Jan 11 News Live: Iranian president vows to listen to protesters but warns against rioters

Kashmir in grip of cold wave, Shopian coldest place at minus 8.6 degrees Celsius

Cold wave conditions in Kashmir intensified as minimum temperature settled several degrees below freezing point, officials said on Sunday.

The sub-zero temperature and clear skies resulted in the freezing of parts of the Dal Lake and other water bodies.

Srinagar recorded a minimum temperature of minus 5.2 degrees Celsius on Saturday night, slight up from the previous night's minus 5.7 degrees Celsius.

The summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir had recorded its coldest night this season on Thursday when the minimum temperature dipped to minus 6 degrees Celsius.

South Kashmir Shopian town was the coldest place across the valley, as the minimum settled at minus 8.6 degrees Celsius. Pahalgam tourist resort, which also serves as one of the base camps for the annual Amarnath yatra, registered a low of minus 7.6 degrees Celsius.

The night temperature in the popular ski resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir's Baramulla district settled at a low of minus 6.2 degrees Celsius, up from the previous night's minus 6.8 degrees Celsius, they said.

The tourist resort of Sonamarg in central Kashmir's Ganderbal district recorded a minimum temperature of 4.3 degrees Celsius.

Biting cold grips Delhi as minimum temperatures dip below 4.1 deg C

Cold wave conditions prevailed at isolated places in the national capital on Sunday, with minimum temperatures falling below 4.1 degrees Celsius in some areas, and the weather office issued a ‘yellow’ alert for cold wave.

Delhi on Sunday recorded a minimum temperature of 4.8 degrees Celsius, 2.6 degrees above the seasonal average, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

According to the IMD, the cold wave is expected to continue on Monday. A cold wave is declared when the minimum temperature drops by 4.5 to 6.5 degrees Celsius below the average temperature.

On Sunday, Safdarjung registered a low of 4.8 degrees Celsius, Palam 3 degrees Celsius (4.3 notches below the seasonal average), Lodhi Road 4.6 degrees Celsius (1.4 notches above normal), the Ridge 3.7 degrees Celsius (4.4 notches above normal), and Ayanagar 2.9 degrees Celsius (4.2 notches below normal), the IMD data showed. 

Delhi's Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 295, in the "poor" category, at 9 am, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data showed.

An AQI between zero and 50 is considered 'good', 51 to 100 'satisfactory', 101 to 200 'moderate', 201 to 300 'poor', 301 to 400 'very poor', and 401 to 500 'severe'.

Goa records highest tourist footfall at 1.08 crore in 2025; foreign visitors top 5 lakh

Nearly 1.08 crore tourists, including five lakh foreigners, arrived in Goa in 2025, surpassing the numbers of previous years, as per official data.

The Goa government's focus remains on promoting quality tourism, diversifying markets, and advancing the coastal state's vision of Regenerative Tourism, ensuring that its growth translates into long-term benefits for local communities, the environment, and the economy, Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte said on Sunday.

In 2025, Goa recorded 1,02,84,608 domestic tourists and 5,17,802 foreign tourists, aggregating to 1,08,02,410 total arrivals, the state Tourism Department said in its data released on Sunday.

Foreign tourist arrivals through charter flights have played an important role in Goa's inbound tourism, particularly from traditional source markets, it said.

The data indicated that tourist arrivals in Goa, known for its picturesque beaches, have shown distinct phases of growth, disruption, and recovery over the years.

In 2017, the state received 68,95,234 domestic tourists and 8,90,459 foreign tourists, taking the total to 77,85,693.

X blocks 3,500 posts, deletes 600 accounts after Centre flags obscene content

Social media platform X has blocked 3,500 posts and deleted 600 accounts after the Centre flagged obscene content on the website, according to government sources. The sources said that X has assured the government that it won't allow obscene content on its platform and will follow government regulations.

This comes a week after the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology flagged obscene content on X, formerly Twitter. The ministry had asked X Corp, helmed by billionaire Elon Musk, for an action taken report “towards immediate compliance for prevention of hosting, generation, publication or transmission, sharing or uploading of obscene, nude, indecent and explicit content through the misuse of AI-based services like 'Grok' and xAl's other services” within 72 hours.

The Centre's directive warned that non-compliance shall be "viewed seriously and may result in strict legal consequences" against the platform and officers concerned under Indian laws. The ministry asked X to conduct a comprehensive review of Grok's technical and governance frameworks to prevent the generation of such content.

Nicaragua says it's freeing detainees after pressure from US

Nicaragua's Interior Ministry has said the country would release dozens of prisoners, as the US ramped up pressure on leftist President Daniel Ortegaa week after it ousted former Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.

On Friday, the US Embassy in Nicaragua said Venezuela had taken an important step toward peace by releasing what it described as “political prisoners.” But it lamented that in Nicaragua, “more than 60 people remain unjustly detained or disappeared, including pastors, religious workers, the sick, and the elderly.” On Saturday, the Interior Ministry said in a statement that “dozens of people who were in the National Penitentiary System are returning to their homes and families.” It wasn't immediately clear who was freed and under what conditions. Nicaragua's government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The government has been carrying out an ongoing crackdown since mass social protests in 2018, that were violently repressed.

Nicaragua's government has imprisoned adversaries, religious leaders, journalists and more, then exiled them, stripping hundreds of their Nicaraguan citizenship and possessions.

Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Daniel Walker Howe dead at 88

Daniel Walker Howe, a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian whose “What Hath God Wrought” became a widely acclaimed chronicle of the vast technological and social changes in the US in the first half of the 19th century, has died at age 88.

Walker died on Dec 25, according to a spokesman for the University of California, Los Angeles, where he was a professor emeritus. Additional details were not immediately available.

Awarded the Pulitzer in 2008, “What Hath God Wrought” was part of the Oxford University Press' ambitious and decades-long series on American history, with other works including such Pulitzer winners as David M Kennedy's book on the Great Depression and World War II, “Freedom from Fear,” and James M McPherson's Civil War epic “The Battle Cry of Freedom”.

Howe's 900-page book covered 1815-1848, from the end of the War of 1812 to the dawn of organised feminism in the US — the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848.

Howe traced the steady expansion west of a young country abiding by the doctrine of “Manifest Destiny”. He documented the rise of Andrew Jackson and modern political parties, the overturning of the elite order that had controlled the presidency since George Washington, and the ongoing debate over slavery that would lead to armed conflict.

Fadnavis to request PM Modi to launch Dharavi Revelopment Project

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said the state government will request Prime Minister Narendra Modi to lay the foundation stone of the Dharavi slum redevelopment project in Mumbai.

Talking to reporters in Mumbai on Saturday evening, Fadnavis said his government was committed to the Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP) and all eligible persons will get homes of 350 sq ft. "We will request PM Modi to lay the foundation stone of the Dharavi Redevelopment Project," he said.

The project last year released its first eligibility list, with over 75 per cent of tenement holders qualifying for new homes under the ambitious slum redevelopment scheme.

All bona fide residents who settled in Dharavi before January 1, 2000, are eligible for a 350 sq ft flat within Dharavi. All such residents will qualify for the resettlement unless they do not provide documents, according to data released by the DRP.

EC appoints 4 more SROs for SIR in West Bengal

The Election Commission appointed four more special roll observers (SROs) for West Bengal to strengthen supervision of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state.

Those named as SROs were Ratan Biswas, Vikas Singh, Sandeep Rewaji Rathod and Dr Shailesh, according to a notification.

"The SROs will closely monitor the revision and verification exercises and ensure strict adherence to statutory instructions," an official said on Saturday.

"The SROs were appointed to ensure transparency, accuracy and uniform implementation of instructions related to electoral rolls. They will independently review the process on the ground and flag any deviations for immediate corrective action," he added.

Besides SROs, the EC has appointed observers at multiple levels to oversee the SIR exercise.

"The focus is on strengthening public confidence in the integrity of the electoral rolls," the official said.

The appointments will take effect immediately and remain in force until further directions, the notification said. 

10 booked for 'scam' at Barabanki college after court order

A case has been registered against 10 men in connection with an alleged financial scam at the Munshi Raghunandan Prasad Sardar Patel Girls Degree College in Barabanki, officials said.

On the orders of cour, the case was registered against against Umashankar Verma, Dhirendra Kumar, Manav Patel, Man Singh, Rajesh Kumar, Rajiv, Ashok, Sunil, Ajay and Bhagwat, City Kotwali SHO Sudhir Kumar Singh said on Saturday.

The action follows a petition filed by Krishna Chaudhary, a founding trustee of the college, alleging that some members of the management committee prepared fake and fabricated documents to embezzle around Rs 2.7 crore from the institution.

According to the petition submitted before the chief judicial magistrate, Umashankar Verma and former cooperative bank chairman Dhirendra Kumar Verma allegedly declared themselves office-bearers of the college without conducting proper elections or obtaining permission from the registrar of firms, societies and chits, Ayodhya.

The complainant claimed that during the nationwide COVID lockdown on April 5, 2020, a fake management committee meeting was conducted, and the signatures of 17 members were forged.

Using these, about Rs 50 lakh from the college's accounts in a nationalised bank and the district cooperative bank were allegedly transferred via RTGS to the Deyaram and Sons Trading Firm without bills, according to the complaint.

Junior hockey coach arrested for raping girl in Haryana's Rewari

A junior hockey coach has been arrested here for allegedly raping and impregnating a minor girl, police said.

The class 12 student from a village in Rewari district filed a complaint of rape at Khol police station on Friday.

The girl said she played hockey and alleged that about four months ago, a junior coach whom she had known for three years raped her in a bathroom of the stadium where she trained.

The survivor said she became pregnant and on January 5, suffered a miscarriage and was admitted to a hospital by her family after her health deteriorated.

Police in Rewari said an FIR was registered under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and other relevant provisions of law on Friday.

"We have arrested the accused junior coach. After producing him in a city court we have taken him on two days of police remand and are questioning him," Rewari police spokesperson said on Saturday.