Jan 22 news LIVE | Bangladesh says it won't travel to India for T20 World Cup

War has to end: Trump's message after meeting Zelenskyy

US President Donald Trump on Thursday said he had a good meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and his message to Russian President Vladimir Putin is that "war has to end".

Replying to media queries before leaving Davos, Trump said a US delegation will be meeting Putin today or tomorrow. "I met President Zelenskyy here; the meeting was good. We (US delegation) are meeting President Putin today or tomorrow," he said.

Asked what would be his message to Putin, Trump said, "The war has to end. A lot of people have been killed". "Last month, around 30,000 people were killed, mostly soldiers. It’s really a war that has to end," he said."We have got to get it done. If we don't get it done, it will be a disgrace," Trump said on the need to end the war.

His special envoy Steve Witkoff was expected to travel to Moscow later today to meet Putin and discuss plans to end the war.

Indian-American filmmaker Geeta Gandbhir bags two Oscar nominations

Indian-American filmmaker Geeta Gandbhir on Thursday earned two Oscar nominations -- for her short "The Devil Is Busy" in the best documentary short category and "The Perfect Neighbor" in the best documentary feature segment.

The nominations for the 98th Academy Awards were announced by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Los Angeles.

Gandbhir and Christalyn Hampton have co-directed "The Devil Is Busy", which will compete against "All the Empty Rooms", "Armed Only with a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud", "Children No More: Were and Are Gone" and "Perfectly a Strangeness" in the best documentary short segment.

The 31-minute film follows Tracii, the head of security at a women’s healthcare clinic in Atlanta, Georgia, over the course of a day as she works to ensure the safety of patients and staff amid tighter abortion restrictions and persistent protests.

In the documentary feature film category, Gandbhir’s "The Perfect Neighbor" is among the nominees, alongside "The Alabama Solution", "Come See Me in the Good Light", "Cutting through Rocks" and "Mr. Nobody against Putin".

11-year-old girl kidnapped, raped in central Delhi; e-rickshaw driver held

An 11-year-old girl, selling roses at traffic signals in central Delhi, was kidnapped, raped and left unconscious in a forest area by an e-rickshaw driver, police said on Thursday.

After having analysed footage from nearly 300 CCTVs installed across multiple routes, police arrested the accused, Durgesh, aged around 40 years. The incident occurred on January 11 in the Prasad Nagar area, where the girl was standing at a red light selling roses. The accused stopped his e-rickshaw after dropping off passengers.

"When the child approached him to sell flowers, he lured her with the promise of helping her sell all the roses and made her sit inside the vehicle," a senior police officer said.

The accused took the girl to a forest area near Professor Ram Nath Vij Marg and raped her. Believing her to be dead, Durgesh fled and left the girl unconscious and bleeding, police said. After regaining consciousness, the girl managed to reach her family. Alarmed by her blood-soaked condition, they immediately took her to a hospital and informed the police.

Two accused in Zubeen Garg death case withdraw bail petitions

Two accused in the Zubeen Garg death case, North East India Festival director Shyamkanu Mahanta and the singer’s cousin Sandipan Garg, on Thursday withdrew their bail petitions during a hearing at a court in Guwahati.

The Kamrup Metropolitan District and Sessions Court was hearing the bail pleas of five of the seven accused when Mahanta and Sandipan Garg's lawyers withdrew their petitions.

Mahanta is accused of murder, while the singer's cousin, a suspended Assam Police officer, has been charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

The court heard the bail petitions of singer Amritprava Mahanta and Garg's personal security officers Paresh Baishya and Nandeswar Bora.

The court is scheduled to hear the matter again on January 30, when it is likely to pass an order on the bail petition.

Two other accused, singer's secretary Siddhartha Sharma and Garg's band member Shekhar Jyoti Goswami, have not applied for bail yet.

CPI(M) leader joins IUML, claims Left party not secular anymore

A long-term CPI(M) Kollam District Committee member on Thursday (January 22) joined the IUML, a key constituent of the Congress-led UDF Opposition in the state.

India Instagram stars today are 70-year-old villagers, rural housewives, truck drivers

Life doesn’t have to stop at 70. No longer do senior citizens in India curl up in a corner, mulling over their regrets and joys, and wait for death, especially, in a digital, interconnected world that buzzes with life.

Vinod Kumar Sharma, a 70-year-old from Uttar Pradesh, proved that age can just be a number. Clueless about content creation, Sharma uploaded his first video on Instagram, reaching out to the world in his first vlog, sharing that he’s entering this space since he wanted to spend his time after retirement more meaningfully. Within hours, the video clip shorn of any glitz or glamour racked up over 22 million views, a figure that soared to nearly 30 million in just three days. Know more about India Instagram stars of today.

Here's a link to the story: India Instagram stars today are 70-year-old villagers, rural housewives, truck drivers

Bangladesh opts out of T20 World Cup matches in India

Bangladesh has announced that it will not travel to India for the T20 World Cup beginning February 7, following ICC's rejection of its request to relocate its matches amid ongoing political tensions between the two countries.

Trump announces Board of Peace

US President Donald Trump has formally announced the first charter of his proposed ‘Board of Peace’, a body aimed at resolving international conflicts, with permanent membership priced at $1 billion.

Details awaited.

IIM Bangalore to host book launch on India’s digital payments with Narayan Murthy

The Centre for Digital Public Goods (CDPG) at IIM Bangalore will host the launch of Designing Change: My Journey Through Digital Payments Transformation, authored by Dr Balakrishnan Mahadevan, Post-Doctoral Fellow at IIMB. The launch will take place on Friday, January 23, at the Institute auditorium, from 3.45 pm to 7.00 pm. The event will bring together leaders from policy, industry, and academia to reflect on India’s remarkable journey in building one of the world’s most advanced digital payments ecosystems.A key highlight of the event will be a fireside chat between NR Narayana Murthy, founder of Infosys, and Dr Balakrishnan.

TVK gets 'whistle' symbol ahead of polls

The Election Commission has allotted the 'whistle' as the official election symbol of Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), the political party founded by actor Vijay. The allotment comes ahead of the party’s formal electoral debut.