Chennai, Dec 30: Megastar Rajinikanth is a great leader and always stood to protect the interest of the nation and the state, said CT Ravi Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state in-charge of Tamil Nadu said on Wednesday.

London, Dec 30: UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson recalled Parliament from its Christmas break on Wednesday to get the Brexit free trade agreement (FTA) struck with the European Union cleared through all parliamentary stages for the EU (Future Relationship) Bill to become law in time for January 1 next year.

Ahmedabad, Dec 30: A day after tendering his resignation from the BJP, Lok Sabha member and former Union minister Mansukh Vasava on Wednesday said he has dropped the idea of quitting the party following talks with its senior leaders.

Lucknow, Dec 30: In what is probably the first case of action against displaying caste identity on the windscreens and number plates of four and two-wheelers in Uttar Pradesh, a man in Kanpur was issued a challan for writing 'Kushwaha' and 'Akhil Bharatiya Maurya Mahasabha' on his SUV.

Noida, Dec 30: The Delhi Police has arrested a 26-year-old Noida resident on charges of blackmailing and extorting money from over 100 women by morphing their pictures and threatening to post the same on the social media, police said on Wednesday.

Washington, Dec 30: American Airlines has flown a Boeing 737 Max from Miami to New York with paying passengers on board, making the first commercial flight almost 2 years after the worldwide grounding of the troubled aircraft.

Mysore, Dec 30: A 52-year-old polling officer at a counting centre died due to heart attack at Periyapatna taluk in Mysore district on Wednesday.

Mangaluru, Dec 30: As a precautionary measure against the spread of the new strain of Covid-19, the district administration has banned entry of general public and tourists to beaches including the beach at Ullal, Someshwar, Mogaveera Patna, Panambur, Tannirbavi, Sasihitlu and Surathkal from December 31 noon to January 2 noon.

Washington, Dec 30: The United States is ready to take custody of terrorist Omar Sheikh to stand trial in the American journalist Daniel Pearl's abduction and murder case, said US Acting Attorney General Jeffrey A Rosen.

New Delhi, Dec 30: The Uttar Pradesh government's controversial anti-conversion ordinance has transformed the state into "the epicentre of politics of hate, division and bigotry", a letter signed by 104 former IAS officers, including former National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon, former Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and former Adviser to the Prime Minister TKA Nair, and released Tuesday said.