmir, which serves as a base camp during the annual Amarnath yatra, was the coldest recorded place in the Valley with a low of minus 6.2 degrees Celsius, though a degree up from minus 7.2 degrees Celsius the previous night.

The MeT official said the famous ski-resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir recorded a low of minus 3.4 degrees Celsius, compared to the previous night's minus 2.6 degrees Celsius. North Kashmir's Kupwara town, 90 km from Srinagar, recorded a low of minus 4.7 degrees Celsius against yesterday's minus 4.8 degrees Celsius.

At least six Taliban terrorists were killed today when a US drone targeted their hideout in Pakistan's restive northwestern tribal region, officials said.

The pilot-less aircraft rained missiles on a hideout in Loara Mandai area of Dattakhel in North Waziristan.

A security official said that militants linked with Hafiz Gul Bahadur group were targeted. He said local commander Mustafa was also killed in the attack.

Actress Emma Watson has been named feminist of the year in a new poll.

The 'Harry Potter' star became a women's rights heroine following a heartfelt sexual equality speech she made at the launch of the #HeForShe campaign at the United Nations in September, reported Contact music.

The 24-year-old actress rallied feminists all over the world with her stirring commentary on rights and equal pay, and her celebrity fans were quick to applaud her for her well-presented argument.

Now she has been rewarded with the top spot on the fashion website's top ladies list, compiled by ForWomen.org.

Read the complete text of Watson's powerful speech here

Watson has beaten out transgender actress Laverne Cox, US newswoman Rachel Maddow, Beyonce and Cher.

A twenty-four-year-old youth died after his mobile phone exploded while it was being charged in the Korma village under Nainwa police station in Rajasthan, police said.   

Rajulal Gurjar was yesterday using his mobile phone, while it was also put on charging. Suddenly, the mobile battery exploded with a high sound causing him severe burn injuries on his chest and hand.   

He was rushed in an unconscious state to community health centre, Nainwa where he was declared brought dead by the doctors.   

Dr Samandar Lal Meena, in-charge at Nainwa CHC, who conducted the post-mortem, said that the victim had received severe burn injuries on chest and hands. The youth died due to electric shock and burn injuries, Meena said.

Image: Representation picture

All is not well in the Indian dressing room right now with skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni revealing that there was some "unrest" resulting from "lack of communication" with the in-form Virat Kohli before today's batting collapse in the lost second cricket Test against Australia in Brisbane.

India lost the match by four wickets after being bowled out for a mere 224 in their second innings which left a paltry target of 128 for Australia to chase.

The drama inside the dressing room was triggered by overnight unbeaten batsman Shikhar Dhawan injuring his elbow during a practice session but revealing the extent of discomfort just before the day's play was to start.

Indians had to send Virat Kohli ahead of him but the batsman was informed of the change less than seven minutes before the visitors took the field.

Just in: Another village sarpanch shot dead by suspected terrorists in Sopore, Jammu and Kashmir.

J&K votes in the fifth and final leg of assembly elections today.

On December 13, a sapanch Ghulam Mohammad Mir, 62, was abducted by six gunmen from his residence and his body was later found in the Sopore area.

Youngistaan is a film very close to my heart, and one of my first films after Faltu which was taken extremely well by critics...

I know there are a lot of people taking the Mickey out of the film going to the Oscars, but it's great to bring a smile on everyone's face and honestly there are few actors who get offended on jokes cracked on them while on the other hand, there are few that make fun of themselves sportingly.

I'm from the latter few, says Jackky Bhagnani, the son of producer Vashu Bhagnani, made his debut in 2009 in his blog.

His film has made it to the Oscar long list as an independent entry.

Read the full blog here

A day after introducing the long-pending GST Bill in the Lok Sabha, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said the government is "extremely determined" to push insurance sector reforms and will not allow political obstructionism to stop it.

"The government is extremely determined to go ahead with this (insurance sector) reform and will not allow a parliamentary disturbance to obstruct or delay a reform of this kind," he said while addressing a FICCI function.

Without naming the Trinamool Congress, Jaitley said that the political party, whose members are allegedly involved in chit fund scam, is trying to divert the attention by creating obstruction in the functioning of Rajya Sabha where the ruling NDA does not have a majority of its own.

A three kg IED planted by militants was found near an Assam Rifles post at the border town of Moreh in Manipur's Chandel district, police said.

The bomb was detected by a patrol party of 9th Assam Rifles battalion from a place at the international line in Moreh on Thursday and later defused, the police said.

It is being suspected that the bomb was planted by militants to attack security personnel posted in the border town where Assam Rifles, Border Security Force and other forces were posted, the police said.

Over 14 per cent voting was registered in the first two hours of polling in 16 assembly seats in tribal Santhal Parganas in Jharkhand in the fifth and final phase of polling today.   

People queued up at the polling stations braving the winter morning chill and voting, which began at 7 am, picked up as the day progressed. The constituency-wise voting percentage till 9 am was 15per cent at Rajmahal, 17 per cent at Borio, 15 per cent atBarhait, 14 per cent at Littipara, 16 per cent at Pakur, 15per cent at Maheshpur and 15 per cent at Shikaripara, an Election Commission release said.

NDTV reports: Days after a botched up cataract surgery at a free eye camp at Punjab's Gurdaspur, at least 10 people have reported loss of vision in a similar surgery in Himachal Pradesh's Kangra district.

At least 60 persons lost their eyesight after an operation at an eye camp organised by an NGO in Gurdaspur district of Punjab earlier this month.

The Centre had sought a report from the Punjab government on the botched up surgeries.  

Image: Representation purpose 

BBC reports: Sony Pictures says it is looking at different ways to release the film satire The Interview, after scrapping its opening following a cyber-attack blamed on North Korea.

It said it had only cancelled the film's Christmas Day release after cinemas pulled out. The company said it was "surveying alternatives to enable us to release the movie on a different platform".

US President Barack Obama said it "made a mistake" cancelling the release. "We cannot have a society in which some dictator someplace can start imposing censorship in the United States," he said.

United States President Barack Obama has asked the US Congress to work with his administration for the closure of the much-criticised terrorist detention centre at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba, the continuation of which he argued is not in America's national interest.

"The Guantanamo detention facility's continued operation undermines our national security. We must close it. I call on members from both sides of the aisle to work with us to bring this chapter of American history to a close," the US president said in a statement.

Obama said he has repeatedly called upon the Congress to work with his administration to close the detention facility at Guantanamo once and for all. "As I have said many times, the continued operation of this detention facility weakens our national security by draining resources, damaging our relationships with key allies and partners, and emboldening violent extremists. Closing the detention facility is a national imperative," he said.

As the voting kick started today for the fourth phase of assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged the people to cast their vote in large numbers.

"I urge all those voting in the 5th and final phase of J-K and Jharkhand Assembly polls to turnout in record numbers and vote," tweeted Modi.

In Jammu and Kashmir, voting is taking place for 20 Assembly seats in border district of Jammu, Kathua and Rajouri.

There is more trouble for Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade. The External Affairs Ministry has stripped her of her duties as director in its development partnership division.

She has been placed under a compulsory wait.MEA Spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said that the action taken against Khobragade is related to an ongoing inquiry against her in a vigilance case, reports CNN-IBN.  

The vigilance case against Khobragade is underway on charges that she had failed to disclose that her husband is a US citizen and that she has got US passports for her two children.

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Cook out, Morgan in as England ODI captain: BBC

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