PM Narendra Modi attends Christmas morning service at the Cathedral Church of the Redemption in Delhi. In a special prayer for the PM, Rt Rev Dr Paul Swarup, bishop of Delhi, sought a ‘double portion’ of the lord’s ‘wisdom, understanding, discernment that he would lead this nation in the paths of truth, justice, and righteousness’.

NEW DELHI: PM Narendra Modi on Thursday joined a large congregation of Christians at a Christmas service at the Cathedral Church of the Redemption here, as he continued with his outreach to the minority community. “The service reflected the timeless message of love, peace and compassion. May the spirit of Christmas inspire harmony and goodwill in our society,” he said.As part of the governing BJP’s concerted efforts to strengthen its connect with Christians, party president JP Nadda participated in celebrations at the Christian Higher Secondary School, organised by the Mao Naga Christian Fellowship Delhi (MNCFD), and dwelt at the govt’s focus on development in the northeast, a region with significant population of the community.PM’s outreach part of continuous efforts to engage with minoritiesAs part of his engagement with Christians, Modi had addressed a Christmas celebration organised by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India in 2024, attended an Easter event at the Sacred Heart Cathedral in 2023, and hosted a programme at his residence to mark Christmas the same year.Opposition was, however, quick to target him for incidents of vandalism and harassment aimed at Christians in some parts of the country. Congress posted on X a video purportedly showing members of right-wing outfits vandalising Christmas decorations in Raipur in BJP-governed Chhattisgarh, alleging it exposed the true face of BJP.BJP’s efforts to reach out to Christians over the last few years have met with limited success as a section of the community continues to harbour distrust due to the Sangh Parivar’s antipathy to conversion, which has led to the enactment of stringent laws in several states as the party’s influence surged since 2014.In terms of absolute numbers, Kerala has the highest Christian population in the country, and the state will be heading to assembly polls in a few months along with Tamil Nadu, which has the second highest population of the community.​​Their numbers in Kerala and Tamil Nadu are over 18% and 6% respectively, according to the 2011 census.​​With over 25%, Christians are a significant presence in Goa, but they wield maximum political influence in the northeast due to their dominant majority status in Nagaland, Mizoram and Meghalaya.

Mumbai: The long-awaited widening of Mumbai-Goa national highway, crucial for easing traffic between the state capital and Konkan, continues to face delays due to ongoing works at four flyovers and two bypass roads.Work on widening the two-lane national highway to four lanes began in 2013. The Panvel-Kasu-Indapur 84km stretch, being executed by the National Highways Authority of India, is almost complete and offers relatively smooth driving. But the real trouble for Mumbai-Goa traffic begins beyond Indapur, said officials.

The Indapur-Zarap stretch, covering nearly 470km, is being directly handled by the Union ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH). The biggest obstacles here are the 3km Indapur bypass and the 7km Mangaon bypass. Though both were part of the original contract, they were not executed on time, forcing MoRTH to issue fresh tenders six months ago. Work has now begun, but completion is unlikely before March 2027, thus restricting the current travel time between Mumbai and Goa to eight to nine hours instead of the promised six hours.As a result, motorists passing through Indapur and Mangaon face severe traffic snarls, particularly during peak hours, with damaged road surfaces compounding the problem. Officials said the present roads passing through Indapur and Mangaon have been widened for the traffic to give a temporary relief to motorists. However, motorists said in the towns, internal and outside traffic clash to create jams during peak hours.Beyond Mangaon, conditions improve considerably. The road widening is progressing well, and the stretch from Parshuram Ghat to Zarap is almost ready. However, the slow pace of flyover construction at four locations — at Lanja, Nivali, Pali, and Sangameshwar, each around 800m in length, near Ratnagiri — has been affecting Mumbai-Goa traffic for nearly two years. MoRTH officials said these flyovers are targeted for completion by March 2026, after which vehicles will be allowed to use them. Officials, however, stressed that the highway is not uniformly in poor condition. Congestion is largely limited to active construction zones. Service roads have been provided near flyover sites to keep traffic moving.“Excluding these four flyovers and two bypasses, it is already possible to drive from Panvel to Goa in eight to nine hours,” said Prashant Fegde, MoRTH’s Mumbai regional officer and project head.The issue drew wider attention after Chaitanya Patil, an engineer, undertook a 29-day, 470km march along the Mumbai-Goa highway to document gaps, hazards and possible solutions. He submitted a detailed report to Union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari.

NEW DELHI: In a crackdown on the functioning of a dummy school that enrolled hundreds of students in higher secondary classes, the Delhi high court on Wednesday barred it from running classes XI and XII or admitting new students. High court also initiated contempt of court proceedings against the owner and management of Richmondd Global School for flouting its earlier undertaking given to the court in this regard.Justice Jyoti Singh ordered the management to deposit Rs 75 lakh with the court registry as the money was charged from hundreds of students in these classes who, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) found, never turned up to attend classes but were enrolled only on paper. CBSE had carried out a surprise inspection, suspecting the students were taking coaching classes but paid the school to remain eligible to sit for the class XII examination and become eligible for quotas in Delhi’s engineering and medical colleges.Justice Singh, while penalising the school, allowed 128 students out of 1,300 enrolled in classes XI and XII to be transferred to a nearby CBSE-affiliated school, and asked the board to open its online portal so they could apply for examination registration.“A team of CBSE officials shall visit the school on December 26 at 2.30 pm, inspect the records and verify the admissions as also the attendance of 128 students studying in class XII. The school shall issue transfer certificates to the students within a week’s time. On receipt of the certificates, they shall join James Convent Senior Secondary School, Nihal Vihar,” the high court directed, adding the students will pay the three months’ quarter fee as well as examination fee/late fee, as applicable.Appreciating the role of CBSE standing counsel M A Niyazi in facilitating the transfer, HC noted: “CBSE has permitted 128 students… as an exceptional measure, looking at the extraordinary circumstances, and neither this concession nor the present order will be treated as a precedent for students currently studying class XI in the school nor in any other case.”HC ordered school chairman Nidhi Gupta and manager Rishabh Gupta to file separate affidavits confirming no further students are being admitted. It said this, “Information shall be disseminated amongst the students of classes X and XI and also put up on the notice board at a prominent place so that these children are made aware that they will not be promoted to classes XI and XII in the next academic session”.The court was hearing petitions by the school and some of its students against CBSE’s decision to withdraw affiliation.

Mumbai: After completing two admission cycles, several city colleges that shifted to the All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) norms to run the popular BMS programme, now want to move away from the central regulation. Many plan to split their BMS divisions, one continuing under AICTE and the other shifting to the university control with a change in nomenclature, for effective management. Delayed admissions have led to poor demand among students, disruption of the academic calendar, and higher vacancies, despite the programme’s popularity.In 2024, AICTE brought the BMS programme under the ‘professional’ category, along with BCA and BBA. While some colleges chose to follow AICTE norms, others opted to remain under the university by renaming the course as BCom (Management Studies).

As a professional course, admissions to BMS were conducted through the CET cell and were concluding by October end for the last two years, causing administrative hurdles for colleges that shifted to AICTE.A few colleges exercised their autonomy even this year and offered the same programme in two different formats, one under university as BCom (Management Studies) and the other under AICTE regulation as BMS. Others are planning to do so in the coming year. Colleges such as Matunga’s Guru Nanak Khalsa College, Lala Lajpat Rai College at Mahalaxmi, and KES’ Shroff have already split their divisions, and others like NM and Mithibai colleges are planning to do it next year. HSNC University has been conducting its own CET too, in addition to the state CET.NM and Mithibai, under the SVKM Group, are planning to run one division for BMS under the AICTE and the other as BCom (Management Studies). “Due to delayed admissions, classes for BMS begin only in October, while all other programmes commenced in June. This is not only creating administrative hurdles but is also resulting in the loss of students, many of whom are settled in other programmes as an entire semester is effectively lost,” said N M College principal Parag Ajgaonkar.Another course coordinator pointed out that many seats are going vacant in the programme, as fewer students wait till October end for admissions. These seats remain vacant for all three years, leading to a loss in revenue for a course, which is otherwise popular among students, he said, adding that they split their divisions too. “Colleges are keen to run under AICTE regulation, but the delays are making it difficult,” said the coordinator. Admissions are getting delayed due to lack of awareness about the CET and state conducting the test twice to accommodate students.

Mumbai: BJP and Shiv Sena‘s seat-sharing formula for the upcoming BMC polls could be announced on Friday, said Rahul Shewale, who is part of the Sena’s negotiating team, on Thursday. BJP functionaries, however, did not confirm that the announcement will be made on Friday.

While deputy chief minister and Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde has asked for 105-113 seats, BJP said they have conceded more seats from their initial offer of 60-70 seats, and it may not be possible to concede 100+ seats.After the first round of talks where CM Devendra Fadnavis and Shinde were present late on Monday, there was a second round of talks between BJP’s Ashish Shelar, Ameet Satam, Praveen Darekar, Atul Bhatkhalkar, and Shiv Sena’s Uday Samant and Shewale late on Tuesday. Another round of talks took place on Wednesday. BJP functionaries, however, did not confirm that the announcement will be made on Friday.“BMC seat-sharing formula is final…it will be announced by CM Fadnavis and Shinde on Friday. Winnability is the criteria for giving seats. We will contest on all seats as Mahayuti,” Shewale said. “Leaders from both parties have had meetings, and the seat-sharing formula on other corporations is in its final stage.”“Shinde has already assured that tickets will be given based on the eligibility of winning. Those who are not given tickets will be given some post after the elections and accommodated. In 2017, we fought 227 seats, but this time we are fighting in alliance; hence, we are discussing with aspirants that in a high-stakes battle like BMC, party winning should be the priority,” he added.

JAMMU: After Rajouri and Poonch, now authorities in Jammu’s Kathua district have suspended Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) for two months, citing security concerns.The preventive action has been taken under section 163 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita as VPN services are being misused by certain individuals and groups to bypass cyber restrictions and access prohibited applications, websites and digital content, the order issued by district magistrate Rajesh Sharma on Wednesday stated.The suspension came into force with immediate effect (Dec 24), and will apply to all individuals, institutions, cyber cafes and internet service providers operating within the district, “except those explicitly permitted by govt through a specific official order”. Any violation will invite legal action under the relevant provisions of law, the order said.Kathua SSP has been directed to ensure strict enforcement of the order.On Nov 30, Poonch DM Ashok Kumar Sharma had ordered suspension of all VPN services in the border district for two months, citing their potential misuse for unlawful activities. “The SSP informed that there has been an unprecedented high usage of VPNs in the past few days at different locations of the district by suspicious internet users,” Sharma said in the order.It was informed that VPN transmit gets encrypted and creates a point-to-point tunnel, masks IP addresses, and sidesteps website blocks and firewalls on the internet, thus making sensitive data vulnerable to cyber attacks.A day before, on Nov 29, Rajouri DM Abhishek Sharma had issued a similar order following a communication from police.Prior to this, the Doda administration had, through an order on May 6, ordered suspension of VPNs citing public safety, cybersecurity and integrity of digital governance in the district.

Cleared – maniChennai: What is an ideal road? Is a road design code possible for entire Chennai metropolitan area?

Yes, says Chennai Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (Cumta), which has drafted a uniform street and road design code for the city. The code seeks to address broken footpaths, frequent road digging, and inconsistent pedestrian infrastructure, and acts as guidelines for four corporations, 12 municipalities, and 13 town panchayats, 1 special grade town panchayat, and 22 panchayat unions.The draft will apply to roads maintained by multiple agencies, including the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC), Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB), Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL), and the state highways department, among 15 stakeholders. “This guideline is significant because each agency currently follows different standards. Some refer to IRC norms, others to MoRTH, and some have their own manuals. A single guideline can standardise road infrastructure across the city,” said Aswathy Dilip, managing director of ITDP India.Cumta member-secretary I Jeyakumar said the initiative is part of the authority’s 25-year Comprehensive Mobility Plan, divided into short, medium, and long-term phases. “In the short term, within a couple of years, we want to implement immediately actionable fixes so that there is at least some level of standardisation in pedestrian infrastructure,” he said.The first draft has been circulated to stakeholders, and revisions will be made based on their feedback. The final version is expected by Feb. “We are pushing to notify this as a govt order so that it becomes enforceable by the second half of next year,” Jeyakumar said, adding that the 350-page document covers the entire project lifecycle, from construction to operation and maintenance.The guideline classifies roads into four categories: arterial, sub-arterial, collector roads, and local streets, and mandates at least 2-metre-wide footpaths on one side of all roads. Space for road elements such as bus stops, parking, and dustbins is mandatory, with a minimum width of 2.5 metres where required. Tree corridors of at least 1 metre, free of utility conflicts, are also mandated, while 2–3 metre-wide cycle tracks may be implemented along select corridors.GCC deputy commissioner (works) V Sivakrishnamurthy said the corporation would begin implementation on collector streets with medium footfall. “A top-down approach starting only with arterial roads will not work. Roads like Venkatanarayana Road can be used to test standardised solutions for footpaths, parking, and bus stops, which can later be replicated elsewhere,” he said.Traffic police have urged Cumta to address pothole repairs and road restoration on priority. “Poor road conditions increase both congestion and accidents, which are two parameters we traffic police look at. Daily coordination meetings between agencies like CMRL, highways, traffic police, and stormwater departments can help ensure quicker fixes especially considering the frequent changes in traffic diversions in the city,” said P Vijaya Kumar, joint commissioner of police (traffic–south).MSID:: 126162333 413 |

Mumbai: As the aircraft entered the runway to take off from the brand-new Navi Mumbai airport, the mind instinctively expected that familiar Mumbai montage. The haphazard maze of blue plastic-roofed slums, the Western Express Highway cutting through a congested city, the sandy sliver of Juhu Beach, and finally the Arabian Sea. But as the plane climbed, the blue roofs failed to materialise, and my mental map faltered. This is Navi Mumbai, new in the most literal way because what unfolded below instead were hillocks, straight roads, clean grids, a concrete jungle of high rises, a city that held its lines straight, one that seemed to have been drawn before it was built. In an instant, my sleep-deprived brain woke up, this is not a takeoff from aamchi Mumbai, this now is our new airport.I was given enough clues early in the day, but I simply didn’t join the dots. Just minutes earlier, I had noticed that the air-side apron and taxiways of the new airport were rather expansive, it was nothing like the tight, stingy layout of the Mumbai airport. That kind of generosity of space cannot escape a Mumbaikar. So, when the aircraft turned into the runway, my thoughts had not yet caught up. Wasn’t the taxi time from the parking bay to the runway longer, I wondered. Not necessarily, it also depends on how far away this IndiGo aircraft was parked from the runway, I corrected myself, making a mental note about posing that question to pilots in the coming days.

But the first clue had come hours earlier when our car exited the Atal Setu. It was 6.45 am, dawn was breaking in, but I kept my eyes trained on my mobile phone screen, tracing the route to the new airport on Google Maps. In the past few weeks, every time I travelled to this airport for assignments, I had almost always lost my way in the jumble of unfamiliar highways and flyovers. This time I’d resolved, no more getting lost. But when the car came to a halt suddenly and the map showed a stretch of red indicating bumper-to-bumper traffic, I looked up, puzzled. Traffic at this hour? But my view was blocked by huge container hauler trucks on three sides. I instinctively tugged at the seat belt to check if it was locked in place. We were in a Lilliput of a car sharing NH 348 with giant trucks.The last leg of the road trip was breezy with wide roads, no traffic and numerous signages showing direction to the new airport. We pulled up at the new terminal at 7.10 am, I was to board a flight to Ahmedabad. That was merely a ruse to enter the new terminal and experience it as a passenger.A brand-new airport on its first morning doesn’t yet belong to anyone. The glass is polished, the entry gate is framed with flowers, the check-in counters and self-service kiosks are gleaming. Everything is new, and the set-up is familiar only in parts. Pilots and flight attendants who otherwise click-clack their way confidently through airports, stood around, reading signages, looking for directions. Even retail outlet employees who otherwise look jaded are busy taking selfies. By 9 am, the terminal is teeming with the usual fare-paying passengers and groups of dancers and musicians dressed in traditional nauvari saris and phetas. Somewhere dhols are playing out loud, ‘Garja Maharashtra mazha’ blares out later, the mood is festive. Airport inaugurations have changed over decades. Aviation history tells us flying came first; airports followed. Early aircraft rose from beaches and fields. Most airports were built in the 1950s, when commercial aviation expanded and flying shifted to an organised form of transport.Size-wise NMIA T1 is much smaller than Mumbai T2, the distance from curb side to the boarding gate is shorter, a boon for those who hate the long walk. Unlike Mumbai T2, heavy and serious with antiques, NMIA showcases digital art. But despite all these differences, it’s when the aircraft speeds up for takeoff that you realise that this is not just a new airport for the Mumbai region, it’s a new flight.