1. Winter Session of the Parliament from today
The border situation with China, the alleged misuse of government agencies, price rise and unemployment will dominate the proceedings of the winter session of Parliament starting today. The results of the assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh are also likely to play out during the start of the session.
2. Counting of votes in Delhi MCD election
Counting of votes polled in Delhi’s MCD election will take place today. Twenty companies of paramilitary personnel and over 10,000 officers of Delhi Police have been deployed at the 42 centres where votes for the civic polls in the national capital will be counted, officials said. Counting will begin at 8 am under tight security arrangements, they said. Elections to the 250-ward Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) were held on December 4.
3. Maharashtra-Karnataka border row continues
The simmering Maharashtra-Karnataka border row took another turn on Tuesday with activists of the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV) vandalizing trucks from the State even as the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) lashed out at the ‘impotence’ of the Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government, while demanding the intervention of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled Centre to restrain the Basavaraj Bommai-led BJP government in Karnataka.
4. Yuan Wang 5 re-enters Indian ocean region
Chinese surveillance vessel ‘Yuan Wang 5’ has re-entered the Indian Ocean in what coincides with a planned Indian long-range missile test, between December 15-16. In a similar incident last month, another vessel ‘Yuan Wang 6’ had entered the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) coinciding with a planned Indian missile launch, but the launch was then deferred. As reported by The Hindu earlier, there had been a steady rise in the deployment of Chinese research vessels in the IOR
5. TMC spokesman Saket Gokhale arrested over tweet containing alleged ‘fake news’
The Gujarat Police on Tuesday arrested Trinamool Congress spokesperson Saket Gokhale in connection with his tweet citing an alleged fake news about expenses incurred for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Morbi following the bridge collapse that killed at least 140 people. BJP worker Bhalabhai Kothari had approached the Ahmedabad police’s cyber cell after spotting Mr. Gokhale’s tweet on December 1 in which he had posted clipping of a purported news report claiming that ₹30 crore had been spent for the PM’s visit to Morbi.
6. NCMC reviews preparedness for possible cyclonic storm
The National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) headed by Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba reviewed the preparedness for a possible cyclonic storm over the Bay of Bengal that may hit the eastern coast. India Meteorological Department director general briefed the NCMC about the current status of the weather system and said it is likely to move west-northwestwards and concentrate into a depression over south-east Bay of Bengal by evening.
7. China’s Xi to visit Saudi Arabia for ‘milestone’ summit
Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit Saudi Arabia this week for what Beijing is calling a “milestone” first ever China-Arab summit to boost relations and already deep economic ties. Mr. Xi, at the invitation of King Salman, would arrive in Riyadh on Wednesday and later this week attend a Saudi-China summit, where Prince Mohammed bin Salman will also be present.
