Top stories on 20 December in a capsule

Narendra Modi turns emotional at BJP meet

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday turned emotional as he recalled the struggle and contribution of the BJP workers in winning Gujarat Assembly elections for the sixth time. Addressing the BJP Parliamentary party, Mr. Modi was seen holding back his tears, according to those present at the meeting, at least three times as he named Jana Sangh and BJP leaders, some of them now dead, who built the organisation in Gujarat, which has become a party citadel for over two decades.

_________________

Senate passes the most drastic changes to the US tax code in 30 years

Senate Republicans have passed a sweeping overhaul of the US tax code, placing Donald Trump on the brink of scoring his first major legislative victory.The United States Senate on Wednesday approved the $1.5 trillion tax bill, which includes permanent tax breaks for corporations and temporary tax cuts for individuals, by a final vote of 51-48. Once enacted, the legislation will represent the most drastic changes to the US tax code since 1986. The bill lowers the top individual tax rate from 39.6% to 37% and slashes the corporate tax rate to 21%, a dramatic fall from its current rate of 35%.
______________

Virat and Anushka invite PM Modi for their wedding reception

Virat and Anushka met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday to invite him to their Delhi reception.  The newlyweds flew back to India on Tuesday after their visit to Finland. The couple is in Delhi for their first wedding reception, scheduled for December 21. The Prime Minister congratulated the couple on their wedding, and is expected to attend the grand reception that is to take place at a five-star hotel in the capital tomorrow.

________________

Accused minor to be tried as adult in Pradhyumn Thakur murder case

The 16-year-old student of Gurugram's Ryan International School, who had been accused in the murder of Pradyuman Thakur, will be treated as an adult and undergo a regular trial in a court, the Juvenile Justice Board said on Wednesday. If convicted, he will stay in a correctional home till he is 21 years old and then be transferred to a jail. The hearing is scheduled to begin from 22nd December. Pradhyumn, a Class 2 student, was found with his throat slit inside a washroom at his school on September 8. The CBI had arrested the minor accused, a schoolmate of Pradhyumn's. Addressing the media, Varun Thakur, father of Pradhyuman thanked the judiciary for the decision.

___________________________

EC files FIR against Dinakaran after Jayalalithaa's Hospital video

Just a day before the state of Tamil Nadu witnesses the elections of the RK Nagar seat, the \at earlier belonged to former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, a video of her time in the hospital was released by rebel leader TTV Dinakaran’s camp on Wednesday. The 20-second visual shows the late leader in her hospital bed, drinking from a glass and presumably watching television. The release sparked backlash from rival party AIADMK, which alleged it as a ‘demeaning act’ made to affect the voters. The Election Commission, meanwhile filed an FIR against Dinakaran and has asked TV channels not to broadcast the video, calling it a ‘violation of the election code.’

___________________________

TV personality Suhaib Ilyasi sentenced to life in prison for murdering wife

Former TV producer and anchor of popular show “India’s Most Wanted’, Suhaib Ilyasi was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Delhi High Court, on Wednesday on charges of killing his wife. Ilyasi’s wife Anju was declared dead, with stab wuonds inflicted on her on January, 2000 which led to Ilyasis being arrested on March after his mother-in law and sister-in-law made allegations of torturing his wife for dowry. The former television producer was found guilty under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code, and was ordered to pay a fine of 2 lakhs and a compensation of 10 lakhs.

___________________________

Former HC judge released from jail after serving 6 month term

Former judge of Calcutta High Court, CS Karnan was released on Wednesday after spending 6 months in imprisonment at Presidency jail. Karnan, was ordered to serve jail term by the Supreme Court and was apprehended by the West Bengal CID officials in Coimbatore, after being on the run for almost one month. He was accused of Contempt of Court when he made shocking claims of caste discrimination being practiced against his Dalit background, by the judges of the High Court and many other instances, prompted then Chief Justice of India TS Thakur to take action against him. 

___________________________

Anti-smog gun tested in Delhi as air quality worsens

The Delhi Government on Wednesday tested the ‘anti-smog’ gun, a machine that sprays water into the air to bring down pollution level in Delhi. Pollution levels entered the “very poor” zone on Wednesday morning after a gap of more than a week and in east Delhi’s the pollution level was in the severe zone in east India’s Anand Vihar. Lt Governor Anil Baijal on Monday had directed authorities during a meeting to ensure that municipal solid waste in the national capital is managed completely within 16 months.
_________________

Naxals launch attack on Bihar's Railway Station

A group of naxals attacked Bihar's Masudan Railway Station and abducted three officials, including an Assistant Station Master on Wednesday. The attackers in a group of 15, including women assailants also damaged the railways property, including setting ablaze the signaling panel and official documents. The incident took place after the Naxals had called for a ‘bandh’ against Maoists in Bihar and Jharkhand. Mukesh Kumar, the kidnapped Assistant Station Master, made a distress call to the Maldah Railway Manager (DRM) about ‘the naxals threatening to kill them if trains continue to travel along the Masudan station’. Post the attack, traffic on the Jamalpur-Kiul route was stopped.

___________________________

HDFC bank approves raising more than 24,000 crores

The board of directors of HDFC bank on Wednesday approved raising upto 24,000 crores through issue of shares, according to an exchange filling. Of the total, Rs 8,500 crore will be raised through a preferential issue of shares and the remaining Rs 15,500 crore could be raised through a qualified institutional placement of shares and through issues of American Depository Receipts (ADRs) or Global Depository Receipts (GDRs). If the entire amount is raised, it would tentatively boost the bank's capital adequacy ratio, which was 15.1 percent as on September 30, by another 2.5-3 percent, said a senior bank official.

_______________

Maruti crosses 3 trillion rupees in market capitalization

Maruti Suzuki’s shares hit the 10,000 rupees mark for the first time on Wednesday, becoming the country’s sixth country to cross rupees three trillion in market capitalization. The company’s shares have seen an increase of 84% so far this year. Earlier this month, the company said it will build electric cars, with the government pushing for environment-friendly alternatives to diesel and petrol vehicles. Earlier, five companies have crossed this landmark—Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS), HDFC Bank Ltd, ITC Ltd and Oil & Natural Gas Corp. Ltd.

______________

Mumbai Police extends support to Zaira Wasim through tweet

After a series of mixed reactions on Zaira Wasim’s molestation case, the Mumbai Police extended support to the actress and asked people to stop being judgemental. “It is the Constitutional Right of every victim to report sexual abuse and it is our duty to take cognizance, investigate & facilitate justice. Kindly refrain from being judgmental and #Respect the Right of a Victim of a Sexual Assault”, the tweet read. The ‘Dangal’ actress had put up a live video on social media about molestation at a flight. While many have accused Zaira of falsely accusing the man, no verdict has been announced in the case. The Mumbai Police mentioned that because the victim here is a minor, the case cannot be discussed openly.