Morning Digest | Cyclone Mandous makes landfall off Mamallapuram; Congress struggles to reach consensus on Himachal Pradesh CM, and more

Tamil Nadu state is bracing for heavy rain as cyclone Mandous is set to cross near the Chennai coast overnight on Friday.
| Photo Credit: AP

Cyclone Mandous live updates | Rain lashes Tamil Nadu as cyclone makes landfall

Cyclonic storm Mandous made landfall off Mamallapuram near Chennai late on Friday influencing moderate to heavy rainfall in coastal Tamil Nadu.

Bhupendra Patel resigns; likely to come back as Gujarat CM

A BJP legislature party meeting of the newly-elected Gujarat MLAs will be held on Saturday in Gandhinagar to pick a new leader, who will take over as the next Chief Minister. Outgoing CM Bhupendra Patel is set for a second term, according to party insiders. 

On Friday, accompanied by the BJP’s State chief C.R. Paatil and others, the CM called on Governor Acharya Devrat and tendered his resignation along with his entire Cabinet, to pave the way for the formation of a new government in the State after winning a landslide victory in the Assembly polls. 

Congress struggles to reach consensus on Himachal Pradesh CM

Suspense continued on Friday over who will become the next Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, as the Congress party struggled to zero in on a consensus candidate for the top post, a day after the party won 40 seats in the State’s 68-member Legislative Assembly.

How AAP helped BJP get its biggest landslide in Gujarat

In the rise of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Gujarat lies the story of the Congress decimation in a State where, for the last two decades, it has held at least 50 Assembly seats and a decent vote share above 35%.

This time, the AAP’s entry has completely changed the political configurations and calculations in about 50 seats, badly affecting the main opposition party’s prospects in those seats. 

U.S. House passes defence bill with billions in Taiwan aid

The U.S. House of Representatives on December 9 passed a defence spending bill that includes up to $10 billion in military grant assistance for Taiwan and seeks to expedite arms sales to the island, drawing a rebuke from Beijing.

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2023—which still requires Senate passage and the signature of President Joe Biden to become law—would authorize grant assistance for Taiwan of up to $2 billion per year from 2023 through 2027.

SC asks govt to consider amending law denying tribal women equal rights to family property

In a judgment on December 9, 2022, the Supreme Court asked the government to re-examine provisions in the Hindu Succession Act which deny a tribal woman the right of succession to her father’s property.

A Bench led by Justice M.R. Shah said that there was no justification to deny a woman belonging to a Scheduled Tribe community the “right of survivorship” under the Hindu Succession Act.

Congress, BJP clash over demonetisation legacy in Lok Sabha

The Congress party’s leader in the Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, faced off with angry treasury benches on Friday as he strongly criticised the NDA government’s November 2016 decision to demonetise high-value currency notes, claiming that the move did not meet the desired goals, as cash in circulation and fake currency have gone up.

China prepares for huge COVID-19 surge amid opening

China is already bracing itself for a huge surge of COVID-19 cases, two days after announcing a major easing of restrictions and a shift away from the zero-COVID policy.

Bill to set up commission to regulate medical costs introduced by Rajya Sabha MP

As India witnesses a rapid increase in cost of medical treatment, a Bill to provide for the establishment of a National Commission for Controlling Medical Inflation, which will regulate and standardise the rising costs of medicines, medical diagnostic tests and pathological examinations, was introduced in the Rajya Sabha.

In 2022, at least 67 journalists, media workers killed on the job

Russia’s war in Ukraine, chaos in Haiti and rising violence by criminal groups in Mexico contributed to a 30% spike in the number of journalists killed doing their work in 2022 over the previous year, according to a new report released Friday.

The International Federation of Journalists says that 67 journalists and media staff have been killed around the world so far this year, up from 47 last year.

Mooney powers Australia women to nine-wicket win over India women in first T20I

Opener Beth Mooney made short work of India’s 173-run target with a belligerent 57-ball 89 to power the Australian women’s team to a convincing nine-wicket victory in the first T20 International here on Friday.

FIFA World Cup 2022 | Croatia beats Brazil 4-2 on penalties, moves to semi-finals

Croatia battled past tournament favourites Brazil 4-2 on penalties on Friday to reach the World Cup semi-finals following a 1-1 draw over 120 minutes.

FIFA World Cup 2022 | Messi’s Argentina beats Netherlands on penalties, enters World Cup semi-finals

Argentina goalkeeper Emi Martinez saved penalties from Virgil van Dijk and Steven Berghuis before Lautaro Martinez scored the winning spot kick to secure them a 4-3 shootout win over the Netherlands on Friday after their World Cup quarter-final finished 2-2 after 120 minutes.