Government on Wednesday approved an agreement between India and Uruguay on co-operation and mutual assistance on Customs matters.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi here.

"The agreement will help in the availability of relevant information for prevention and investigation of Customs offences. The agreement is also expected to facilitate trade and ensure efficient clearance of goods traded between the countries," an official statement said.

The draft agreement takes care of Indian Customs' concerns and requirements, particularly in exchange of information on the correctness of the Customs value declared, authenticity of certificates of origin of goods and description of the goods traded between the two countries.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the arrest of two Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs and termed it "vendetta politics".

"This is vendetta politics of Modiji. His message is — 'agar kisi ne notbandi ke khilaaf bola to chhodenge nahi' (If anyone speaks against note-ban, they won't be spared). Really deplorable," Kejriwal tweeted.

Kejriwal's comments came in response to senior journalist Rajdeep Sardesai's tweet that said: "When TMC was backing NDA on GST (Goods and Services Tax), (we) didn't hear a word on chit fund cases; now TMC takes on Centre on demonetisation, two MPs arrested!"

Trinamool Congress MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay was on Tuesday arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the Rose Valley Chit Fund scam.

Investigating the ponzi scheme scam, the agency earlier arrested another TMC MP, Tapas Paul, on December 30, for his alleged involvement in the case.

The US has signalled that it will not be drawn into the role of a mediator between India and Pakistan, saying both countries should work together to resolve their differences.

Asked during the daily briefing on Tuesday if Secretary of State John Kerry had offered to mediate between the two neighbours on the Indus Waters Treaty dispute, State Department Spokesperson John Kirby replied bluntly: "As I said, we encourage India and Pakistan to work together bilaterally to resolve their differences."

Kirby confirmed that Kerry spoke with Pakistan Finance Minister Mohammed Ishaq Dar last Thursday but would not give details of their conversation. 

A Pakistan Finance Ministry statement on Friday gave Islamabad' version of their talk.

Asked if Kerry had discussed the Indus dispute with Indian officials and at what level, Kirby said: "We're in regular communication with the Indian and Pakistani governments on a wide range of issues. I just don't have any more details for you."

"The Indus Waters Treaty has served, I think as you know, as a model for peaceful cooperation between India and Pakistan for now 50 years," he said.

"We encourage, as we have in the past, India and Pakistan to work together to resolve any differences."

According to Pakistan Finance Ministry, Kerry made the call to Dar.

Seeming to invite that Kerry had asked for Washington's intervention, according to the ministry, "Dar indicated that US support on the principles and legal position of Pakistan will be greatly appreciated".

According to the ministry statement, Dar also told Kerry that the "Indus Waters Treaty is an international commitment and it is the responsibility of the World Bank to make sure that India honours this."

The statement said Kerry told Dar "that the President World Bank (Jim Yong Kim) had recently informed him about Pakistan's complaint against India on the subject of the treaty".

The Election Commission of India will announce later on Wednesday the dates for the assembly elections in five states.

According to sources, the dates will be announced for elections in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Manipur, Uttarakhand and Goa at a press conference here at noon.

The terms of the legislative assemblies of Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur are ending in mid-March, while the Uttar Pradesh assembly's term would expire in May.

As per the law, elections to the legislative assembly of a state must be held — and new assembly formed — well before its term expires.

The Election Commission had last week asked the five poll-bound states to brace up for the elections and had urged strict adherence to the Model Code of Conduct that would come into force immediately after the announcement of polls.

Demonetisation took its toll on the Indian services sector in December as the business activity contracted for the second consecutive month amid steeper reduction in incoming new orders, a monthly survey showed on Wednesday.

The Nikkei India Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), which tracks services sector companies on a monthly basis, stood at 46.8 in December, little changed from November's 46.7, indicating a further solid contraction in output.

The index that slipped into contraction territory in November remained in that zone as the Rupee ban led to the sharpest fall in new business since September 2013.

A reading above 50 shows expansion while a score below denotes contraction.

"The Indian service economy ended 2016 on a grim note, with the average PMI activity index reading for the October-December quarter the lowest since early 2014," said Pollyanna De Lima, economist at IHS Markit and author of the report.

With factory production also softening, activity across the private sector dropped the maximum in over three years.

The seasonally adjusted Nikkei India Composite PMI Output Index — which maps both manufacturing and services sectors — stood at 47.6 in December, from 49.1 in November.

"Combined with the manufacturing PMI, data suggest that Indian GDP is set to grow in Q3 2016-17, but a slowdown is likely," Lima added.

Indian services providers signalled optimism on the 12-month outlook during December although the level of optimism has fallen to the third-lowest in over 11 years of data collection, the survey said.

"Of concern, business confidence among service providers plunged to one of the lowest in the series' 11-year history, suggesting that an imminent rebound from the Rupee demonetisation downturn is unlikely," Lima said.

Though there are expectations of a rebound in demand in coming 12 months, worries towards the speed of the recovery following the cash recall hampered confidence, the survey stated.

Nightlong rain and snowfall on Wednesday finally ended an over-six month long dry spell in Jammu and Kashmir, the weather office said.

Moderate to light snowfall occurred in the higher reaches of the state while rain fell in the plains in the last 12 hours, it said.

"Weather will remain wet with widespread rain and snow here from Wednesday to Saturday," said an official of the MET department.

Snowfall in mountain passes closed the Srinagar-Leh, Bandipora-Gurez and the Mughal road that connects the valley with Rajouri in Jammu region.

While snow in the ski resort of Gulmarg prompted many tourists to extend their stay, hoteliers at the resort said.

There was snowfall in Pahalgam and Sonamarg hill stations while Srinagar received rain.

Even the plains of Ganderbal, Bandipora, Kupwara, Shopian, Kulgam, Pulwama and Badgam districts received some snow during the night.

The minimum temperature recorded in the night was minus 0.1 in Srinagar, minus 3.6 in Gulmarg, 12.1 in Jammu, 11.7 in Katra, 4.1 in Batote, 3.4 in Bannihal, and 3.0 degrees Celsisus in Bhaderwah, the official said.

At least 67 trains were running late and six cancelled due to dense fog in parts of north India on Wednesday morning, a railway official said.

Out of the six cancelled trains, four of them were to depart on Wednesday while two were to depart on Thursday.

Apart from that, as many as 15 trains were rescheduled on Wednesday, the official said.

The trains cancelled on Wednesday included the Varanasi-Jodhpur Marudhar Express, New Delhi-Varanasi Kashi Vishwanath, Dehradun-Howrah Upsana Express and New Delhi-Rajendra Nagar Rajdhani Express.

Delhi Junction-Malda Town Farakka Express and New Delhi-Puri Express were cancelled for Thursday.

Stocks rose for a second session on Wednesday as local sentiment was buoyed by strong gains in Asia and a robust overnight close on Wall Street. Japanese equities rose 2 per cent on their first trading day for 2017 and markets in China and Korea were up modestly.

The Nifty rose 15 points to 8,207 points in late morning trade as investors pressed the buy button on metals, media, pharma and realty stocks. The mood was chirpy on Dalal Street where 1,553 shares rose versus 526 that fell.

Meanwhile, here are the major events in the trading day so far:

* The Sensex gains 25 points to 26,669 points on the Bombay Stock Exchange with Tata Motors as the top gainer and Reliance Industries as the top loser. HDFC was the top traded stock on the index.

* Bharti Infratel, Tata Motors, ONGC and Hindalco rose between 1.4-2.3 per cent, and were among 36 shares that rose on the Nifty.

* Reliance Industries, Kotak Bank, BPCL, ACC and Bharti Airtel dropped 0.6-1.1 per cent and were among 15 shares that lost ground on the Nifty.

* Bharat Financial, HDFC, Maruti and Century Textiles were the top traded shares by value.

* JP Associates, Jain Irrigation and GMR Infra saw intense volume activity in the first 1.5 hours of trade.

* Broader market indices inched up by 0.1-0.2 per cent and demand for quality mid caps and small caps remained undimmed.

* All four banking indices remained under pressure with losses amounting to 0.1-0.4 per cent; FMCG stocks were under pressure as well. Indices tracking the software, metals, media and auto sectors rose smartly.

* Sentiment was robust in the derivatives market where 118 futures rose versus 56 that declined.

* Hectic speculative activity was seen in futures of Bharat Financials and Century Textiles as they were the top traded futures.

* Futures of DCB Bank, Havells, Tata Elxsi and Jain Irrigation showed higher than average volume activity.

Stocks rose for a second session on Wednesday as local sentiment was buoyed by strong gains in Asia and a robust overnight close on Wall Street. Japanese equities rose 2 per cent on their first trading day for 2017 and markets in China and Korea were up modestly.

The Nifty rose 15 points to 8,207 points in late morning trade as investors pressed the buy button on metals, media, pharma and realty stocks. The mood was chirpy on Dalal Street where 1,553 shares rose versus 526 that fell.

Meanwhile, here are the major events in the trading day so far:

* The Sensex gains 25 points to 26,669 points on the Bombay Stock Exchange with Tata Motors as the top gainer and Reliance Industries as the top loser. HDFC was the top traded stock on the index.

* Bharti Infratel, Tata Motors, ONGC and Hindalco rose between 1.4-2.3 per cent, and were among 36 shares that rose on the Nifty.

* Reliance Industries, Kotak Bank, BPCL, ACC and Bharti Airtel dropped 0.6-1.1 per cent and were among 15 shares that lost ground on the Nifty.

* Bharat Financial, HDFC, Maruti and Century Textiles were the top traded shares by value.

* JP Associates, Jain Irrigation and GMR Infra saw intense volume activity in the first 1.5 hours of trade.

* Broader market indices inched up by 0.1-0.2 per cent and demand for quality mid caps and small caps remained undimmed.

* All four banking indices remained under pressure with losses amounting to 0.1-0.4 per cent; FMCG stocks were under pressure as well. Indices tracking the software, metals, media and auto sectors rose smartly.

* Sentiment was robust in the derivatives market where 118 futures rose versus 56 that declined.

* Hectic speculative activity was seen in futures of Bharat Financials and Century Textiles as they were the top traded futures.

* Futures of DCB Bank, Havells, Tata Elxsi and Jain Irrigation showed higher than average volume activity.

A guard was killed and 158 inmates escaped when gunmen attacked a prison facility in southern Philippines on Wednesday morning, authorities said.

Jail Officer Peter Bongat said the gunmen attacked the prison in North Cotabato province around 4.00 a.m. (local time), Xinhua news agency reported.

He said the facility houses 1,511 inmates, including some "high profile" prisoners, belonging to the rebel group Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters operating in Mindanao.

Another man was also injured in the pre-dawn attack.

The Philippines, which is predominantly Catholic, has been battling separatists in the south for decades.

Groups like the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and Abu Sayyaf have conducted terror attacks as well as kidnapping tourists for ransom.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

A witness said the attackers, clad in black suit and armed with firearms, stormed the jail apparently to free some inmates serving sentences for murder and illegal drugs.

Bongat said a manhunt was underway to recapture the escaped prisoners.

In August last year, three inmates facing charges of illegal possession of explosives and drugs also escaped from the same jail.

A guard was killed and 158 inmates escaped when gunmen attacked a prison facility in southern Philippines on Wednesday morning, authorities said.

Jail Officer Peter Bongat said the gunmen attacked the prison in North Cotabato province around 4.00 a.m. (local time), Xinhua news agency reported.

He said the facility houses 1,511 inmates, including some "high profile" prisoners, belonging to the rebel group Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters operating in Mindanao.

Another man was also injured in the pre-dawn attack.

The Philippines, which is predominantly Catholic, has been battling separatists in the south for decades.

Groups like the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and Abu Sayyaf have conducted terror attacks as well as kidnapping tourists for ransom.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

A witness said the attackers, clad in black suit and armed with firearms, stormed the jail apparently to free some inmates serving sentences for murder and illegal drugs.

Bongat said a manhunt was underway to recapture the escaped prisoners.

In August last year, three inmates facing charges of illegal possession of explosives and drugs also escaped from the same jail.

The Rupee firmed up by 12 paise to 68.21 against the US Dollar on Wednesday at the Interbank Foreign Exchange after selling of the American currency by exporters and banks intensified.

Dealers said fresh selling of the American unit and the Dollar's weakness against other currencies overseas, barring Yen, gave the Rupee more muscle.

Further, a higher opening in the domestic equity market supported the Rupee uptrend, they added.

On Tuesday, the Rupee had lost 11 paise to close at a fresh one-month low of 68.33 against the American currency on heavy Dollar demand from corporates and importers.

Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex climbed 58.55 points, or 0.21 per cent, to 26,701.79 in morning trade.

China plans to conduct some 30 space launch missions in 2017, a record-breaking number in the country's space history, said China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

Long March-5 and Long March-7 rockets would be used to carry out most of the space missions, the China News Service reported.

Long March-5 is China's largest carrier rocket. The successful test launch of the vehicle in November in Hainan would pave the way for space station construction, analysts said.

Wang Yu, general director of the Long March-5 program, said 2017 is a critical year for China's new generation of carrier rockets and the Long March-5 rockets would carry Chang'e-5 probe to space. 

The probe would land on the moon, collect samples and return to Earth.

On the other hand, Long March-7, the more powerful version of Long March-2, would send China's first cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-1 into the space in the first half of 2017, according to Wang Zhaoyao, director of China Manned Space Engineering Office. 

Tianzhou-1 was expected to dock with Tiangong-2 space lab and conduct experiments on propellant supplement, People's Daily reported.

China conducted 22 launch missions in 2016 and 19 in 2015. The country successfully tested its Long March-7 rocket in June 2016, and has gradually shifted to new generation rockets that reduce the use of toxic rocket fuels.

A low-intensity earthquake shook Arunachal Pradesh on Wednesday.

According to reports of National Center for Seismology, the epicentre of the quake, which measured 4.3 on the Richter scale was reported at Kurung Kumey district of the state.

The tremors were felt at 1:20 am.

There was no report of any casualty or damage to property.

Another moderate quake of magnitude 5.4 was recorded along the India-Myanmar border region at 12.20 am.

Tremors were felt across Assam and Northeast, as an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.7 rocked Tripura, near the India-Bangladesh border on Tuesday.

The whole of the Premier League will be watching Wednesday night’s clash between Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea, hoping the former does everyone a favour by somehow finding a way to beat Antonio Conte’s all-conquering Blues side.

After winning 13 games in a row, Chelsea seem to have no equals but at this stage, complacency does set in and Spurs’ vibrant side are perhaps the only team in the league who can script an upset.

It’s not often that a visiting side comes to White Hart Lane and makes Spurs feel like the underdog, but it rings true in this case as both sides will look to win 

Tottenham Hotspur

The Lilywhites are on a run of their own, having won their last four games in a row, scoring 11 and conceding just three. 

They have lost just two games this season and after their unbeaten streak was snapped ironically by Chelsea in November, Maurico Pochettino’s men will want revenge.

Club captain Hugo Lloris leads from the back as Spurs play an extremely high-line, which enables them to press higher up the pitch than is the norm. 

While Pochettino played a 4-2-3-1 formation in the November loss at Chelsea, one feels he may mix things up with a 3-1-4-2 strategy this time.

Toby Alderweireld is the key man in defence and he will be tasked with marking danger man Diego Costa. Tottenham’s adventurous full-backs Danny Rose and Kyle Walker roles will be similar, regardless of the formation they trot out in and they could cause havoc with their speed.

Spurs have an in-form midfield, with the dynamic duo of Dele All and Christian Eriksen pulling the strings with some spectacular goals and sterling overall efforts.

And their striker Harry Kane is in red-hot form at the moment, only renewing most of the country’s hopes that perhaps they can prevent their arch-rivals from running away with the league. 

Erik Lamela is the only injured player in the Spurs team list, as Jan Vertongen and Kyle Walker have been passed fit to play, providing another boost for the home side.

Chelsea

When your team has won 13 games on the trot, one could assume there isn't much room for improvement. 

Antonio Conte, however, is no normal manager and he will be worried about the manner of Chelsea’s win over Stoke on the weekend.

A 4-2 scoreline and ultimately a comfortable win it was, but those two goals conceded suggest that Chelsea’s back-three isn't impregnable as once thought.

Thibaut Courtois has come under high praise in recent weeks from his manager, but he might be in for a tough time David Luiz’s and co might be stretched by the dynamic Spurs forward line.

In midfield, it is a toss-up between the defensively-sound Nemanja Matic and the ‘luxurious’ Cesc Fabregas as both have made their cases for a start after turning in impressive performances this season.

Chelsea’s real strength is with their wingers, as star-man Eden Hazard is a man who has to be kept under wraps for the entire 90 minutes. Giving him company will either be the mercurial Pedro or the indefatigable Willian, a dilemma which speaks volumes of Chelsea’s bench-strength.

While Spurs have Kane, the Blues have the irrepressible Diego Costa, the Premier League’s top-scorer who almost always has a telling contribution in every win. 

Super Stat: Chelsea will tie the record for most consecutive Premier League wins held by Arsenal if they beat Tottenham, although that record was set over two seasons.

US President-elect Donald Trump has said that he will hold a press conference here on January 11, the first since winning the November 8 election.

Trump made the announcement on Tuesday, tweeting that he will be having a "general news conference". He did not give any further details.

The Republican on November 30 said he would set a press conference for December 15 here to explain how he was going to move away from his private business.

However, the New York billionaire later called off the conference, saying he would give details later.

The latest anticipated press conference will be held nine days before he will be sworn in as the 45th President of the US.

Since winning the election, Trump has only occasionally given comments to reporters in the New York building that bears his name or at the door of his residences in New Jersey and Florida, but has been very active on social networks.