A look at the headlines right now.

  1. Verdict in Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case likely to be delivered today: The CBI had told the court that hostile witnesses had obstructed the inquiry. Of the 210 witnesses examined, 92 were declared hostile.
  2. US Defence secretary James Mattis resigns day after Trump announces withdrawal of troops from Syria: President Donald Trump said Mattis will retire in February and a new secretary of defence would be announced shortly.
  3. ‘You see deaths of two people, not 21 cows’, says BJP MLA responding to open letter on Bulandshahr violence: Sanjay Sharma claimed the open letter signed by former bureaucrats was ‘politically motivated’.
  4. Pakistan should ‘mind its own business’, India tells PM Imran Khan: Khan had condemned the killing of seven civilians and said only dialogue can resolve the conflict.
  5. Editor of Bengali daily arrested in chit fund scam: Suman Chattopadhyay had allegedly received money illegally collected by the I-Core Group in his company and personal accounts.
  6. Tamil Nadu village passes resolution to disown anti-caste campaigner Gowsalya for ‘activism’: The resolution was passed by the villagers of Kumaralingam, from where her former husband hailed. Shankar was murdered in 2016 by Gowsalya’s family.
  7. Former BJP ally Upendra Kushwaha joins Congress-led ‘grand alliance’: Kushwaha had resigned from the Union Cabinet on December 10 and pulled out his party from the National Democratic Alliance.
  8. Delhi’s air quality remains ‘very poor’, likely to deteriorate in some regions on Friday: The air quality in south-east and north-west parts of the national capital is likely to turn ‘severe’ on Friday.
  9. Bombay High Court dismisses petition seeking Manohar Parrikar’s medical examination: Quashing the plea as a ‘half-hearted attempt’ to breach his privacy, the court said ill health does not make one incapable of occupying a constitutional post.
  10. Sudha Murthy, Ruskin Bond, Snigdha Poonam among winners of this year’s Crossword Book Awards: Durjoy Dutta won the popular choice in the fiction category for his book The Boy Who Loved.