A major fire broke out in Downtown Hotel in Dubai in the vicinity of which massive New Year's Eve fireworks display was going on.

It was not immediately clear what caused the fire. At least 20 stories of the building were engulfed by the fire as firefighters rushed to the spot.

The affected hotel is near the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest skyscraper.

No casualties have been reported so far. Detals are awaited

Three persons were arrested today for allegedly removing some hoardings hailing Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, which were put up in compliance with legal requisites, police said.

"Three men were arrested for removing hoardings hailing Chief Minister Jayalalithaa," a police official at Mylapore Station in Chennai said.

"Such hoardings and banners were put up in compliance with legal stipulations," he said.

They also allegedly disturbed public order and created ruckus. They were produced before a court and remanded in judicial custody, he said.

A court in Bangladesh today sentenced two students to death for murdering secular blogger Ahmed Rajib Haider in 2013. These are the first convictions over a series of such killings of secular writers and bloggers that have rattled the nation.

Haider, 35, was hacked to death by machete-wielding attackers in February 2013.

The fast-track court found both students and one other man, Maksudul Hasan, guilty of murder and convicted another five people on lesser charges related to Haider's death.

Hasan, 23, was given a life sentence.

One of the two students, who attended one of the country's top universities, is on the run and was sentenced in absentia.

Fireworks explode from Taiwan's tallest skyscraper, the Taipei 101, during New Year celebrations in Taipei. Photograph: Pichi Chuang/Reuters

The Bharatiya Janata Party today slapped a show-cause notice on its suspended MP Kirti Azad, asking him to explain within 10 days why he should not be expelled from the party for 'indiscipline' and 'anti-party' activities.

BJP sources said the notice is a standard follow-up to suspension of a party leader and a decision on expulsion of Azad, who has continued to attack Finance Minister Arun Jaitley over the Delhi cricket body affairs, will depend on his reply.

Sources close to the three-time Darbhanga (Bihar) MP said he was 'ready' with his reply and will send it to the party headquarters tomorrow.

Party leader Subramanian Swamy, who had earlier questioned his suspension, has 'vetted' his reply, they said.

An undeterred Azad has continued to target Jaitley over the alleged corruption in Delhi and District Cricket Association and also attacked party MP and Board of Control for Cricket in India secretary Anurag Thakur besides Rajeev Shukla of Congress over alleged irregularities in cricket administration.

The show-cause notice spells out his 'anti-party' activities, including his demand for a Central Bureau of Investigation probe in the Lok Sabha into the DDCA affairs and his continued allegations even though the BJP and the government had refuted similar charges levelled by opposition parties like the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has described Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's recently concluded 'Ayutha Chandi Maha Yagam' as a 'thoughtful initiative' and hoped it will foster spiritual welfare of all souls and spread the message of peace.

Modi conveyed wishes to Rao for successful conclusion of the mega religious ritual that drew to a close on December 27, the state government said in Hyderabad today.

'Prime Minister conveyed his best wishes for the success of Ayutha Chandi Maha Yagam and expressed hope that this thoughtful initiative will foster spiritual welfare of all souls by spreading the message of lok kalyan (people's welfare) and vishwa shanti (global peace),' said a release from Rao's office.

The 'Yagam' was conducted for five days at Rao's farm house at Erravelli village in neighbouring Medak district from December 23.

The event, which involved non-stop chanting of mantras on all days besides devotional programmes -- including bhajans and harikatha (recital of religious stories) -- was attended by several dignitaries and spiritual leaders.

The stated objective of the ceremony was to promote universal peace and people's welfare.

Tamil Nadu Governor K Rosaiah, his Maharashtra counterpart Ch Vidyasagar Rao, Union ministers M Venkaiah Naidu and Bandaru Dattatreya, Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu were among the prominent personalities who visited the Yagam.

And these are the New Year celebrations in Sydney, Australia.

And this is Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus illuminated on the New Year's Eve.

Targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, senior Uttar Pradesh Minister Azam Khan today said he was not bothered about problems of the people as he "prefers" to travel abroad.

Prem Shukla, executive editor of Shiv Sena's Hindi language mouthpiece 'Dopahar ka Saamna', today resigned from his post. Shukla, not holding any political post with the saffron outfit, is likely to join the BJP, a source close to him said. 

Breaking boundaries of religion and culture, a Saudi Arabian man tied the knot with his Russian fiance in a traditional Hindu ceremony here after colourful customs and unique wedding rituals caught their fancy.

A panchayat here in a bizarre directive has asked an alleged rape victim to beat up the accused with shoes after he refused to pay the Rs 5 lakh fine imposed by it.

A day before the odd-even formula is rolled out in the national capital, BJP today said the "faulted" exercise was "bound to fail".

The Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh has failed to fulfil promises it made to Muslims during the state polls, Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind general secretary Maulana Mehmood Madani today claimed, and announced a "massive campaign" in the state to remind the ruling party of its unfulfilled promises.

Scotland Yard today cancelled all leave for New Year's Eve as all armed officers have been deployed to monitor celebrations here as the British capital is on a high terror alert after Vienna police shared intelligence over threats to European capitals.

India has become a battleground for Mark Zuckerberg's plan to roll out Facebook's Free Basics program with the telecom regulator or TRAI confirming that the plan is on hold till the end of January, reports NDTV.

Free Basics, which Zuckerberg, 31, says will bring free internet to millions of poor Indians through their cellphones, has been attacked by tech entrepreneurs and many others as designed to violate the principles of net neutrality, the concept that all websites on the internet are treated equally.

J&K CM Mufti Mohammed Sayeed continues to be in ICU requiring oxygen therapy. His vital parameters are stable: AIIMS statement.

Nikhil Wagle tweets: Only 18 hours to go for new Marathi news channel @Maharashtra1tv. Will be on air tomorrow morning at 7am. All d best team @Maharashtra1tv!


Wagle is the Editor-in-chief of Maharashtra1tv. The channel launches on January 1.

A 47-year-old Indo-Canadian man, who allegedly assaulted an Air Canada woman flight attendant while the Delhi-bound plane was over the Atlantic Ocean, has been charged on two counts, including endangering safety of an aircraft. Jaskaran Sidhu faces two counts of mischief, assault causing bodily harm and endangering safety of an aircraft after exhibiting "assaultive and belligerent" behaviour towards the flight attendant, Canadian police said. Sidhu was released on 20,000 dollars bail yesterday, including conditions that he stay away from Pearson International Airport, cannot board any Air Canada flight, have no contact with the flight attendant or consume alcohol. Sidhu is due back in court on January 25, Global News reported.

Actress-turned-politician Rupa Ganguly has been appointed the head of the BJP's women's wing in West Bengal. State BJP President Dilip Ghosh made a series of new appointments and removed most of the old office bearers who had held key posts during the tenure of his predecessor Rahul Sinha, party sources said.

While Ganguly has been appointed the new Mohila Morcha President, Tushar Kanti Ghosh has been made the new youth-wing chief of BJP state unit in place of Amitava Roy, the sources said.

The new appointments come just days after 20 presidents of BJP's district organisations were replaced with new faces who are considered close to RSS.

Ganguly had essayed the character of Draupadi in the BR Chopra's adaption of the Mahabharat for television.

From smoothening the skin and erasing wrinkles to getting a sculpted physique or a slim waist, the desire to look like a magazine cover model is not just a teenage whim anymore.

A recent study, Cosmetic Plastic Surgery and Consciousness of Appearance Survey-2015, has revealed a growing aspiration amongst residents of Delhi-NCR across all age groups to look their sharpest.

While 41 per cent of the women surveyed believe that cosmetic surgery is the most effective way to reshape the body, the men were not behind as 37 per cent of them agreed it was so. Also, 47 per cent of the women and 42 per cent of the men who took part in the survey believe that plastic surgery helps attract potential partners. As many as 52 per cent of the women respondents felt that plastic surgery helps increase professional opportunities while among men, 37 per cent believed so.

The survey, which was conducted online from October 10 to 24, covered 709 people (193 men and 516 women) aged 25 years and older, including employed professionals, housewives, students and retired professionals.

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval will visit China next week to hold informal talks with his Chinese counterpart to discuss the vexed border dispute and other strategic issues, it was announced here today.


Doval, who is also the Special Representative for Sino-India boundary talks, will hold informal dialogue with his Chinese counterpart and state councillor Yang Jiechi on January 5 during which both officials would review the progress made on the border issue, Chinese officials told PTI.

During his visit to Beijing, Doval would also call on Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on January 6. India and China have so far held 18 round of talks to resolve the dispute along the 3488 km-long border.

Separatist leader Masrat Alam Bhat has been re-arrested under Public Safety Act (PSA), two days after High Court quashed his detention under the Act, the Jammu and Kashmir government said today.

"What do I have to say now when he has been arrested? We have arrested him again under PSA," Education Minister Naeem Akhtar, who is also government spokesman, said.

45-year-old Bhat, who ran a long separatist agitation in 2010, was re-arrested late Tuesday outside Jammu's Kotbalwal Jail after his release following the HC order earlier that day. His detention under PSA was quashed by the High Court in the second such instance since August.

Belgian prosecutors said today they have arrested a 10th suspect over the attacks in Paris last month and charged him with terror offences. The Belgian national, identified only as Ayoub B, was detained yesterday during a raid on a house in the troubled Brussels neighbourhood of Molenbeek, a statement from the federal prosecutor's office said.

He has been charged with "terrorist murder" and involvement in the activities of a terrorist group, it said. The suspect will appear in court again for a custody hearing within five days, it added.

Molenbeek is home to the Paris attacks fugitive Salah Abdeslam and has emerged as a European hotbed of Islamist extremism. Belgian authorities yesterday cancelled annual New Year's Eve celebrations and fireworks in the heart of Brussels after revealing an alleged jihadist plot to attack the capital during the festivities.

A 22-year-old man has been arrested in Brussels on suspicion of carrying out terror attacks as part of the investigation into last month's massacres in Paris.The Belgian federal prosecutor named the man as Ayoub B, saying he was arrested on Wednesday in Molenbeek, the Brussels district linked to several people linked to Isis. He is the 10th person to be arrested so far in the country's probe.

The devastating rains that created havoc in Chennai and neighbouring districts earlier this month, was due to slow movement of weaker systems present over Bay of Bengal which subsequently led to 53 per cent higher rainfall than the average, the weather office said today.

Just in: Pakistani singer Adnan Sami has been granted Indian citizenship from tomorrow. Sami, who has been staying in India since 2001, will be given Indian citizenship under Section 6 of the Indian Citizenship Act, 1955. The provision allows citizenship, through a certificate of naturalisation, to applicants with distinguished contribution in the field of science, philosophy, art, literature, world peace or human progress. In May this year, the MHA granted him the right to stay in India indefinitely on humanitarian grounds after his Pakistani passport expired the same month. Sami has made several representations to Home Minister Rajnath Singh about his citizenship.

Virat Kohli named BCCI Cricketer of the Year, he will be awarded the Polly Umrigar Award for 2015.

Omar Abdullah @abdullah_omar Sorry to hear about Mufti Sahib's continued ill health. Pray to Almighty for his speedy & complete recovery.


Jammu & Kashmir chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed is "sick requiring oxygen therapy" and his condition is being closely monitored by a team of experts, a statement by New Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), where he is admitted, said on Wednesday. "Sayeed, who is admitted in AB 8 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) since December 24, is sick, requiring oxygen therapy but stable," according to AIIMS authorities.

India skipper Virat Kohli named Cricketer of the Year. 

The Delhi Government on Thursday conducted a two-hour coordination trial run ahead of the 'Odd-Even' formula to be implemented from January 1 next year.

However, the test run was lackluster as hundreds of volunteers failed to show up.  The two-hour trial run was conducted between 9 am and 11 am.

Muktesh Chander, Special Commissioner of Police, Traffic, said that there was a good coordination between the Delhi Police and civil defence volunteers who were working under their guidance. "They also have placards through which they are creating awareness in the public," Chander said. "I am hopeful that the people of Delhi will follow the 'Odd-Even' formula and those who will not follow, will get a challan of Rs. 2000," he added.

The Department of Transport, Government of National Capital of Delhi, has issued orders prohibiting the parking of Odd Number non-transport four wheeled vehicles (motor cars etc.) on even dates and Even Number non-transport four wheeled vehicles (motor cars etc.) on odd days from January 1-15, 2016. The Odd numbered non-transport four wheeled vehicles (motor cars etc.) would be allowed to park only on odd dates. Similarly, the Even numbered non-transport four wheeled vehicles (motor cars etc.) would be allowed to park on even dates only. It has been advised that entry and/or exit of vehicles to all parking lots, either for use of general public or for staff, may be prohibited based on the restrictions imposed for the period from January 1-15, 2016. 

How Amartya Sen came back from Hanoi and felt like he was in Fatehpur Sikri. Read

Twinkle Khanna has found Rishi Kapoor's birthday wish "sweet" even though some found the tweet by the veteran actor embarrassing.

Rishi had posted, "Happy Birthday dear one! You were in your mums tummy when I was serenading her in Bobby 'Aksar koi Ladka' In 1973 lol."

His tweet kicked up a storm on social media as fans began to discuss the dates, as it is generally believed that Dimple Kapadia married Rajesh Khanna after "Bobby" shoot got over.

He again tweeted, "Kuch logon ko problem Kya hai? Kakaji and Dimple were married, Bobby was still incomplete, we shot that song when Dimple was 3 months pregnant." Twinkle, who turned 41 earlier this week, took his posts in a positive way and supported the actor. "Why is everyone making a big fuss about @chintskap's tweet wishing me happy birthday. It was really sweet!," she posted.

He always ruled out being a 'cheerleader for the markets', but it was the multiple rate cuts by RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan and his ceaseless efforts to keep inflation under check that turned out to be the biggest cheers for the Indian financial markets in 2015.

It was one of his most famous one liners -- "I am Raghuram Rajan and I do what I do" -- that eventually summed up the year 2015 for the central bank and the same is expected to hold true in the New Year as well when RBI cracks its whip on banks to clean up their balancesheets and also compete with the financial markets when it comes to being source for funds.

Rajan's term ends on September 3, 2016 and whether the outspoken Governor gets an extension, like his most of his predecessors, or not is something that will be keenly watched in the New Year.

It would be interesting in the context of the public postures he has taken on many issues ranging from 'Making in India' to his reference to Hitler and on intolerance, which have been interpreted in various quarters as being against the current regime.

At the same time, there have been words doing the rounds that Rajan is personally liked by the Prime Minister and there have been rumours about he being in race for some larger roles including the next head of International Monetary Fund, where he has served in the past as the Chief Economist.

A group of street children are busy in an unusual editorial meeting in a house in the Indian capital, Delhi. They are bound by a shared passion to bring out Balaknama (Voice of Children), an eight-page quarterly newspaper which focuses on children living and working on the streets.It proudly calls itself the "world's unique newspaper for and by street and working children". Read more of this inspiring story here.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi lays the foundation of the ambitious Delhi-Meerut Expressway project, aimed at easing traffic congestion in the national capital.

The Prime Minister last month launched three important highway projects worth Rs 10,166 crore to decongest Delhi. The 87 km project besides 9 km connector will have 6 lane expressway and 4+4 lane highway, service roads, cycle tracks, flyovers, elevated sections, major and minor bridges, railway overbridges, vehicular underpasses and pedestrian underpasses.


Modi is in Noida to lay the foundation stone of the Rs 7,600 crore expressway.

Leaders of the Samajwadi Party and the BSP never attend a function in Noida which they feel is inauspicious and could jinx their political future.

With the PM today are UP Governor Ram Naik and Nitin Gadkari. Gadkari, we hear, did perform a puja to drive away evil forces. 

When India enters the 22nd century, there will be one constant -- superstition.

29 fishermen arrested by Sri Lankan Navy in Tamil Nadu's Nagapattinam.

Hollywood director Quentin Tarantino has been accused of copyright infringement, along with distributors The Weinstein Company and Columbia Pictures, in their 2012 film Django Unchained. The lawsuit was filed earlier this week in Washington DC by father and son duo Oscar Colvin Jr. and Torrance J Colvin, claiming that the filmmakers had used large parts of their screenplay titled Freedom, Variety reported.


The Oscar-winning Django Unchained was set in the late 1850s in the Old West, and raked in $425 million (approximately Rs 2,820 crore) at the box office. The suit claims that the Colvins registered their script with the Writers Guild of America in 2004, took it to various agencies and also put it up on a script website.

Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalithaa at AIADMK's general council meeting being held in Chennai. Her party elected her as general secretary for the 7th time. 14 resolutions have been passed during AIADMK's general council meeting. The party wants the Central Govt to immediately consider TN CM's request on bringing in an ordinance to allow 'Jallikattu'.

In the week leading up to the implementation of the Delhi government's policy on odd and even numbered cars, the government's e-auction for number plates saw a three-time increase.

At least 156 people were willing to spend Rs 20,000 each on a registration number of their choice. Before this, the highest number of e-auctions in a week was 55.

Figures from the Delhi Transport Department show that in the 22nd and latest round of e-auctioning, 156 persons under the non-VIP category signed up and paid for registration numbers of their choice. The week before this saw 55 persons sign up for the same. The lowest was recorded in the opening week of August, with just nine applications.  Read more

The British government will from January 01, 2016 cut millions of pounds in aid to India. As per the statistics released by the Department for International Development, India received 279 million (Rs 2,745 crore) in 2014, a 10 million (Rs 98 crore) increase over the previous year. 

The home ministry has just announced that the suspension of two DANICS-cadre officers by the Aam Aadmi Party government is null and void. On Wednesday evening, the Delhi government suspended two senior officers of its Home Department for refusing to sign on a Cabinet decision file, following which around 200 DANICS-cadre officers have threatened to go on mass leave tomorrow in solidarity with their colleagues. The Kejriwal government's move may lead to another round of confrontation between the Centre and the AAP dispensation as only the Delhi Lt Governor can suspend DANICS-cadre officers with permission from the Union home ministry.

New Year fireworks and festivities have been cancelled in the Belgian capital, Brussels, because of a terror alert. Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said the decision had been taken "given information we have received".

They might be denied their due space and respect else where, but a Bengaluru pub is breaking fresh ground and using New Year's Eve revelry to host couples from the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community. Humming Tree, in Indiranagar, has thrown open its doors to LGBT community members who want to walk in as couples to welcome the dawn of 2016 in an inclusive style.

With more than 34 lakh tweets, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the most talked about person on Twitter in India, according to data compiled by social media analytics firm Blueocean Market Intelligence. Politics, sports and Bollywood led the chatter in India. 

The Aam Aadmi Party in the national capital will conduct a coordination trial between different agencies at 200 points for two hours today. "The coordination trial-run of different agencies will be conducted at 200 points for two hours from 9 am to 11 am tomorrow to check preparation of odd-even scheme. 66 enforcement teams of Transport department and 27 teams of sub-divisional magistrates will be deployed.

Two terrorists were gunned by the security forces in a fierce gun battle at Gussu village in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday. Sources said, the encounter took place on Wednesday evening between the terrorists and the security forces and lasted till Thursday morning. A preliminary probe revealed that the killed terrorists is believed be working under the Hizbul outfit.

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif hailed the resumption of India-Pakistan dialogue and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's gesture of visiting Lahore on his way back from Afghanistan last week. 

Separatist leader Masarat Alam was today rearrested, a day after his release on a Jammu and Kashmir high court order quashing his detention under the Public Safety Act.

Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh also said 'Alam will not be released as he has several cases pending against him'.

A senior J&K police officer said: "He got released, technically, from the PSA and he gets arrested in the cases already registered against him. Naturally, he has been rearrested in (connection with) the pending cases."

"He has several cases pending against him...He will continue to be under arrest...though his (detention under) PSA has been quashed," the officer said.

Alam was arrested under PSA in April for allegedly hoisting Pakistani flag and chanting anti-India slogans during a rally organised by hardline Hurriyat Conference faction to welcome its leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani from New Delhi.

Two British teenagers, fined in June on charges of stealing artefacts from the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz, will now face trial for the same offence, a Polish prosecutor said today.

The two, back in England, had been given a one-year probation along with the fine after pleading guilty in June, then released by Polish authorities.   But they have since reversed their plea to not guilty, prompting the new charges, said Mariusz Slomka from the prosecutor's office in Oswiecim, the southern city where the Auschwitz camp is located.

If found guilty, they could face up to 10 years in prison for 'stealing objects of historical value,' said Slomka.

A Russian blogger was today sentenced to five years in a Siberian penal colony for 'inciting hatred and extremism' by posting a video on YouTube which criticised pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine.

A court in Tomsk, western Siberia, also banned Vadim Tyumentsev, 35, from using the Internet for three years.   Russian rights activists, meanwhile, said that Tyumentsev's sentence was 'too harsh, considering it was only for posting videos online'.

In the videos, Tyumentsev called for refugees from east Ukraine's separatists areas of Donetsk and Lugansk to be expelled from Russia, accusing them of 'betraying Ukraine'.

Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad registered a case against Ayaz Sultan, a youth from Malwani area of Mumbai who has been missing since October 30, for 'advocacy' of terror group Islamic State.

A case was registered against him late on Wednesday evening under relevant sections of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for advocacy and support for IS, ATS chief Vivek Phansalkar said.

Ayaz Sultan, Wajid Shaikh, Noor Mohammed and Mohsin Sayeed had left their homes in Malwani, allegedly to join IS. Sheikh was tracked down by ATS near Pune on December 23, while Noor returned home the following day. Sultan and Mohsin are still missing.

According to police, Sultan had told his parents that he was going to Pune in connection with a job offer from a Kuwait-based firm.

The Belgian police has detained one person for questioning after a new search was launched in the troubled Brussels immigrant neighborhood of Molenbeek in connection with the deadly Paris attacks, prosecutors said.

The person, who was not identified, is likely to be produced today before a judge.

Belgian media said the search took place in Rue Delaunoy in Molenbeek, the district which is home to Paris attacks fugitive Salah Abdeslam and which has served as a 'haven for jihadists' in the past.

Heaping praises on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has said that respect for Indians living in the countries visited by him has grown.

"Wherever Modi has addressed the local Indian communities during his visits to foreign countries, the Indians there are extremely happy. After the prime minister's visits, the Indians in those countries are feeling a great sense of pride and the respect for them has increased," Swaraj said.

She was speaking at Vishwa Sangh Shivir (world sangh camp) in Indore.

She said the camp had earlier being held in India in 2000 when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the prime minister and now the country was holding it again when Modi is the PM.

The minister praised Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh -- the group organising the camp -- saying that it was making new generation familiar with rich Indian culture in foreign lands.

Engineers flee after two colleagues' murder in protection racket in Bihar

BJP VP says party lacks talent pool; then does a U-turn

Kashmiri separatist Asiya Andrabi denies link with Hyderabadi youths

Now, PM's nod must before suspending IAS officers

Row breaks out over 'fixing' of Chhattisgarh assembly bypoll