December 15: Top news at noon

Supreme Court bans liquor shops along all national and state highways

A Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice TS Thakur has ordered a ban on all liquor shops on national as well as state highways across the country. The licenses of existing shops will not be renewed after March 31, 2017. The apex court also directed that all signages indicating presence of liquor vends will be prohibited on national and state highways.

Government, Opposition clash on penultimate day of Winter Session

By noon on the penultimate day of the Winter Session of Parliament, the Rajya Sabha was adjourned till 2 pm and the Lok Sabha for the entire day. In the Upper House, there was uproar as the Leader of the Opposition gave notice for a discussion on farmer’s distress due to demonetisation and the treasury benches raised the AgustaWestland case.

Multiple IT raids in Uttar Pradesh

The Income Tax Department has conducted multiple raids in Uttar Pradesh at Kohinoor Crafts Brass Export House in Moradabad, eight locations of Neelkanth Sweets in Lucknow and an Axis Bank branch in Noida. In the latter, allegedly accounts of 20 fake companies have been found, with deposits of over Rs 60 crores.

Rs 35 lakh cash seized from Jaipur businessmen

Following a ‘tip off’, a team of Rajasthan police's special operation group nabbed two Jaipur businessmen Sunil Gupta and Priyanshu Gupta, who were caught allegedly with Rs 35 lakh in new currency notes while they were exchanging old notes. The SOG claimed they were getting the old notes exchanged on 25% commission.

Netflix signs on Shah Rukh Khan

In a first of its kind deal, Netflix has inked a long-term deal with Shah Rukh Khan's Red Chillies Entertainment that will give the web streaming giant's more than 86 million viewers exclusive access to the Bollywood superstar's upcoming as well as past films. The first SRK title Netflix will screen is Dear Zindagi, which was released on November 25.

With PTI inputs.