West Bengal Police have sent the main organiser of Lionel Messi’s GOAT India Tour 2025 to 14 days of police custody. The action followed chaos and vandalism at Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata on Saturday. The organiser, Shatadru Dutta, was arrested for alleged crowd mismanagement and security lapses. Thousands of fans were left angry after Messi’s brief appearance, with many unable to see him despite buying costly tickets. Damage was reported inside the stadium after protests broke out. A high-level enquiry team visited the venue to inspect the damage and review security planning. The state government has promised strict action after completing the probe.

Mumbai police data reveal that 145 children have gone missing in the city over the past seven months, including 93 girls and 52 boys. Most cases involve children aged between 12 and 17 years, with disappearances reported across various suburbs. Authorities say many children are found later, often having run away for personal reasons, but some remain untraced, prompting fears of trafficking and exploitation. Police have intensified search efforts, issued alerts and urged families to report promptly. Child welfare organisations stress the need for greater community vigilance and preventive measures to protect vulnerable youths. (PC: Instagram)

Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma arrived in Mumbai on Saturday evening after Kohli returned from London. The couple was seen at the airport, where Kohli waved at cameras while Anushka walked straight to their car. Soon after, fans began to speculate about a possible meeting between Kohli and Lionel Messi. Messi is in India for his GOAT India Tour and is scheduled to reach Mumbai on Sunday. He will take part in a charity fashion event and other activities. With both stars in the city, fans are hoping for a rare crossover moment in Mumbai.

A deadly fire at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub in Goa killed 25 people. Survivors are struggling with trauma and loss. Kristina, a dancer at the club, has barely slept, lost 5 kg, and stays at home, her husband said. Another survivor, Bhavna Joshi, lost her husband and three sisters in the fire. Witnesses said the fire spread quickly and became uncontrollable. Goa Police have recorded over 60 statements and continue investigating. The club owners, Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra, have been booked for culpable homicide and are detained in Thailand as India seeks their return. (PC: HT)

Early Saturday on the Eastern Peripheral Expressway near Chakrasainpur in Greater Noida, over a dozen vehicles, including cars and trucks, collided in a chain-reaction crash due to dense fog and severely reduced visibility, police said. The pile-up triggered a long traffic jam, leaving several people injured; officials reported that the victims, including a woman, received medical aid and are out of danger. Emergency crews and toll staff used cranes to clear wreckage as authorities urged motorists to drive cautiously in foggy winter conditions. 

Congress leader **Rahul Gandhi is set to travel to Hyderabad on December 13 to meet football legend Lionel Messi during the GOAT India Tour 2025 event, sources say. Gandhi, the Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition, is expected to attend a friendly football match featuring Messi and teams including one led by Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. Elaborate security arrangements are in place for the high-profile event. The meet follows Messi’s visit to India, which also includes stops in Kolkata, Mumbai and New Delhi during the celebratory tour. (PC: The Hindu)  

West Bengal Chief Minister **Mamata Banerjee said she was “deeply disturbed and shocked” by the chaos at Kolkata’s Salt Lake Stadium during Lionel Messi’s visit and publicly apologised to the football superstar and fans. The uproar erupted when thousands of ticket-holding spectators failed to get a clear view of Messi and became frustrated, with some throwing bottles and chairs inside the venue, overshadowing his appearance. Banerjee announced a high-level probe committee to investigate the mismanagement and prevent future incidents. She expressed regret over the damage to the event’s image and fan disappointment.   

India’s largest budget airline IndiGo has estimated it will pay more than 5 billion rupees (about $55.19 million) in compensation to customers affected by massive flight cancellations in early December, the airline said. Around 4,500 flights were scrapped due to poor pilot roster planning and difficulties adapting to new aviation rest-and-duty rules, leaving tens of thousands of passengers stranded, prompting the civil aviation regulator to cut IndiGo’s domestic winter schedule by 10%. The airline is identifying passengers severely impacted between December 3–5 and will compensate those whose flights were cancelled within 24 hours of departure. IndiGo has also adjusted its capacity and revenue forecasts. 

The Union government has decided to rename the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), India’s flagship rural jobs scheme, as the Pujya Bapu Gramin Rozgar Yojana. Along with this rebranding, the Cabinet approved increasing the number of guaranteed workdays from 100 to 125 per year and is expected to revise the minimum wage to ₹240 per day to boost rural income security. A bill to formalise these changes will be introduced in Parliament. The move reflects an effort to refresh the scheme’s identity while continuing to support rural livelihoods and employment. (PC: The Hindu)

The Union Cabinet approved Census of India 2027 on Friday at Rs 11,718.24 crore, the world's largest administrative and statistical exercise. Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced this will be the sixteenth census overall, eighth since Independence, and first-ever fully digital census with data protection safeguards. The census will conduct in two phases: Houselisting and Housing Census from April-September 2026, followed by Population Enumeration in February 2027. For UT Ladakh and snow-bound non-synchronous areas of UT Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand, Population Enumeration will occur in September 2026. The digital design prioritizes data protection while modernizing India's demographic data collection process.