TODAY NEWS ON December 28, 2025

Assam draft voter list flags 10.56 lakh names for deletions after door-to-door survey

The names of 10.56 lakh voters have been deleted in the draft electoral rolls for Assam, which were published after the house-to-house verification of the voter lists under the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) special revision exercise conducted in the State from November 22 to December 20. The total number of electors in Assam, according to the CEO’s office, is 2,52,02,775. However, this includes more than 93,000 ‘D Voters’, whose cases are pending before Foreigners’ Tribunals and who are not permitted to vote in elections until their citizenship is upheld by a court. If these names are excluded, then the number of electors in the State stands at 2,51,09,754, each of whom was covered during 61,03,103 household visits across the State, the CEO’s office said.

Supreme Court special bench to hear suo motu case on ‘definition’ of Aravalli

Amid concerns over the recent redefinition of the Aravalli Hills, the Supreme Court took suo motu cognisance of the matter and decided to hear it on Monday (December 29, 2025). A three-judge Special Vacation Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant will hear the matter. In a judgment in November, the Apex Court accepted the recommendations of a committee of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, defining the ‘Aravalli Hills’ as any landform with an elevation of 100 metres or more above the local relief and an ‘Aravalli Range’ as a collection of two or more such hills within 500 metres from each other.

Army intensifies winter counter-terror operations in J&K during Chillai Kalan

Indian Army has expanded its operational reach to higher and snowbound areas of Jammu and Kashmir to pursue and neutralise terrorists seeking to exploit the harsh winter conditions for concealment, defence sources said. According to sources in the Army, as the bone-chilling winter descends upon the Himalayas and the 40-day period of Chillai Kalan grips the region, the Army has intensified counter-terrorism operations across the Kishtwar and Doda districts.

Thailand and Cambodia agree to ‘immediate’ ceasefire: joint statement

Thailand and Cambodia ​agreed on Saturday (December 27, 2025) to halt ‌weeks of fierce ​border clashes, the worst fighting in years between the Southeast Asian countries that has included fighter jets sorties, exchange of rocket fire and artillery barrages. “Both sides ​agree to maintain current ⁠troop deployments without further movement,” their Defence Ministers said in a joint statement ​on the ceasefire, ⁠to take effect at noon (0500 GMT).

Protests outside Lok Bhavan in Jammu, LG’s effigy burnt over medical college admission row

Dozens of protesters gathered outside Lok Bhavan in Jammu and set ablaze an effigy of Lt Governor Manoj Sinha, demanding revocation of the MBBS admission list of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence in Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi. Raising slogans such as “LG go back”, the protest was organised by Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Sangharsh Samiti, a recently-formed conglomeration of various right-wing organizations.

Indian mission establishes one stop help centre for distressed women in Canada

The Consulate General of India in Toronto has established a ‘One Stop Centre for Women,’ a dedicated support centre exclusively to assist women Indian nationals in distress. The Consulate has also set up a 24x7 helpline and said, the new Centre aims to provide critical and timely support to Indian passport holder women who could be facing domestic violence, abuse, family conflict, abandonment, exploitation and legal challenges, among others.

BNP’s Tarique Rahman registers as Bangladeshi voter after 17 years abroad in self-exile

BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman completed the formalities to enlist himself on Bangladesh’s voter list and obtain a national identity (NID) card, two days after his return from over 17 years of self-exile in London. Bangladesh is going to the polls on February 12. Mr. Rahman will contest the upcoming election from his ancestral Bogura Sadar (Bogura-6) constituency, with BNP leaders already collecting his nomination papers on his behalf earlier this month.

Ashes 4th Test Day 2: England ends 18-match winless streak in Australia with four-wicket victory

England ended an 18-match winless streak in Australia and beat the home side by four wickets in the fourth Ashes Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. England lost the first three tests to allow Australia to retain the Ashes in just 11 days of on-field action at Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide. The England winless streak had dated to the 2013-14 Ashes series, which Australia won 5-0. Since England convincingly won the 2010-11 Ashes 3-1, England had lost 16 matches and drawn the other two of their 18 tests Down Under over a period of nearly 15 years.

Australia issues advisory on counterfeit anti-rabies vaccine in India; pharma refutes charges

Indian Immunologicals Limited (IIL), one of India’s leading vaccine manufacturers, has issued a clarification on Saturday (December 27, 2025) regarding recent reports surrounding its human anti-rabies vaccine, Abhayrab. In it’s statement it said that the company strongly refuted the over-cautionary and misplaced Australian health advisory adding that the counterfeiting incident that has been mentioned involving it’s rabies vaccine Abhayrab — Batch No.KA24014 (manufacturing date: March 2024; expiry date: February 2027) — was identified by early January 2025. The counterfeit batch is no longer available on the shelves, it said.

Zero FIR filed, Bengal Police team sent to Odisha: Mamata on death of migrant worker

Days after a 30-year-old migrant worker from West Bengal was allegedly killed in Sambalpur district of BJP-ruled Odisha, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday (December 27, 2025) said a “zero FIR” was filed and a State police team went to the neighbouring State to carry out the investigation.

Land-related issues in the Amaravati capital region being resolved in a phased manner, says Pemmasani

Union Minister of State for Rural Development and Communications Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar on Saturday (December 27) said that most land-related issues in the Amaravati capital region were being resolved in a phased manner, with surveys on ‘jaribu’ lands already completed.

Myanmar goes to polls amid civil war and humanitarian crisis

Myanmar heads to the polls on Sunday (December 28, 2025) as it battles a civil war that has ravaged parts of the country as well as one of Asia’s ‍worst humanitarian crises. Already one of Southeast Asia’s poorest countries, Myanmar has been hammered by a ​conflict triggered by a 2021 coup in which the military ousted an ‌elected civilian government led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu ​Kyi.