Top Stories on 3rd January in a capsule

Four dead, seven injured in fire in Mumbai’s Marol 

Atleast four people were killed and seven injured after a fire broke out on Wednesday night in Mumbai. The incident occurred at the Maimoon building in Marol, media reports said. The injured were rush to hospital and the situation was brought under control. So far, at least 11 people were rescued by the firefighters, said a report. It took almost 30 minutes for firefighters to control the blaze, which started at 1:30 am in the night. The incident comes days after a major fire broke out in Kamala Mills compound in Lower Parel; 14 people were killed.

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Rajya Sabha elections: AAP nominates Sanjay Singh, N.D. Gupta, Sushil Gupta

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday nominated members for three Rajya Sabha seats, making them the first non-Bharatiya Janata Party, non-Congress members to be nominated to the upper house from the national capital. AAP has nominated senior leader Sanjay Singh, chartered accountant N.D. Gupta and businessman Sushil Gupta. The decision was taken by the party’s political affairs committee, its highest decision-making body. Following this, senior party member Kumar Vishwas said he is being punished for speaking the truth and added that it is difficult to survive in the party if one disagrees with Kejriwal.

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Emmanuel Macron: French president announces 'fake news' law

French President Emmanuel Macron has announced plans for a new law to combat fake news. He said that during elections social media would face tougher rules over the content that they put online. Deliberate attempts were being made to blur lines between truth and lies and undermine people's faith in liberal democracy, he added. Correspondents say there is no question that Mr Macron had Russia in mind when he made the announcement. He also said limits would be put on how much could be spent on sponsored news material. "We will develop our legal system to protect democracy from this fake news," he said,

Bandh by Dalit groups in Maharashtra called off

After a day of protests and massive shutdown across Maharashtra called by Dalit groups and parties, was called off. The shutdown generated tension in Mumbai and a number of towns and cities across Maharashtra, as the state marked its third day of seething tension between Dalits and upper castes, mainly Marathas. Dalit parties tried to block trains, metro and buses, and forced shops in some areas to shut down. Two major roads in Mumbai's Bandra were blocked. Coupled with route diversions by the police, it caused traffic jams in parts of the city. There have been protests in Delhi too.

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My nuclear button is bigger than yours: Trump to Kim Jong Un

US President Donald Trump warned Kim Jong-Un on Wednesday he has a "much bigger" nuclear button than the North Korean leader, as Washington dismissed the prospect of high-level talks between Pyongyang and Seoul. Trump launched the highly personal missive on Twitter hours after his ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley described a proposed dialogue between the two Koreas as a "band-aid" and said Washington would never accept a nuclear-armed Pyongyang.

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Triple Talaq decision pending in Rajya Sabha amid Dalit protests

The Triple talaq bill which was tabled in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday could not reach a decision amid the massive protests that took place in Maharashtra. Despite repeated appeals by deputy-chairman PJ Kurien, Opposition leaders continued their protest forcing the House to be adjourned until 11 am, Thursday. Ravi Shankar Prasad accused the Congress-led Opposition of trying to block the bill in Rajya Sabha by raising the issue of Maharashtra violence. “This issue is being raised deliberately so that Triple Talaq Bill can be stalled,” he said. The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, which makes instant triple talaq illegal with up to three years in jail for the husband, was passed by the Lok Sabha last week.

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MiG-29 aircraft crashes in Goa’s Dabolim airport

A Mig-29 aircraft crashed in Goa’s Dabolim airport on Wednesday after veering off the runway. Though the pilot ejected to safety and there was no casualty, reported media. The airport’s runway was shut down for a short while as the firefighting was in process. The aircraft will be deployed off the INS Vikrant, the first indigenous aircraft carrier being built for the navy, said media reports.

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Andhra man claims ‘Aishwarya Rai is my mother!’

Sangeeth Kumar, a 29-year-old man from Andhra Pradesh says he was born to Aishwarya Rai, 6 years before she bagged the Miss World crown in 1994. Kumar said "I was born to her by IVF in London in 1988. I was brought up in Chodavaram from age three to 27.” According to him, he was with his Grandmother Brinda Krishnaraj Rai's family at the age of one and two in Mumbai. “My grandfather Krishnaraj Rai died in April 2017, and my uncle's name in Aditya Rai.”