LIVE News Updates: Delhi shivers at 5.4 degree Celsius

Delhi faced bone chilling cold on Wednesday with minimum temperature recorded at 5.4 degrees Celsius at Palam today, the India Meteorological Department said.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will visit Lucknow on December 28 in connection with an event of the party

Commenting on the police action against the protesters in different parts of the country, he said, "Even in colonial period we had not witnessed such suppression of dissent."

In an interview to PTI, he said people are getting increasingly concerned over such attempts to crush dissent because the right to protest is the essence of a democratic society.

Habib stressed that "all over the country a large number of Hindus and other communities are participating in this protest".

Writer and activist Arundhati Roy on Wednesday claimed that the National Population Register (NPR) will serve as a database for NRC and asked people to oppose it.

Addressing a protest gathering at Delhi University, she also claimed that the National Register of Citizens (NRC) was targeted against the Muslims of the country. She hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing him of "lying" on the NRC issue during a rally at Ramlila ground on Sunday.

Mumbai Police commissioner Sanjay Barve on Wednesday said that he held talks with representatives of Muslim community over Citizenship Amendment Act as confidence building measure.

"There are misconceptions about among both Hindu and Muslim communities. We tried to bring clarity on the matter," he said.

National Human Rights Commission issues a notice to the DGP, Uttar Pradesh seeking report over incidents of human rights violations by state authorities in UP within four weeks, after a complainant requested intervention of the Commission in the matter

Two leading academicians of West Bengal on Wednesday expressed their anguish with the volatile happenings in Jadavpur University related to Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, however, they differed in their assessment of a student tearing up a copy of the new Citizenship (Amendment) Act at the convocation podium while receiving her degree.

A student Debosmita Choudhury, who cleared her MA examination in International Relations bagging the gold medal, asked for a moment after greeting the pro-Vice Chancellor as she went up to the podium for to receive her degree and medal. She took out a copy of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and tore it into pieces, and shouted "Hum kagaz nahi dikhayenge (We will not show IDs). Inquilab Zindabad," and then picked up her degree and climbed off the stage.

Jharkhand Chief Minister-designate Hemant Soren will meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi here on Wednesday evening to invite her to his swearing-in ceremony scheduled on December 29.

Sources close to him said Soren has already spoken to Gandhi and wanted to invite her to the ceremony personally.

Soren also wanted to thank the Congress party and its leadership for their support in helping form a coalition government in the state, they said.

Five activists belonging to the ruling CPI(M) and Opposition Congress' youth wings, have been arrested in connection with the incidents relating to waving of black flags and attempting to block Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa's car at nearby Pazhayangadi.

While three belong to the CPI(M)'s Students Federation of India (SFI), two are from the Youth Congress, police said on Wednesday.

The five have been arrested and remanded to 14 days judicial custody, they said.

Cases under various IPC sections, including 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharging of his duty and unlawful assembly, have been charged against the five.

Amid nation-wide protests over the controversial citizenship law, the first detention centre in Karnataka, reportedly meant to lodge illegal immigrants and migrants overstaying in the country, has been opened in Sondekoppa village near Bengaluru.

The facility with several rooms, a kitchen and toilets has been kept ready on the directions of the government, a social welfare department official said.

However, Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai objected to the term 'Detention Centre'.

BSP supremo Mayawati on Wednesday asked the Uttar Pradesh government to conduct a thorough probe into the deaths during anti-citizenship law protests and help the innocent victims.

"The maximum number of deaths during CAA/NRC protests were in UP. The state government should conduct a probe into these deaths accurately and come forward to help the (families of) innocent ones," Mayawati said in a tweet in Hindi.

Mayawati had on Tuesday said the Centre should allay concerns of Muslims over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the proposed countrywide National Register of Citizens (NRC).

"...it will be better if the Centre allays all apprehensions of Muslims on CAA/NRC to their satisfaction," she had said.

Seventeen people are reported to have died in Uttar Pradesh during the protests against the new citizenship law.

Fire breaks out at Srichakra Oil Mill at Peeraramachandrapuram village in East Godavari district. Fire tenders present at the spot. Fire-fighting operation underway. No casualty or injury reported.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath will lead a protest march against the Citizenship Amendment Act in state capital Bhopal on Wednesday, Congress leaders said.

Called 'Samvidhan Bachao Nyaya Shanti Yatra', it will start at noon from Rangmahal Talkies and culminate at the statue of Mahatma Gandhi at Minto Hall (old Vidhan Sabha), MP Congress vice president and organisation in charge Chandra Prabhash Shekhar said.

He said Congress leaders and workers, representatives from other parties, NGOs, ex-Army men, advocates and students are expected to take part.

The Communist Party of India's Shailendra Shaili, Bahujan Samaj Party's Rajkumar Gautam, Trinamool Congress leader Satish Chouhan, Nationalist Congress Party Brijmohan Shrivastava, Loktantrik Samajwadi Partys Raghu Thakur will attend the march, Shekhar said.

Batting legend Sachin Tendulkar's security cover has been downgraded, while that of Shiv Sena MLA Aaditya Thackeray upgraded to 'Z' category, an official said on Wednesday.

The changes in security cover were made after a review was undertaken by a Maharashtra government committee on threat perception to them, he said.

Besides Tendulkar and Aaditya Thackeray, security cover of more than 90 prominent citizens were reviewed by the committee at a recent meeting, the official said.

At least 16 people, 15 of them students, were injured on Wednesday when a state transport (ST) bus returning from a school picnic rammed into a tractor in Pune district of Maharashtra, police said.

The bus driver also suffered serious injuries in the accident which took place in the early hours near a petrol pump in Talegaon Dabhade on the outskirts of Pune city, around 160km from here, an official said.

The ST bus packed with the students of B J Khatal School at Sangamner in Ahmednagar district of western Maharashtra collided with the tractor, leaving 15 of them injured, he said.

The students were returning from a school picnic in Alibaug, a coastal town in adjoining Raigad district, the official said.

The injured students and driver were rushed to a nearby state-run hospital, where they are undergoing treatment, he added.

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader Hemant Soren to meet Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi today to invite her for the swearing-in ceremony

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi sent out greetings to all the office bearers and MPs of the party on the eve of Christmas and ahead of new year.

The greeting card has the photo of a dreamcatcher stuck on a stump by the seaside and is personally signed by him.

The cards gave a personal touch to his communication ahead of the party Foundation Day on December 28.

A leader who received the card told IANS on condition of anonymity that this is a "very good gesture from the former president and it is personal".

Rahul Gandhi has launched a multi-pronged attack on the Narendra Modi government over the CAA-NRC.

Several parties in National Democratic Alliance led by Bharatiya Janata Party are not happy with the way they are being treated, said Naresh Gujral, leader of Shiromani Akali Dal leader Naresh Gujral in an interview to NDTV.

In an interview, Gujral has also warned the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, the Akali Dal was against the NRC and wants Muslims to be included in the list of refugees seeking citizenship under the citizenship law.

"It is unfortunate that in the NDA discussions (referring to key legislations like the Citizenship Act) do not take place. It is also unfortunate consultations do not happen. This is why bulk of NDA allies are unhappy," he said.

Police files chargesheet against 13 accused, of the 13, Ashraf and Moinuddin have been charged with murder in Kamlesh Tiwari case

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday greeted people on the occasion of Christmas, saying the teachings of Jesus Christ inspire millions across the world.

"We remember, with immense joy, the noble thoughts of Jesus Christ. He epitomised spirit of service and compassion, devoting his life towards alleviating human suffering," the prime minister wrote on Twitter.

He said the teachings of Christ inspire millions across the world.

A militant attack in northern Burkina Faso on Tuesday killed 35 civilians, almost all of them women, the president said, one of the deadliest assaults in nearly five years of jihadist violence in the West African country.

Seven soldiers and 80 jihadists were also killed in the double attack on a military base and Arbinda town in Soum province, the army said.

Burkina Faso, bordering Mali and Niger, has seen regular jihadist attacks which have left hundreds dead since the start of 2015 when militant violence began to spread across the Sahel region.

"A large group of terrorists simultaneously attacked the military base and the civilian population in Arbinda," the army chief of staff said in a statement.

"This barbaric attack resulted in the deaths of 35 civilian victims, most of them women," President Roch Marc Christian Kabore added on Twitter, praising the "bravery and commitment" of the defence and security forces.

Communications minister and government spokesman Remis Dandjinou later said 31 of the civilian victims were women, adding around twenty soldiers were injured.

The president has declared 48-hours of national mourning.

The morning raid was carried out dozens of jihadists on motorbikes and lasted several hours before armed forces backed by the air force drove the militants back, the army said.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but jihadist violence in Burkina Faso has been blamed on militants linked to both Al Qaeda and Islamic State groups.

Leaders of the G5 Sahel nations held summit talks in Niger earlier this month, calling for closer cooperation and international support in the battle against the Islamist threat.

Militant violence has spread across the vast Sahel region, especially in Burkina Faso and Niger, having started when armed Islamists revolted in northern Mali in 2012.

The Sahel region of Africa lies to the south of the Sahara Desert and stretches across the breadth of the African continent.

The G5 group is made up of Chad, Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania and Niger, whose impoverished armies have the support of French forces as well as the UN in Mali.

In Burkina Faso, more than 700 people have been killed and around 560,000 internally displaced, according to the United Nations.

Attacks have targeted mostly the north and east of the country, though the capital Ouagadougou has been hit three times.

Prior to Tuesday's attack, Burkina security forces said they had killed around a hundred jihadists in several operations since November.

An ambush on a convoy transporting employees of a Canadian mining company in November killed 37 people.

Attacks have intensified this year as the under-equipped, poorly trained Burkina Faso army struggles to contain the Islamist militancy.