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The Calcutta High Court on Monday refused to grant urgent hearing to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition highlighting the recent attack on the officers of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Sandeshkhali area of North 24 Parganas district. 

A division bench of Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam and Justice Supratim Bhattacharya said it would hear the matter on Thursday instead of taking it up today itself. 

"We have read your petition in the newspapers. We will hear your matter in the due course that is on Thursday," the Chief Justice said. 

The U.S. State Department said that the weekend's elections in Bangladesh were not free and fair and that the Washington was concerned by reports of vote irregularities. It also expressed concerns over the arrests of thousands of political opposition members. "The US remains concerned by the arrests of thousands of political opposition members and by reports of irregularities on election day. The United States shares the view with other observers that these elections were not free or fair and we regret that not all parties participated. The US condemns the violence that took place during elections and in the months leading up to it. We encourage the Government of Bangladesh to credibly investigate reports of violence and to hold perpetrators accountable. We also urge all political parties to reject violence," US Department of State said in a statement.

Expressing concern over the smog tower in Connaught Place which was again non-operational, Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj on Sunday took a dig at the officials, saying that they work as per their wishes.

He said that earlier the smog tower was closed, and after the court’s direction they started it, but, again it has been shut, and he raised doubts on why the tower was shut down.

Truck drivers across Karnataka will go on an indefinite strike starting from January 17, announced the Federation of Karnataka Lorry Owners’ Association on Saturday. The strike is to protest against the stringent laws for hit-and-run cases under the new Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS)

Speaking to reporters, C Naveen Reddy, president of the Federation of Karnataka Lorry Owners’ Association, said, “Though the union government called us for discussions on this unruly law, the officials have not given anything in writing. This is a unilateral decision by the union government, and they did not consult us before arriving at such a hasty decision.”

After Turkey, the newly elected Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu will be heading to China for a state visit. Muizzu, who took over in November 2023, is scheduled to visit China from January 8 to 12, 2024.

Upon Xi Jinping's invitation, Muizzu and First Lady Sajidha Mohamed will be visiting Beijing next week, stated Hua Chinying, the spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry.

Muizzu's visit also comes after his strong worded warning to India to withdraw its troops. In an exclusive interview to Times Network, the Maldives president stated that the "presence of foreign military personnel in Maldives is against the constitution".