Morning Digest: Jimmy Carter, 39th U.S. President, dies at 100; Police disperse protesting BPSC aspirants in Patna with lathicharge, water cannons, and more, and more

The Hindu Morning Digest gives a select list of stories to start the day. Read the top news today on December 30, 2024

Jimmy Carter, the peanut farmer who won the presidency in the wake of the Watergate scandal and Vietnam War, endured humbling defeat after one tumultuous term and then redefined life after the White House as a global humanitarian, has died. He was 100 years old.

A passenger plane skidded off a runway at a South Korean airport Sunday (December 29, 2024), slammed into a concrete fence and burst into flames after its front landing gear failed to deploy. All but two of the 181 people on board died in one of the country’s worst aviation disasters. The Jeju Air plane crashed while landing in the town of Muan, about 290 kilometres (180 miles) south of Seoul. The Transport Ministry said the plane was a 15-year-old Boeing 737-800 jet that had arrived from Bangkok and that the crash happened at 9:03 a.m.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his customary radio address ‘Mann Ki Baat’ in New Delhi on Sunday (December 29, 2024) said his government had commenced year-long activities to celebrate the completion of 75 years of the country’s Constitution. He said it was a matter of great honour for the people of the country.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch its final mission for 2024 on December 30 with the PSLV C60/SPADEX Mission. The launch is scheduled at 9.58 p.m. from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. The space agency, for the first time, will be attempting the Space Docking Experiment (SPADEX) mission which will demonstrate in-space docking using two small spacecraft.

The Bihar Police lathicharged protesters seeking cancellation of the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) Combined (Preliminary) Competitive Examination (CCE). Police also used water cannons to disperse protesting candidates at the J.P. roundabout near the Hotel Maurya in Patna. The 70th BPSC CCE was held on December 13 at 912 centres across the State, with 3.28 lakh candidates appearing for it. On the day of the examination, rumours spread of a question paper leak at the Bapu Exam Centre, one of the exam centres in the State capital, with candidates protesting after the exam was held.

The Union Corporate Affairs Ministry said in a release on Sunday (December 29, 2024) that the pilot scheme of the Prime Minister’s Internship Scheme received approximately 6.21 lakh applications against 1.27 lakh opportunities. “The selection process for internship is ongoing,” the Ministry said.

Both the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday accused each other of manipulating the Delhi electoral roll in an attempt to win the State’s Assembly election due to be held in February. AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal accused the BJP of trying to manipulate the voter list in the New Delhi Assembly constituency to win the election by “unfair” means. AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh claimed that the BJP was even trying to get his wife’s name deleted from the list.