The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill is scheduled to be tabled in the Rajya Sabha today. Law and Justice Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad will move the bill in the House.

It was passed by the Lok Sabha last week amid a walkout by the Opposition. The Bill makes all declarations of instant triple talaq void and illegal. It seeks to make the practice a punishable offence with imprisonment of three years. 

Our correspondent reports that Rajya Sabha witnessed uproar over the bill on Monday as Congress-led opposition persisted with its demand that it should be referred to the Select Committee of the House for scrutiny.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Minister Vijay Goel had said the government is ready for discussion on the bill and appealed to the House to pass it. He accused the Congress of obstructing justice for Muslim women by not allowing its passage.

Veteran actor-writer Kader Khan died due to prolonged illness at the age of 81 on 31 December, his son Sarfaraz Khan confirmed Monday. Khan was admitted to a hospital in Canada and his son confirmed that his last rites will be conducted in the country.

“My dad has left us. He passed away on 31 December at 6pm as per Canadian time due to prolonged illness. He slipped into coma in the afternoon. He was in the hospital for 16-17 weeks. The last rites will be performed here in Canada only. We have our entire family here and we live here so we are doing it,” Sarfaraz Khan told PTI. “We are thankful to everyone for their blessings and prayers.”

The news of Kader Khan’s death comes days after his son dismissed media reports of his demise.

Khan had developed breathing issues and the doctors had reportedly transferred him from regular ventilator to BiPAP ventilator.

According to media reports, Kader Khan was suffering from Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, a degenerative disease that causes loss of balance, difficulty in walking and dementia.

Born in Kabul, Kader Khan made his acting debut in 1973 with Rajesh Khanna’s Daag and has featured in over 300 films. He wrote dialogues for over 250 movies. Before becoming an actor, he had written dialogues for Randhir Kapoor-Jaya Bachchan’s Jawani Diwani.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi Monday called up his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina to congratulate her on her “resounding victory” in the Parliamentary elections. Hasina emerged victorious after the ruling coalition won 287 of the 298 seats in the elections held Sunday.

Congratulating Hasina on her third-consecutive term as the prime minister, Modi reiterated India’s commitment to work together with Bangladesh. During the talks, Modi said that “Hasina’s victory was the reflection of Bangladesh’s stunning development under her dynamic leadership,” press secretary of Bangladesh Prime Minister Ihsanul Karim told PTI.

The Ministry of External Affairs said the conversation was very cordial and that Modi expressed confidence that the partnership between India and Bangladesh will continue to flourish under her “far-sighted” leadership. “The PM also reiterated the priority India attaches to Bangladesh as a neighbour, a close partner for regional development, security and cooperation, and a central pillar in India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy,” the MEA said in a statement.

Norman Gimbel, an Oscar-and-Grammy-winning lyricist, has died at the age of 91.

The songwriter passed away on December 19 at his home in Montecito, California, his son Tony Gimbel told The Hollywood Reporter.

Gimbel was best known for writing the lyrics of “Killing Me Softly With His Song” and the English lyrics for “The Girl From Ipanema” with his writing partner Charles Fox.

The duo also collaborated on Croce’s “I Got a Name,” and it released the day after the singer’s death in a plane crash on September 20, 1973. The song served as the theme to The Last American Hero (1973), starring Jeff Bridges.

They also wrote themes for the Garry Marshall comedies Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, and Angie.

Gimbel was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1984.

India’s Smriti Mandhana won the prestigious Rachael Heyhoe-Flint Award for the best player of the year as well as the ODI Player of the Year at ICC Women’s Awards. New Zealand’s Sophie Devine and Pakistan bowler Sana Mir came second and third in the ODI Player of the Year category.

The left-handed opening batswoman Mandhana enjoyed a good year, helping India win ODI series against England, as well as series wins against Sri Lanka and South Africa in both T20I and ODI formats.

The 22-year old won the award after making 669 runs in a total of 12 ODI matches for India in 2018, slamming seven 50s along with a century against South Africa to average 66.90. Meanwhile, she hit five fifties in the shortest format in the year to become one of the only three to amass over 600 runs at an impressive strike-rate of 130.67.

“The awards are pretty special because as a player when you score runs, you want the team to win, and then when you get acknowledged for your performances through these awards, it motivates you to work harder and do well for your team,” she told ICC. “The century I scored in South Africa (in Kimberley) [135 off 129] was quite satisfying and then I had good home series against Australia and England.”

Legendary filmmaker Padma Bhushan and Dada Saheb Phalke awardee Mrinal Sen died of cardiac arrest at his Kolkata residence at 10.30 AM on Sunday. He was suffering from age-related health problems and was aged 95.

Mrinal Sen is survived by his son Kunal Sen. His wife Gita Shome passed away last year. Sen's mortal remains will be preserved at Peace Haven mortuary till his son returns from Chicago on January 2. The filmmaker had urged that his mortal remains should not be given any state honours.

Along with contemporaries Satyajit Ray and Ritwik Ghatak, Sen was considered as one of the greatest ambassadors of Bengali parallel cinema on the global stage. He began his film direction in 1955 with 'Raat Bhore' but shot to international fame with his third film 'Baishey Shrabon'.

Third edition of women's national boxing championships begins in Vijayanagara, Karnataka today. Country's top boxers will be vying for top honours as the tournament will be held at the JSW Sports-owned Inspire Institute of Sport till 6th of the next month.

With close to 250 entries received from 31 states and institutions, pugilists will compete in all 10 weight categories.

World Championship silver and bronze medallists boxers, Sonia Chahal, Lovlina Borgohain, Pinky Jangra and Nikhat Zarin will be trying to upstage one another in the race to claim the top honours.

Boxing Federation of India, BFI President Ajay Singh said, the nationals are extremely important not just because champion boxers are competing here but because they will prove to be great inspiration for the other participating boxers.

Russia and Turkey on Saturday agreed to coordinate ground operations in Syria after last week's shock announcement of a US military withdrawal, Moscow's top diplomat said. "Of course we paid special attention to new circumstances which appeared in connection with the announced US military pullout," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said after talks with Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu in Moscow.

"An understanding was reached of how military representatives of Russia and Turkey will continue to coordinate their steps on the ground under new conditions with a view to finally rooting out terrorist threats in Syria," Lavrov said. Cavusoglu confirmed the two countries would coordinate Syria operations, adding they also discussed plans to help refugees to return home.

"We will continue active work (and) coordination with our Russian colleagues and colleagues from Iran to speed up the arrival of a political settlement in the Syrian Republic," he said in remarks translated into Russian. Besides Lavrov and Cavusoglu, Russian and Turkish defence ministers Sergei Shoigu and Hulusi Akar also attended the talks.

India beat Australia by 137 runs in the third cricket test at Melbourne today to take an unassailable 2-1 lead in the four-match series. India took a giant stride towards winning their first ever test series on Australian soil in seven decades.

Chasing a stiff target of 399, Australia were all out for 261 in the post-lunch session. Jasprit Bumrah was declared man of the match as India won their 150th Test. Ishant Sharma 2 for 40 took the final wicket of Nathan Lyon as India registered its first win at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground in 37 years.  The final test match is scheduled to start from January 3, 2019 at Sydney Cricket Ground.

World’s largest science meet ‘Indian Science Congress (ISC)-2019’ is going to be held from 3rd to 7th January 2019, in Jalandhar, Punjab. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the 106th edition of ISC-2019, based on the theme ‘Future India: Science and Technology’ on 3rd January. 

PM Modi will also address about 30,000 delegates including many Nobel Laureates, science policymakers, administrators, eminent scientists, young men-women researchers and school children from across India and abroad. 

During the five-day long congress, around 100 plus conferences and events of scientific and technology origin will also be held, where eminent personalities from DRDO, ISRO, DST, AIIMS, UGC, AICTE, and many elite universities of the USA, UK, India and other countries will participate. 

Union Cabinet ministers including Science and Technology Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan and Textile Minister Smriti Irani will also attend the event.

“Government’s aim is to deliver the benefits of Science & Technology to the last man in the society and scientists being a pivot should put their heart and soul into finding new solutions to the problems facing the nation and improve the quality of life of common man,” said Harsh Vardhan.