News Headlines for CAT, CLAT and IPM aspirants

Source: The Hindu , Indian Express and others

Government, Opposition spar in Lok Sabha over Vande Mataram

The Centre and the Opposition on Monday (December 8, 2025) sparred in the Lok Sabha over Vande Mataram, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi terming it the voice of the freedom movement that had been “fragmented” by the Congress in its “surrender before the Muslim League”. Initiating the debate to mark 150 years of the National Song, Mr. Modi claimed that India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, “betrayed” the song by echoing Muslim League leader Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s communal concerns.

Provide assurances’ that Indians won’t be targeted ‘selectively’: New Delhi to Beijing

Reaffirming India’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, the Ministry of External Affairs on Monday (December 8, 2025) urged Chinese authorities to “provide assurances” that Indian citizens will not be targeted “selectively” while they “travel” or “transit” through China. The remarks from the Official Spokesperson of the Ministry, Randhir Jaiswal, came approximately a fortnight after an Indian citizen was detained in Shanghai International Airport, where Chinese authorities refused to recognise her Indian passport as she hailed from Arunachal Pradesh.

Goa nightclub fire: Owners Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra fled to Phuket after tragedy, say police

Saurabh Luthra and Gaurav Luthra, the main accused and owners of the Goa nightclub where a massive blaze claimed 25 lives, fled to Phuket hours after the tragedy, Goa Police said on Monday (December 8, 2025). “Goa Police have taken further steps to coordinate with the Interpol Division of the CBI to apprehend both Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra at the earliest,” a senior police officer said.

Navjot Sidhu’s wife suspended by Congress after firestorm over ‘₹500 crore for CM’ remark

Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu’s wife, Navjot Kaur Sidhu, was suspended from the party on Monday (December 8, 2025) after she sparked a controversy by declaring that anyone with “₹500 crore” could become the Chief Minister. Mr. Sidhu is a former cricketer. Last week, while speaking to the media in Chandigarh, Ms. Sidhu, a former MLA, had said, “Mr. Navjot Singh Sidhu will return to active politics only if the Congress party declares him the Chief Ministerial face in Punjab and that they had always stood for Punjabiyat.” She then added that “Whoever offers ₹500 crore in a suit case could become the Chief Minister.”

IndiGo seeks more time to reply to show-cause notices

IndiGo “profusely apologised” to the Union government on Monday (December 8, 2025) and sought additional time to respond to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation’s (DGCA) show-cause notices issued to the airline, citing that the regulator’s norms allow a 15-day window to file a response instead of the 48 hours granted to it. The airline also informed the government that it was “not realistically possible to pinpoint the exact causes” of the widespread disruptions in its flight operations in recent weeks due to the complexity and vast scale of operations, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Civil Aviation.

MP Engineer Rashid seeks PM intervention ‘to end growing disconnect between L-G, CM’ in J&K

Incarcerated Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) leader and Member of Parliament (MP) Engineer Rashid on Monday (December 8, 2025) wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to bring to his notice the “growing disconnect between the Lieutenant Governor and the Chief Minister in Jammu and Kashmir”.

Trump calls EU fine on X ‘nasty one’, says Europe going in ‘bad directions’

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday (December 8, 2025) called a fine imposed on Elon Musk’s social media company X by European Union tech regulators “a nasty one” and said he did not understand how they could justify the move. X was fined 120 million euros ($140 million) by EU tech regulators last week for breaching online content rules .“Europe is going in some bad directions,” Mr. Trump told reporters at a White House event, saying he expected to get a full report on the EU fine later on Monday.

Magnitude 7.6 quake strikes off Japan, triggering tsunami warning

A major earthquake rocked Japan’s northern coast on Monday (December 8, 2025), with the country’s meteorological agency recording several tsunami waves and local media reporting injuries. The United States Geological Survey said the magnitude 7.6 quake struck at 1415 GMT off Misawa on Japan’s Pacific coast, at a depth of 53 kilometres (33 miles). The Japan Meteorological Agency issued a tsunami warning, with one wave hitting a port in the northern region of Aomori, where Misawa is located, at 11:43 p.m. (1443 GMT).

Zelenskyy meets European partners, seeks convergence with U.S. on truce

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was in London on Monday (December 8, 2025) for talks with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and other ‘E3’ country heads — French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. The meeting comes as U.S. President Donald Trump said Mr. Zelenskyy had not read the latest version of a proposal to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict, though his negotiators “love” the proposals.

In a first, Meitei MLA visits Kuki relief camp in Manipur

In a first since ethnic violence broke out in Manipur in 2023, a Meitei MLA on Monday visited a relief camp set up for the Kuki community in Ukhrul district. BJP MLA Yumnam Khemchand Singh, who represents the Singjamei constituency in Imphal West, visited a camp at Litan Sareikhong and interacted with Kuki inmates who fled their homes during the violence. “ With Christmas approaching, we all should pray for the return of peace in the state,” he told the inmates.

IndiGo flight disruptions: Opposition demands statement from government; Ram Mohan Naidu assures strict adherence to safety protocols

The Opposition on Monday (December 8, 2025) demanded in the Lok Sabha that the government inform the country about its steps to address the widespread IndiGo flight disruptions and the resulting inconvenience at various airports, a crisis that Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav also used to hit out at the Centre, alleging a failure to ensure affordable air travel amid soaring airfares.

Goa nightclub fire: Police team leaves for Delhi to arrest owners; fifth accused held

Investigation into the fire accident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora in North Goa late on Saturday (December 6, 2025) that claimed 25 lives and left six injured is progressing with a team of police officers leaving for Delhi to arrest owners of the club, Saurabh Luthra and Gaurav Luthra. Meanwhile, the Goa police team arrested the fifth accused in the case.

China positive on Putin’s India visit; calls for stronger trilateral cooperation

China on Monday (December 8, 2025) reacted positively to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to India, framing the three countries as an important part of the Global South and said sound trilateral ties are conducive to regional and global peace and stability, besides their own national interests.

India, South Africa primed to turn up the T20 heat

The third and final part of South Africa’s tour of India gets underway on Tuesday, with the two teams facing off in the first of five T20Is at the Barabati Stadium here. The Men in Blue have been almost unstoppable in this format, winning all six bilateral series in addition to the multi-nation Asia Cup, (26 wins, four defeats) since clinching the T20 World Cup in 2024. With the title defence coming up on home soil and Sri Lanka next year, the focus will remain on fine-tuning an already well-oiled machine. Shubman Gill and Hardik Pandya return to the squad, the former recovering from a neck spasm and the latter overcoming a quadriceps injury.