Morning Digest: Manipur, Kerala, Bihar get new Governors; five soldiers killed as vehicle falls into gorge in Poonch, and more

The Hindu Morning Digest gives a select list of stories to start the day. Read the top news today on December 25, 2024

Former Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla has been appointed as the new Governor of Manipur in the latest gubernatorial appointments and reshuffle by President Droupadi Murmu across five States. The other key appointment is that former Union Minister General V.K. Singh (retd.) being made the new Governor of Mizoram while Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan has been moved to Bihar.

Five soldiers were killed and five injured when the vehicle in which they were travelling skidded off the road in the Pir Panjal Valley of Poonch district in Jammu and Kashmir the Army said. A defence spokesperson said the cause of the accident was being ascertained but “possibly, the driver lost control at the turn of the road”. 

The Union Ministry of Mines requested the Geological Survey of India (GSI) to re-examine the Nayakkarpatti tungsten block in Madurai, which comprises six villages, including Arittapatti, a notified biodiversity heritage site famous for archaeological monuments. It also suggested that the GSI explore the possibility of redefining the boundaries by excluding the biodiversity heritage site from the block, and requested the Tamil Nadu government to keep the process of issuing the Letter of Intent to the preferred bidder – Hindustan Zinc Limited – on hold for the time being.

Former Chief Justice of Manipur High Court Siddharth Mridul said that there seems to be an “invisible hand” behind the ongoing ethnic violence in Manipur. He said that whenever the situation appears to return to normalcy, someone injects a fresh dose of violence. He said he hoped that the Manipur violence is not part of a grand design to destabilise the Northeast region. 

Bethlehem marked another somber Christmas Eve in the traditional birthplace of Jesus under the shadow of war in Gaza. The excitement and cheer that typically descends on the West Bank during Christmas week were nowhere to be found. 

The Ministry of Home Affairs has constituted an Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Tribunal to determine whether there is sufficient cause to declare the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), including all its factions, wings, and front organisations, as an unlawful association. MHA decided to constitute the tribunal almost a month after it extended the ban on the ULFA for the next five years for its role in continuing to work to secede Assam from India and maintain links with other insurgent groups for extortion and violence.

Junior doctors in West Bengal have stepped up their protest seeking justice for the R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital rape and murder victim. Doctors protesting at Esplanade led a march to the CGO complex, raising questions on the role of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). This comes after two accused in the case were granted bail after CBI officials failed to file a chargesheet within the first 90 days of the arrest.