Covid-19 Fight

News Archives 2022

A five-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been constituted to probe the case of alleged hate speech delivered during 'Dharma Sansad' held in Haridwar. Garhwal deputy inspector general (DIG), Karan Singh Nagnyal said, "A 5-member SIT has been constituted under an SP-level officer to probe the matter of the Dharma Sansad hate speech case in Haridwar. Legal action to be taken against those found guilty."

India's formidably consistent match-winners have a date with history in the New Year when they take on an out-of-sorts South Africa in the second Test from Monday in pursuit of a coveted first-ever series win in the 'Rainbow Nation'.

Passenger vehicles sales had crossed the 30-lakh mark for the first time in 2017 where total sales stood at 32.3 lakh units. In 2018, the industry had closed at 33.95 lakh units, before slipping in 2019 to 29.62 lakh units.

Sarma, who was part of the meeting that decided to constitute a panel to look into Nagaland’s demand, said PM Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah’s approach had been “very positive”. He said tribal militancy in his state was over while a solution to the “conflict” with Paresh Baruah's Ulfa(I) was on the radar.

The IGP said security forces knew they were onto something after noticing that the face of one of the three terrorists killed in the cordon-and-search operation at Nowgam Dooru in Anantnag last Thursday matched that of Samir Dar in the police records. He had been initially identified as someone else.

Addressing farmers on the New Year’s Day, the PM said, "Many economic indicators are looking better than the pre-Covid19 phase... Our forex reserves have reached record levels. Old recor-ds have also been surpassed in GST collection."

While Oxfam India had reported around Rs 50 crore foreign receipts in 2020-21, other organisations like Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams and India Islamic Cultural Centre showed zero foreign receipts in the same year.

Omar Abdullah claimed, “Talk about a lawless police state, the police have even locked the internal gate connecting my father's home to my sister's. Yet our leaders have the cheek to tell the world that India is the largest democracy, hah!!

Preliminary reports suggested that over-exploitation of the mine beyond the permissible limit coupled with climatic conditions led to the cave-in. The Haryana government called in the Army from Hisar Cantt and a National Disaster Response Force team from Noida to conduct the rescue operation.

The revenues for December are 13% higher than the same month last year and 26% higher than the GST revenues in December 2019, according to data released by the finance ministry. The gross GST revenue collected in December totalled Rs 1,29,780 crore of which CGST is Rs 22,578 crore.

Government data shows petrol sales rising more than 4% and diesel consumption, a key measure of economic activity, increasing 1.4% in December from the same period of 2020, reinforcing the trend since October last year.

On New Year Day, India had reported 27,718 fresh cases by late night with data from two states awaited. This was over 5,000 more than the tally of 22,706 on Friday. Covid infections have exploded this week.

Rajasthan detected 52 new cases of Omicron, taking the state’s tally to 121. A senior health department official said: “Among the new cases, 38 wer found in Jaipur.” Four of the patients had come in contact with foreign travelers.

The inquiry, headed by Air Marshal Manvendra Singh, has apparently ruled out any major structural failure or technical snag in the twin-engine Mi-17 V5 chopper that crashed. “Two-three elements are being re-checked before the inquiry report is formally submitted next week,” said a source on Saturday.

In the wake of increasing Covid-19 cases in India, the Union health ministry on Saturday advised the state governments to initiate the process of setting up makeshift hospitals and constitute special teams to monitor patients in home isolation.

Transactions under Unified Payments Interface hit a record high of 456 crores in December 2021 surpassing the earlier high of 421 crore seen in October 2021. The total value of transactions in December was also a new record at Rs 8.27 lakh crore.

BCCI president Sourav Ganguly had tested positive for the delta plus variant of COVID-19 but was discharged after four days of hospitalisation as the infection was not severe and could be managed in home isolation, a hospital official said on Saturday.

Cash withdrawals will become marginally more expensive from January 1, 2022, as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced new rules for users exceeding their monthly free transactions.

Pakistan captain Babar Azam has termed the jinx-breaking win over India in the T20 World Cup as the "best moment" for his team in the year gone by. Summing up the year in a podcast released by the Pakistan Cricket Board on Friday, Babar said that losing to Australia in the semifinal stage of the same event was most disappointing for the entire side.

The United Arab Emirates will ban non-vaccinated citizens from traveling abroad from Jan. 10, the state news agency WAM reported on Saturday, citing the foreign ministry and the National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority.

At least one labourer was killed and two others injured after a landslide at Dadam mining zone of Tosham in Bhiwani district on Saturday morning. Three others were rescued out of the debris and were rushed to Hisar hospital.

The last of the surviving terrorists involved in the 2019 attack on a CRPF convoy in Pulwama has been killed in an encounter in Anantnag, said IGP Kashmir Vijay Kumar. Samir Dar, a top Jaish commander, was killed along with two others in the encounter on December 30, he said. Dar's dentity was confirmed after DNA tests.

At least 12 people died in a stampede at Mata Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu early on Saturday morning. The deceased include devotees from Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, and 1 from J&K. The stampede occurred outside the sanctum sanctorum after an argument broke out between devotees.

Covid-19 cases continued to spread in the country at an unprecedented pace for the fourth day running, with the last day of 2021 recording more than 22,000 fresh infections, a 36% jump over the previous day's tally. Daily pandemic numbers have risen nearly four-fold (3.6 times) in the four days since Monday.

India has “adequately enhanced” force-levels in areas where troop disengagement is yet to take place with China in eastern Ladakh, with the Indian Army continuing to deal with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in a firm manner to ensure sanctity of the country’s territorial integrity, the defence ministry said on Friday.

Political leaders including three former chief ministers were detained ahead of a march by the People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) to protest against the recommendations of the Delimitation Commission. Senior CPI (M) leader M Y Tarigami, who is the spokesperson of the alliance, said it was sad that the Jammu and Kashmir administration was "scared even to allow a peaceful protest".

IIT Delhi, Jamia Milia Islamia, Indian Medical Association and Nehru Memorial Museum and Library are among nearly 6,000 entities whose FCRA registration deemed to have ceased on Saturday. These entities either did not apply for renewal of their FCRA licence or the Union home ministry rejected their applications, officials said.

India logged 22,775 new Covid cases, 35 per cent jump from yesterday,according to the Union health ministry data updated on Saturday. There are 1,431 Omicron cases in India currently with 23 states reporting the new Covid-19 strain. The Covid-19 death toll has climbed to 4,81,486 with 406 fresh fatalities, according to the data updated at 8am.

The IT searches come close on the heels of the raids by the GST Intelligence on perfume trader Piyush Jain in Kanpur and Kannauj, where cash worth Rs 198 crore was recovered in the past few days apart from several kilograms of gold and sandalwood oil.

Much of the white ball cricket Rohit Sharma played turned into gold. This was also around 24 months before the 2019 50-over World Cup, where Rohit would go on to accumulate 648 runs, second only to Sachin Tendulkar and Matthew Hayden. As IPL captain, he had bagged four titles and gunning for his fifth.

As the world enters its third year of the Covid-19 pandemic, the World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was confident that the pandemic will end in 2022 "if we end inequity" together. "The longer inequity continues, the higher the risks of this virus evolving in ways we can't prevent or predict. If we end inequity, we end the pandemic," Tedros said.

Nearly 31,000 complaints of crimes committed against women were received by the National Commission for Women (NCW) last year, the highest since 2014, with over half of them from Uttar Pradesh. There was a 30 per cent rise in complaints of crimes against women in 2021 as compared to 2020. Of the 30,864 complaints, 11,013 were related to the right to live with dignity, according to NCW data.

Top government officials had a high-level meeting with senior functionaries from Apple, where they asked the Tim Cook-led company to develop India as a global sourcing base which would be used to export fully-built products across the world, on similar lines to what is being achieved out of China currently.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un vowed to further bolster his military capability, maintain draconian anti-virus measures and push hard to improve the economy during a speech at a key political conference this week, state media reported Saturday. Kim ordered the production of powerful, modern weapons systems to improve his military forces.

Official sources said that while preparations to tend to patients needing hospital care — as a result of a cumulatively higher number of cases — were on, evidence provided by domestic and global studies pointed to India’s expanding vaccination coverage and hybrid immunity delivering a high level of protection against serious disease.

As per the notification issued by NCERT director Sridhar Srivastava, the focus groups will have a one-year tenure and have to submit their position papers to the National Steering Committee by March 2022 for further discussion and necessary action to be taken for developing the NCFs.

In their 30 years of touring history in South Africa, the Wanderers is one venue where they have never lost a Test match and there have been milestones galore. Be it coach Rahul Dravid's first Test ton in 1997 or India's first Test win in South Africa in 2006, India have always been a force at this venue where swing and seam bowlers have held sway.

Only 69% of those above 60 years, the most vulnerable population, has been fully vaccinated. Almost 73% of those in the 45 to 59 age group have been fully vaccinated, while a little over 55% of the 18-44 age group has received both shots.

On December 21, the I-T department conducted country-wide search and seizure operations on certain foreign-controlled mobile communication and mobile handset manufacturing companies, and people linked to them.

“Law enforcement agencies work on actionable inputs and then they conduct searches... Those questioning the searches, I want to ask them... Did the agencies come empty handed? No. It means the inputs provided were correct,” Sitharaman said when asked about the tax raids.

The Centre advised states to expedite procurement of necessary testing equipment and set up multiple RAT booths on a 24/7 basis and permit RAT at government and private hospitals, including all districts hospitals and primary healthcare centres.

There are 2014 RT-PCR labs, 941 TrueNat, 132 CBNAAT and 30 others. There are more than 200 manufacturers of RT-PCR test kits while 53 are making rapid antigen kits. A total of seven home-testing RATs should be available soon and daily testing capacity is in excess of 20 lakh, said official sources.

India reported 168 Omicron cases on Friday — lower than 263 on Thursday and 215 on Wednesday — taking the country’s total tally to 1,379. While Maharashtra just reported four cases, a sharp fall from 198 the previous day, Delhi led the states in single-day tally with 57 cases.

Israel, which led a world beating vaccination programme in 2020, will administer a fourth dose of the vaccine to individuals with weakened immune systems along with elderly residents and employees in care homes. Israel introduced new restrictions late Thursday in a bid to curb rising infection rates ahead of New Year's eve celebrations.

As the new Omicron variant is said to have mutations that may be helping it escape the body’s first line of defence, antibodies, studies have highlighted a bigger role that the immune system’s second line of defence, T-cells, may play. T cells, the body's weapon against virus-infected cells, were primed enough by vaccination that they defended against Omicron, separate studies have found.

​Sourav Ganguly will be in home isolation under doctors' supervision and has not been infected with the Omicron variant, hospital authorities said. He was rushed to the Woodlands Multispeciality hospital on Monday night as a precautionary measure after his RT-PCR test came positive for COVID-19.

US health officials have said early data show Omicron appears less severe but have continued to push vaccinations, masks and physical distancing. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has also issued new guidelines shortening isolation and quarantine periods, which have been criticized by some disease experts and health care workers.

The BMC has received a record sum of over Rs 11,000 crore so far this year from Mumbai’s builders rushing to avail of the 50% discount on premiums offered from January 2021. Civic sources said the final kitty may cross Rs 12,000 crore when the one-year discount window shuts on Friday evening.

Announcing relief for NGOs and associations who have applied for renewal of their registration under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act but still await a decision, the home ministry on Friday extended the validity of their FCRA licence expiring between September 29, 2020 and March 31, 2022, until March 31, 2022 or till disposal of their application, whichever is earlier.

India on Monday reported 33,750 new Covid cases, 22 percent jump from yesterday while the active cases rose to 1,45,582, according to the Union health ministry data. There are 1,700 Omicron cases in India with 23 states reporting the new Covid-19 strain. Maharashtra continues to be the worst-affected state with 510 cases followed by Delhi, which has 351 infections.

Tesla, led by billionaire CEO Elon Musk, delivered 308,600 vehicles in the fourth quarter, far higher than analysts' forecasts of 263,026 vehicles. It was the sixth consecutive quarter that the world's most valuable automaker posted record deliveries.

The Centre told the SC that it would stick to the Rs 8 lakh annual income limit criteria that entitles EWS candidates to a 10% reservation in admissions to educational institutions, including medical colleges, and government jobs, but promised to tweak other EWS- related criteria a bit from next year.

“This was a BAT action,” an Army officer said, underscoring that it was clearly a “complete breach of the ceasefire understanding” between the two nations. The Pakistan Army has been contacted and asked to take the body.

The Centre has advised states and Union Territories to provide separate vaccination centres, session sites, queue and different vaccination teams for the 15-18 year age group to avoid any inadvertent mixing of vaccines.

The vaccines under development globally include Betuvax-CoV-2, Inovio (INO-4800), Valneva (VLA2001), Oravax, Gritstone (GRT-R910), Daiichi Sankyo (DS-5670) and KM Biologics (KD-414). Some of these could be used as boosters or independent vaccines, latest data compiled by Unicef says.

The uploading of pictures on the ‘Bulli Bai’ app was similar to the ‘Sulli Deals’ upload last July. Once opened, the face of a minority community woman would be randomly displayed as ‘Bulli Bai’. No concrete action has been taken against the perpetrators in the ‘Sulli Deals’ case yet.

Shared exclusively with TOI, the report shows Ahmedabad has emerged strongly as one of the fastest-growing cities in the country. Among tier-2 cities, Chandigarh tops the chart in salaries paid at the junior (average CTC Rs 5.7 lakh per annum) and mid levels (Rs 13.7 lakh) — ahead of the national averages of Rs 4.4 lakh and Rs 11 lakh, respectively.

In a high-level meeting with states on Sunday, health minister Mansukh Mandaviya asked states to leave no stone unturned in ramping up infrastructure to manage a surge, the health ministry said in a statement.

DIG Garhwal Karan Singh Nagnyal said that the SIT is headed by Dehradun SP (rural) Kamlesh Upadhyay and has one circle officer, one inspector and two sub-inspectors as its members. “The decision to form the SIT was taken since the issue is sensitive", he said.

Odisha recorded 23 new infections, its biggest single-day jump so far, taking the total tally to 37. Of the 23 fresh cases, 10 have no recent history of foreign travel. Telangana recorded five cases, taking the state tally to 84.

India recorded nearly 1.3 lakh fresh cases during the week (December 27-January 2) — a 12-week high — as compared with the previous week's tally of 46,073, which ironically was the lowest since the middle of May 2020.

PM Narendra Modi said youths will now get the right kind of opportunities in games. He said till five years ago, daughters in UP were afraid to move out of their houses after sunset but now they are “rising like stars” .

The elusive sibling (sub-lineage) of the Omicron variant, BA.2, cannot be picked up by the imported RT-PCR kit having an S-gene drop, researchers involved in tracking the virus in India said on Sunday. The variant has three sub-lineages BA.1, BA.2, and BA.3.

As Covid infections rose nearly 12-fold in just seven days, the West Bengal government brought back stricter curbs on Sunday shutting all educational institutions from Monday and restricting flights from the country's capital Delhi and financial capital Mumbai besides asking all offices to operate with a half their workforce.

A Pakistani national was killed by the Army while trying to infiltrate into Kashmir in Kupwara district, an official said on Sunday. An AK-47 and large quantity of ammunition was recovered from him, the official said.

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Sunday said states and union territories should take necessary measures, including setting up separate vaccination centres, to avoid mixing-up of Covid vaccines during administration of shots to those in the 15-18 age group.

India Test skipper Virat Kohli has been phenomenal despite "all the noise around him", head coach Rahul Dravid said on Sunday, lending support to the superstar batter who is locked in a war of words with the BCCI over the way his white-ball captaincy tenure ended.

The Railways earned Rs 403 crore from tatkal ticket charges, an additional Rs 119 crore from premium tatkal tickets, and Rs 511 crore from dynamic fares during 2020-21, even as much of its operations remained suspended through most of the year due to the Covid pandemic, revealed an RTI reply.

Pakistan's far-right Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) chief Sirajul Haq has called for the country's Prime Minister Imran Khan's resignation saying that there are mafias all over the country, and 2022 will be the last year of the ruling government.

Aerosport enthusiasts in India may soon not have to go abroad for skydiving and other related activities. The Jyotiraditya Scindia-led Union aviation ministry on Saturday issued the draft National Air Sports Policy (NASP) 2022 that aims to make India one of the top — and safest — destinations for this super-exciting field by 2030.

Former India wicketkeeper-batter Syed Saba Karim is surprised with the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) decision to make pace bowler Jasprit Bumrah the vice-captain of the team for the three-match One-day International series against South Africa.

A five-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been constituted to probe the case of alleged hate speech delivered during 'Dharma Sansad' held in Haridwar. Garhwal deputy inspector general (DIG), Karan Singh Nagnyal said, "A 5-member SIT has been constituted under an SP-level officer to probe the matter of the Dharma Sansad hate speech case in Haridwar. Legal action to be taken against those found guilty."

Sarma, who was part of the meeting that decided to constitute a panel to look into Nagaland’s demand, said PM Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah’s approach had been “very positive”. He said tribal militancy in his state was over while a solution to the “conflict” with Paresh Baruah's Ulfa(I) was on the radar.

A major fire broke out in the South African parliament building in Cape Town on Sunday. "The roof has caught fire and the National Assembly building is also on fire," a spokesman for the city's emergency services told AFP, requesting reinforcements at the scene. "The fire is not under control and cracks in the walls of the building have been reported," he added.

Judges are hearing tearful expressions of remorse — and a litany of excuses — from rioters paying a price for joining the January 6 insurrection, even as others try to play down the deadly attack on the US Capitol. So far, 71 people have been sentenced for riot-related crimes. They include a company CEO, an architect, a retired Air Force colonel, a gym owner, a former Houston police officer and a student.

Passenger vehicles sales had crossed the 30-lakh mark for the first time in 2017 where total sales stood at 32.3 lakh units. In 2018, the industry had closed at 33.95 lakh units, before slipping in 2019 to 29.62 lakh units.

India's formidably consistent match-winners have a date with history in the New Year when they take on an out-of-sorts South Africa in the second Test from Monday in pursuit of a coveted first-ever series win in the 'Rainbow Nation'.

The IGP said security forces knew they were onto something after noticing that the face of one of the three terrorists killed in the cordon-and-search operation at Nowgam Dooru in Anantnag last Thursday matched that of Samir Dar in the police records. He had been initially identified as someone else.

Addressing farmers on the New Year’s Day, the PM said, "Many economic indicators are looking better than the pre-Covid19 phase... Our forex reserves have reached record levels. Old recor-ds have also been surpassed in GST collection."

While Oxfam India had reported around Rs 50 crore foreign receipts in 2020-21, other organisations like Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams and India Islamic Cultural Centre showed zero foreign receipts in the same year.

Omar Abdullah claimed, “Talk about a lawless police state, the police have even locked the internal gate connecting my father's home to my sister's. Yet our leaders have the cheek to tell the world that India is the largest democracy, hah!!

Preliminary reports suggested that over-exploitation of the mine beyond the permissible limit coupled with climatic conditions led to the cave-in. The Haryana government called in the Army from Hisar Cantt and a National Disaster Response Force team from Noida to conduct the rescue operation.

The revenues for December are 13% higher than the same month last year and 26% higher than the GST revenues in December 2019, according to data released by the finance ministry. The gross GST revenue collected in December totalled Rs 1,29,780 crore of which CGST is Rs 22,578 crore.

Government data shows petrol sales rising more than 4% and diesel consumption, a key measure of economic activity, increasing 1.4% in December from the same period of 2020, reinforcing the trend since October last year.

On New Year Day, India had reported 27,718 fresh cases by late night with data from two states awaited. This was over 5,000 more than the tally of 22,706 on Friday. Covid infections have exploded this week.

Rajasthan detected 52 new cases of Omicron, taking the state’s tally to 121. A senior health department official said: “Among the new cases, 38 wer found in Jaipur.” Four of the patients had come in contact with foreign travelers.

The inquiry, headed by Air Marshal Manvendra Singh, has apparently ruled out any major structural failure or technical snag in the twin-engine Mi-17 V5 chopper that crashed. “Two-three elements are being re-checked before the inquiry report is formally submitted next week,” said a source on Saturday.

In the wake of increasing Covid-19 cases in India, the Union health ministry on Saturday advised the state governments to initiate the process of setting up makeshift hospitals and constitute special teams to monitor patients in home isolation.

Transactions under Unified Payments Interface hit a record high of 456 crores in December 2021 surpassing the earlier high of 421 crore seen in October 2021. The total value of transactions in December was also a new record at Rs 8.27 lakh crore.

BCCI president Sourav Ganguly had tested positive for the delta plus variant of COVID-19 but was discharged after four days of hospitalisation as the infection was not severe and could be managed in home isolation, a hospital official said on Saturday.

Cash withdrawals will become marginally more expensive from January 1, 2022, as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced new rules for users exceeding their monthly free transactions.

Pakistan captain Babar Azam has termed the jinx-breaking win over India in the T20 World Cup as the "best moment" for his team in the year gone by. Summing up the year in a podcast released by the Pakistan Cricket Board on Friday, Babar said that losing to Australia in the semifinal stage of the same event was most disappointing for the entire side.

The United Arab Emirates will ban non-vaccinated citizens from traveling abroad from Jan. 10, the state news agency WAM reported on Saturday, citing the foreign ministry and the National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority.

At least one labourer was killed and two others injured after a landslide at Dadam mining zone of Tosham in Bhiwani district on Saturday morning. Three others were rescued out of the debris and were rushed to Hisar hospital.

The last of the surviving terrorists involved in the 2019 attack on a CRPF convoy in Pulwama has been killed in an encounter in Anantnag, said IGP Kashmir Vijay Kumar. Samir Dar, a top Jaish commander, was killed along with two others in the encounter on December 30, he said. Dar's dentity was confirmed after DNA tests.

At least 12 people died in a stampede at Mata Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu early on Saturday morning. The deceased include devotees from Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, and 1 from J&K. The stampede occurred outside the sanctum sanctorum after an argument broke out between devotees.

Covid-19 cases continued to spread in the country at an unprecedented pace for the fourth day running, with the last day of 2021 recording more than 22,000 fresh infections, a 36% jump over the previous day's tally. Daily pandemic numbers have risen nearly four-fold (3.6 times) in the four days since Monday.

India has “adequately enhanced” force-levels in areas where troop disengagement is yet to take place with China in eastern Ladakh, with the Indian Army continuing to deal with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in a firm manner to ensure sanctity of the country’s territorial integrity, the defence ministry said on Friday.

Political leaders including three former chief ministers were detained ahead of a march by the People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) to protest against the recommendations of the Delimitation Commission. Senior CPI (M) leader M Y Tarigami, who is the spokesperson of the alliance, said it was sad that the Jammu and Kashmir administration was "scared even to allow a peaceful protest".

In the major Indian cities, the Omicron variant of the coronavirus is accounting for more than 50 per cent of the fresh cases of the infection and the massive surge in the number of cases over the last one week is indicative of a third wave of the pandemic, as is being witnessed in several countries, Dr N K Arora, the chairman of the Covid-19 working group of the NTAGI, said on Tuesday.

Chief Justice of India NV Ramana on Tuesday agreed to post EWS quota case for hearing on January 5, after the Centre on Monday requested the Supreme Court to urgently hear a case relating to reservation of Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) category in NEET admissions for Post-Graduate medical courses.

The rise and fall of Holmes, who on Monday was convicted of defrauding investors of her biotech startup, is a heavily-chronicled saga that prompted a hard look at her methods but also the unseemly aspects of startup life.

The BSE gauge sensex rose over 277 points in opening deals on Tuesday, tracking overall buoyancy in global markets led by record-setting US stocks. Continuing its winning momentum, the 30-share benchmark opened with significant gains and saw further consolidation as the trade progressed. In initial deals the Sensex was trading at 59,461.07 - clocking a gain of 277.85 points or 0.47 per cent.

Daily Covid hospitalisations in the city have increased by 15% in the past four days amid a sharp rise in cases. The civic-run jumbo centres are racing against time to add beds, while private hospitals have started reconverting many of their non-Covid wards to Covid sections.

India on Tuesday reported 37,379 new Covid cases, the highest since early September while the active cases rose to 1,71,830, according to the Union health ministry data. There are 1,892 Omicron cases in India with 23 states reporting the new Covid-19 strain. Maharashtra continues to be the worst-affected state with 568 cases followed by Delhi, which has 382 infections.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal tested positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday. "I have tested positive for Covid. Mild symptoms. Have isolated myself at home," tweeted Kejriwal. He requested all those who came in touch with him in the last few days to isolate themselves and get tested for Covid-19.

More than one million people in a city in central China were being confined to their homes on Tuesday after three asymptomatic coronavirus cases were recorded in the country's latest mass lockdown. Beijing has pursued a "zero Covid" approach with tight border restrictions and targeted lockdowns since the virus first emerged.

The market's solid start to 2022 follows another banner year for stocks on Wall Street. The S&P 500 rose 0.6% and the Dow finished 0.7% higher. Both indexes eclipsed the record highs they set last Wednesday. The Nasdaq composite rose 1.2%.

Fallen US biotech star Elizabeth Holmes was convicted on Monday of defrauding investors in her blood-testing startup Theranos, in a high-profile case seen as an indictment of Silicon Valley culture. The 37-year-old now faces the possibility of 20 years behind bars for each conviction.

On the first day of trading in 2022, the Silicon Valley company's shares hit an intraday record high of $182.88, putting Apple's market value just above $3 trillion. The stock ended the session up 2.5% at $182.01, with Apple's market capitalization at $2.99 trillion.

Solicitor general Tushar Mehta infomed a bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud that the committee headed by ex-finance secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey, which was tasked to revisit the criteria for candidate’s inclusion in EWS category, has already submitted its recommendations and that the Centre has filed the report before the court.

Virat Kohli found himself ruled out of the second Test at the Wanderers following upper back spasms. Kohli has always been a fitness fanatic. But he has had a bit of a history of back problems, even though that hadn't forced him to pull out of a game of this magnitude before.

India got 202, which is more than what they got at the same venue four years ago, when they won the Test. Ashwin, though, felt India are a bit short. "Totals in South Africa can be tricky and it's always good to win the toss and bat first. Ideally we should have got 260-270 and we are a few runs short, but we have the bowling to make a match of it," Ashwin said.

Vaccination of the 15-18 cohort accounted for around 42% of the total doses administered till 10pm. The highest number of youngsters — over 7.7 lakh — turned up for vaccination in Madhya Pradesh, followed by Gujarat with a footfall of over 5.6 lakh, Andhra Pradesh (4.9 lakh), Karnataka (4.1 lakh) and Rajasthan (3.6 lakh).

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is further strengthening its military infrastructure with additional troop shelters, gun positions, helipads and jetties in the area between 'Finger-8’ and its military bases to the east at Sirijap-I and II on the north bank of the Pangong lake. The new bridge is coming up in the Khurnak Fort area.

The day’s session saw banking & financials and metal stocks lead the rally while healthcare stocks, despite the rising uncertainty because of the spread of the Omicron variant, witnessed selling pressure. As a result, BSE’s financial, banking and metal indices, all closed with gains of over 2%.

The department of personnel and training on Monday evening appointed Mittal to the post, 72 hours after it fell vacant when Subhash Kumar, who too held the charge since February 2021 in addition to his regular job as director (finance), retired on December 31.

The meeting was attended by the heads of central intelligence agencies, central armed police forces, intelligence wings of the armed forces, and revenue and financial intelligence agencies. The police chiefs of all states and UTs joined the meeting via video-conferencing.

Over a dozen companies, including Hetero, Sun Pharma, Natco and Dr Reddy’s are in the process of rolling out the oral therapy developed by Merck and and its partner, Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, at prices ranging between Rs 1,500 and Rs 2,500 for the complete treatment, sources told TOI.

An official of the Union health ministry said, “The glitch stemmed from CoWIN’s update process and was immediately taken care of.” On December 27, the Centre had said beneficiaries aged between 15 and 18 years could self-register for vaccination through an existing account on CoWIN.

Daily cases invariably dip on Mondays due to lower testing and detections over the weekend. This is the first time in over four months that the case count has defied this trend. The last time this happened was on August 23.

Last month, the BMC had submitted that it hasn’t taken over a portion of land from Pratiksha bungalow plot as it does not have a contractor in place for the road-widening project. It has said that it would raze the compound wall and acquire the land in the next financial year.

This the second instance of delays being faced by coal block owners in Chattisgarh. As first reported by TOI, Rajasthan was the first to knock on the Centre’s doors over Chhattisgarh govt delaying clearances for starting two new mines and ramping up production from two others allotted to Rajasthan.

Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane's saga of failures compounded a shoddy batting performance by India even as stand-in skipper KL Rahul impressed with a defiant show amid the ruins on the opening day of the second Test against South Africa on Monday.

The US Food and Drug Administration on Monday authorized the use of a third dose of the Pfizer and BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for children aged between 12 and 15 years, and narrowed the time for all booster shots to 5 months from 6 months after primary doses.

India achieved its highest ever exports of $37.29 billion in December, an increase by 37 per cent on an annual basis, data released by government showed on Monday. Addressing the media, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal assured that India is on track to achieve an export target of $400 billion in financial year 2021-22.

Equity indices kicked off the new year on a positive note with the benchmark BSE sensex rising over 900 points led by gains in financial, banking and metal stocks. The 30-share BSE index surged 929 points or 1.6 per cent to close at 59,183. While, the broader NSE Nifty settled 272 points or 1.57 per cent higher at 17,626.

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Lakhimpur Kheri violence, which claimed eight lives, has filed a chargesheet against 14 accused, including Union minister Ajay Mishra's son Ashish Mishra. The chargesheet was filed in the court of chief judicial magistrate (CJM) Chinta Ram on Monday. Another accused Virendra Shukla's name has been added in the chargesheet.

The upper back spasm that ruled Virat Kohli out of the second Test against South Africa could well be a recurrence of the slip disc problem that had stopped him from playing English County cricket back in 2018.

Sterling and Wilson Renewable Energy Ltd (SWREL) on Monday said that Reliance New Energy Solar Ltd (RNESL) has become its promoter post payment of balance Rs 1,583 crore for acquisition of 25.90 per cent equity in it.

The Delhi high court on Monday extended the time for filing replies by Facebook and WhatsApp to two notices issued to them by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) which has ordered a probe into the instant messaging app's new privacy policy.

In what came as a surprise and shock in equal measure, India's Test skipper Virat Kohli was ruled out of the second Test against South Africa at the Wanderers in Johannesburg because of upper back spasm. Hanuma Vihari took Kohli's place in the eleven.

Future Retail has sought to halt and terminate Amazon’s case at a Singapore arbitration tribunal, a move that could allow the cash-strapped retailer to sell some of its assets to Reliance Industries.

India on Monday reported 33,750 new Covid cases, 22 percent jump from yesterday while the active cases rose to 1,45,582, according to the Union health ministry data. There are 1,700 Omicron cases in India with 23 states reporting the new Covid-19 strain. Maharashtra continues to be the worst-affected state with 510 cases followed by Delhi, which has 351 infections.

Schools and colleges in Goa will remain closed till January 26 in view of a surge in Covid cases in the coastal state, Dr. Shekhar Salkar, a member of the Goa government's task force for Covid management said on Monday.

Tesla, led by billionaire CEO Elon Musk, delivered 308,600 vehicles in the fourth quarter, far higher than analysts' forecasts of 263,026 vehicles. It was the sixth consecutive quarter that the world's most valuable automaker posted record deliveries.

The Centre told the SC that it would stick to the Rs 8 lakh annual income limit criteria that entitles EWS candidates to a 10% reservation in admissions to educational institutions, including medical colleges, and government jobs, but promised to tweak other EWS- related criteria a bit from next year.

“This was a BAT action,” an Army officer said, underscoring that it was clearly a “complete breach of the ceasefire understanding” between the two nations. The Pakistan Army has been contacted and asked to take the body.

The Centre has advised states and Union Territories to provide separate vaccination centres, session sites, queue and different vaccination teams for the 15-18 year age group to avoid any inadvertent mixing of vaccines.

The vaccines under development globally include Betuvax-CoV-2, Inovio (INO-4800), Valneva (VLA2001), Oravax, Gritstone (GRT-R910), Daiichi Sankyo (DS-5670) and KM Biologics (KD-414). Some of these could be used as boosters or independent vaccines, latest data compiled by Unicef says.

The uploading of pictures on the ‘Bulli Bai’ app was similar to the ‘Sulli Deals’ upload last July. Once opened, the face of a minority community woman would be randomly displayed as ‘Bulli Bai’. No concrete action has been taken against the perpetrators in the ‘Sulli Deals’ case yet.

Shared exclusively with TOI, the report shows Ahmedabad has emerged strongly as one of the fastest-growing cities in the country. Among tier-2 cities, Chandigarh tops the chart in salaries paid at the junior (average CTC Rs 5.7 lakh per annum) and mid levels (Rs 13.7 lakh) — ahead of the national averages of Rs 4.4 lakh and Rs 11 lakh, respectively.

In a high-level meeting with states on Sunday, health minister Mansukh Mandaviya asked states to leave no stone unturned in ramping up infrastructure to manage a surge, the health ministry said in a statement.

DIG Garhwal Karan Singh Nagnyal said that the SIT is headed by Dehradun SP (rural) Kamlesh Upadhyay and has one circle officer, one inspector and two sub-inspectors as its members. “The decision to form the SIT was taken since the issue is sensitive", he said.

Odisha recorded 23 new infections, its biggest single-day jump so far, taking the total tally to 37. Of the 23 fresh cases, 10 have no recent history of foreign travel. Telangana recorded five cases, taking the state tally to 84.

India recorded nearly 1.3 lakh fresh cases during the week (December 27-January 2) — a 12-week high — as compared with the previous week's tally of 46,073, which ironically was the lowest since the middle of May 2020.

PM Narendra Modi said youths will now get the right kind of opportunities in games. He said till five years ago, daughters in UP were afraid to move out of their houses after sunset but now they are “rising like stars” .

The elusive sibling (sub-lineage) of the Omicron variant, BA.2, cannot be picked up by the imported RT-PCR kit having an S-gene drop, researchers involved in tracking the virus in India said on Sunday. The variant has three sub-lineages BA.1, BA.2, and BA.3.

As Covid infections rose nearly 12-fold in just seven days, the West Bengal government brought back stricter curbs on Sunday shutting all educational institutions from Monday and restricting flights from the country's capital Delhi and financial capital Mumbai besides asking all offices to operate with a half their workforce.

India on Wednesday reported 58,097 new Covid cases, 55% higher than yesterday while the active cases rose to 2,14,004, according to the Union health ministry data. There are 2,135 Omicron cases in India with 23 states reporting the new Covid-19 strain. Maharashtra continues to be the worst-affected state with 653 cases followed by Delhi, which has 464 infections.

As India witnesses the third wave of Covid-19 led by Omicron variant, a large number of frontline workers, including doctors, paramedics, police and health department officials, in several cities across the country are turning out to be Covid positive. Experts have voiced concern that this might put pressure on the healthcare infrastructure.

Shares were unchanged early on Wednesday, with gains in financials offsetting losses in technology stocks, while a fresh round of Covid-19-related curbs across the nation kept investors cautious.

Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, both Democrats, will speak on Thursday morning at the US Capitol, one year after a mob loyal to former President Donald Trump raided the complex in a failed attempt to stop the counting of Electoral College votes that officially delivered Biden's election victory.

Soaring Omicron cases around the globe could increase the risk of a newer, more dangerous variant emerging, the World Health Organization in Europe warned on Tuesday. While the variant is spreading like wildfire around the world, it appears to be far less severe than initially feared and has raised hopes that the pandemic could be overcome and life return to more normality.

Three JeM terrorists were killed in an encounter with security forces on Wednesday in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir, said the police. ​​​One of the terrorists killed in the encounter is a Pakistani national.

The United States reported nearly 1 million new coronavirus infections on Monday, the highest daily tally of any country in the world and nearly double the previous US peak set a week ago as the spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant showed no signs of slowing.

The Indian office sector ended 2021 with net absorption of 11.56 million square feet for the October-December period, the highest in the last eight quarters despite the Covid pandemic and work from home regime followed by several companies.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average reached a record closing high on Tuesday for a second straight day as financial and industrial shares rallied, while the Nasdaq fell. The S&P 500 ended slightly weaker after hitting an intraday all-time high. Declines in shares of big growth names including Tesla Inc weighed on the index and the Nasdaq Composite, which ended down more than 1%.

India, in their search of a first series win in South Africa, found an unlikely hero in Shardul Thakur. The under-rated pacer’s career-best 7-61 should have been enough, but this South African team is showing that it won’t go down without a fight.

India’s Omicron tally went past the 2000-mark on Tuesday with 153 more cases taking the total number of patients to 2,043, even as the variant spread to Meghalaya, thereby covering 24 states and UTs in the country. Maharashtra continued to report maximum daily cases in the country.

Nearly 84.4 lakh teenagers aged 15-17 were vaccinated till 10pm on Tuesday, with the count inching towards the 1 crore mark in two days of the drive. Close to 42 lakh teenagers were vaccinated on Monday, and a similar number received their first dose on Tuesday. The government is aiming to achieve 85-90% coverage of first dose among adolescents in the age group in 15-20 days, a senior official told TOI.

In a move to counter aggressive Chinese propaganda, the Indian security establishment on Tuesday released photographs of Indian soldiers flying as well as holding the Tricolour at the Galwan valley in eastern Ladakh as part of New Year celebrations. The images show the Indian soldiers, armed with the latest SiG Sauer assault rifles, with the Tricolour as well as their Dogra Regiment flag at an observation post in the Galwan valley.

Tuesday’s case count had galloped to 57,974 by late night and was likely to cross 58,000 after data from two remaining states came in. This was over 20,000 higher than the tally of 37,123 recorded on Monday and India's highest daily tally since June 19, 2021, when 58,570 cases were reported.

PM Modi breezed through poll-bound Manipur amid a shutdown and boycott call by rebel outfits on Tuesday, carrying with him a bouquet of 22 projects worth Rs 4,815 crore and declaring the insurgency-hit state would be the engine of the country's growth.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath laid the foundation stone of an Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) commando training centre at Deoband in Saharanpur district on Tuesday. The centre will come up in the town that houses world renowned Islamic seminary Darul Uloom.

The Centre on Tuesday asked states and Union territories to review infrastructure preparedness, including re-establishment of field and makeshift facilities, so that they are not found wanting if there is a surge in hospital admissions due to escalation in Covid cases.

West Bengal will now allow domestic flights from Delhi and Mumbai 3 days a week — Monday, Wednesday and Friday — from January 5 instead of 2 days as decided earlier.

Covid-19, whether from Delta or Omicron, is everywhere. The United States became the first country in the world to record a staggering one million cases on Monday, almost double the tally four days ago and more than twice the record set in India in May 2021.

Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk's Starlink satellite internet venture told its members on Tuesday the Indian government had asked the company to refund all its pre-orders until it receives licences to operate in the country.

With the country's outbound shipments all set to cross $400 billion this fiscal year, the commerce ministry is planning to launch Brand India Campaign to give momentum to exports of both services and products in new markets, an official said.

Dr Reddy's Laboratories on Tuesday said it will launch Molflu (Molnupiravir) at Rs 35 per capsule to treat Covid-19 in the country.Molflu will be priced at Rs 35 per capsule, a spokesperson of the Hyderabad-based drug maker said in a statement.

Equity investors are a happy lot as their wealth jumped by over Rs 5.36 lakh crore in the first two days of trading in the New Year, driven by optimism in the broader market amid firm global cues.

Shortages of food and medical care have worsened over the past 12 days since officials sealed off the city of 13 million people in an effort to stymie a flareup that has already led to more than 1,600 infections. More posts are starting to emerge on Chinese social media criticizing the government’s poor management of the lockdown.

In the major Indian cities, the Omicron variant of the coronavirus is accounting for more than 50 per cent of the fresh cases of the infection and the massive surge in the number of cases over the last one week is indicative of a third wave of the pandemic, as is being witnessed in several countries, Dr N K Arora, the chairman of the Covid-19 working group of the NTAGI, said on Tuesday.

Malaysian authorities reportedly seized and shut down 1,720 bitcoin mining machines in a major electricity theft crackdown, according to a Bitcoin.com report. The Malaysian Police seized them following public complaints after inspecting 75 premises around the district. Out of 75 locations, 30 were found to be operating bitcoin mining illegally and stealing electricity from household consumption.

The Delhi high court on Tuesday dismissed Future Retail's plea to declare arbitration proceedings with its warring partner Amazon as illegal. The ruling came after Future urged a New Delhi judge that given the antitrust agency had suspended a 2019 deal used by Amazon to assert rights over Future, there was no legal basis for the arbitration between the two sides to continue.

BlackBerry devices and their physical keyboards were once the go-to mobile device both for professionals keeping up with email and younger people messaging on its proprietary platform. The company’s appeal waned as Apple Inc’s iPhone and a slew of Android handsets took over the market during the past decade.

The current Indian pace bowling attack is widely recognised as one of the best, if not the best attack in the world. Since 2017, Jasprit Bumrah and Md. Shami have claimed 235 and 199 wickets respectively, across all formats. The two pacers have been maintaining their position in the top 10 rankings. The one missing component in India's pace arsenal is a quality left-arm fast bowler.

Equity indices surged for the third straight session on Tuesday with the benchmark BSE sensex rising over 650 points led by gains in banking, financial stocks. The 30-share BSE index jumped 673 points or 1.14 per cent to close at 59,856. While, the broader NSE Nifty settled 180 points or 1.02 per cent higher at 17,805.

Chief Justice of India NV Ramana on Tuesday agreed to post EWS quota case for hearing on January 5, after the Centre on Monday requested the Supreme Court to urgently hear a case relating to reservation of Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) category in NEET admissions for Post-Graduate medical courses.

Being a staunch Bitcoin supporter, the third richest man of Mexico Ricardo Salinas Pliego recommended using and investing in bitcoin and criticized fiat money by calling it fake money made of paper and lies, reported Bitcoin.com. On December 31, he urged his followers to shun fiat currency in a tweet video, while also wishing them for holidays.

The rise and fall of Holmes, who on Monday was convicted of defrauding investors of her biotech startup, is a heavily-chronicled saga that prompted a hard look at her methods but also the unseemly aspects of startup life.

The BSE gauge sensex rose over 277 points in opening deals on Tuesday, tracking overall buoyancy in global markets led by record-setting US stocks. Continuing its winning momentum, the 30-share benchmark opened with significant gains and saw further consolidation as the trade progressed. In initial deals the Sensex was trading at 59,461.07 - clocking a gain of 277.85 points or 0.47 per cent.

Daily Covid hospitalisations in the city have increased by 15% in the past four days amid a sharp rise in cases. The civic-run jumbo centres are racing against time to add beds, while private hospitals have started reconverting many of their non-Covid wards to Covid sections.

India on Tuesday reported 37,379 new Covid cases, the highest since early September while the active cases rose to 1,71,830, according to the Union health ministry data. There are 1,892 Omicron cases in India with 23 states reporting the new Covid-19 strain. Maharashtra continues to be the worst-affected state with 568 cases followed by Delhi, which has 382 infections.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal tested positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday. "I have tested positive for Covid. Mild symptoms. Have isolated myself at home," tweeted Kejriwal. He requested all those who came in touch with him in the last few days to isolate themselves and get tested for Covid-19.

More than one million people in a city in central China were being confined to their homes on Tuesday after three asymptomatic coronavirus cases were recorded in the country's latest mass lockdown. Beijing has pursued a "zero Covid" approach with tight border restrictions and targeted lockdowns since the virus first emerged.

The market's solid start to 2022 follows another banner year for stocks on Wall Street. The S&P 500 rose 0.6% and the Dow finished 0.7% higher. Both indexes eclipsed the record highs they set last Wednesday. The Nasdaq composite rose 1.2%.

Fallen US biotech star Elizabeth Holmes was convicted on Monday of defrauding investors in her blood-testing startup Theranos, in a high-profile case seen as an indictment of Silicon Valley culture. The 37-year-old now faces the possibility of 20 years behind bars for each conviction.

On the first day of trading in 2022, the Silicon Valley company's shares hit an intraday record high of $182.88, putting Apple's market value just above $3 trillion. The stock ended the session up 2.5% at $182.01, with Apple's market capitalization at $2.99 trillion.

Solicitor general Tushar Mehta infomed a bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud that the committee headed by ex-finance secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey, which was tasked to revisit the criteria for candidate’s inclusion in EWS category, has already submitted its recommendations and that the Centre has filed the report before the court.

Virat Kohli found himself ruled out of the second Test at the Wanderers following upper back spasms. Kohli has always been a fitness fanatic. But he has had a bit of a history of back problems, even though that hadn't forced him to pull out of a game of this magnitude before.

India got 202, which is more than what they got at the same venue four years ago, when they won the Test. Ashwin, though, felt India are a bit short. "Totals in South Africa can be tricky and it's always good to win the toss and bat first. Ideally we should have got 260-270 and we are a few runs short, but we have the bowling to make a match of it," Ashwin said.

Vaccination of the 15-18 cohort accounted for around 42% of the total doses administered till 10pm. The highest number of youngsters — over 7.7 lakh — turned up for vaccination in Madhya Pradesh, followed by Gujarat with a footfall of over 5.6 lakh, Andhra Pradesh (4.9 lakh), Karnataka (4.1 lakh) and Rajasthan (3.6 lakh).

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is further strengthening its military infrastructure with additional troop shelters, gun positions, helipads and jetties in the area between 'Finger-8’ and its military bases to the east at Sirijap-I and II on the north bank of the Pangong lake. The new bridge is coming up in the Khurnak Fort area.

The day’s session saw banking & financials and metal stocks lead the rally while healthcare stocks, despite the rising uncertainty because of the spread of the Omicron variant, witnessed selling pressure. As a result, BSE’s financial, banking and metal indices, all closed with gains of over 2%.

The department of personnel and training on Monday evening appointed Mittal to the post, 72 hours after it fell vacant when Subhash Kumar, who too held the charge since February 2021 in addition to his regular job as director (finance), retired on December 31.

The meeting was attended by the heads of central intelligence agencies, central armed police forces, intelligence wings of the armed forces, and revenue and financial intelligence agencies. The police chiefs of all states and UTs joined the meeting via video-conferencing.

Over a dozen companies, including Hetero, Sun Pharma, Natco and Dr Reddy’s are in the process of rolling out the oral therapy developed by Merck and and its partner, Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, at prices ranging between Rs 1,500 and Rs 2,500 for the complete treatment, sources told TOI.

One hundred twenty five passengers who arrived at Amritsar airport from Milan on a chartered flight have tested for Covid-19. The flight, operated by Portuguese company EuroAtlantic Airways, landed in Amritsar around 1:30pm on Wednesday with 179 passengers. RT-PCR test was conducted for 160 passengers while 19 children or infants were exempted for the test.

In an announcement on Wednesday, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation said that the country will complete the building of the space station in 2022. Once ready, China will be the only country to own a space station of its own as the International Space Station (ISS) of Russia is a collaborative project of several countries.

French regulators have hit Google and Facebook with 210 million euros ($237 million) in fines over their use of "cookies", the data used to track users online, authorities said Thursday. The two platforms have three months to adapt their practices, after which France will impose fines of 100,000 euros per day, said National Commission for Information Technology and Freedom (CNIL).

Srinagar recorded the minimum temperature of 0.3 degree celsius, marginally down from the previous night's 0.8 degrees celsius, officials said. Gulmarg, the famous skiing resort in north Kashmir, recorded a low of minus 3.5 degrees celsius. The officials said Pahalgam, which serves as the base camp for the annual Amarnath yatra, recorded a low of minus 0.8 degrees celsius.

A public interest litigation on Thursday requested the Supreme Court to initiate a probe into the alleged serious security lapses in the Prime Minister's security in Punjab resulting in his motorcade getting stranded on a flyover for nearly half an hour.

You will no longer require a negative report from a pre-departure RT-PCR test if you are headed to the UK. “Good news for travellers from India to UK - lightening of testing requirements including scrapping pre departure test requirement,” British High Commissioner to India Alex Ellis Tweeted Thursday.

Novak Djokovic was holed up in a quarantine hotel in Melbourne after his lawyers secured an agreement for him to remain in the country for a court hearing on Monday in his case to overturn the federal government ban on his entry. The saga has created an international row with Serbia's president claiming his nation's most celebrated sportsman was being harassed.

Equity indices snapped four session winning run on Thursday with the benchmark BSE sensex falling over 600 points dragged by IT and realty stocks amid weak global cues. The 30-share BSE index fell 621 points or 1.03 per cent to close at 59,602. While the broader NSE Nifty settles 179 points or 1 per cent lower at 17,746.

WhatsApp has reportedly started to roll out the first beta update of this year for iOS users. As per a report by WABetaInfo, WhatsApp has submitted a new update through the TestFlight beta Program, bringing the version up to 22.1.71. The report mentions that with the update, the company is redesigning the way you receive a notification when someone mentions you and replies to your message in a Group.

The 46-year-old woman was wanted for "kidnapping minors" after her ex-husband, who lives near the southern city of Seville, filed a complaint with police in mid-December accusing her of taking the boys aged 14 and 12 without authorisation.

Reliance Industries Ltd has raised $4 billion in US dollar bonds, in the country's largest ever foreign currency bond deal, according to a term sheet seen by Reuters.

Covid cases in Delhi are shooting up again after a lull, and the prime suspect behind the latest ‘wave’ is the variant, Omicron. In the few weeks since it was identified in South Africa, this variant has become notorious for dodging defences—both within the body and around it. It easily infects people who have been vaccinated or have had Covid before. It also sneaks into spaces you would consider safe.

The Punjab government on Thursday constituted a two-member high-level committee to conduct a thorough probe into the "lapses" that occurred during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Ferozepur, an official spokesperson said.

Lithuania allowed Taiwan to open a representative office in Vilnius in November under its own name -- a significant diplomatic departure that set off a bitter dispute with China.

Bitcoin fell below $43,000 on Thursday, testing multi-month lows after minutes from the Federal Reserve's last meeting showed it leaning toward more aggressive policy action, which sapped investor appetite for riskier assets.

Shares in Future Group companies jumped on Thursday, a day after an Indian court halted arbitration proceedings between the conglomerate and estranged partner Amazon.com Inc.

India's new Covid-19 cases soared to 90,928 in the past 24 hours, the health ministry said on Thursday, from 58,097 a day earlier. Daily deaths rose by 325, taking the total to 482,876. With this, the active caseload in the country stands at 2,85,401.

Fire tore through a duplex home early Wednesday in Philadelphia, killing 12 people, including eight children, fire officials said. At least two people were sent to hospitals, and officials warned the toll could grow as firefighters searched the brick rowhome, where 26 people had been staying.

It's true that the roller had its effect in the first hour and the pitch wasn't playing up as much as was the case in the first two days. But it takes nothing away from the fact that there was an element of fearless, counter-attacking approach about Pujara and Rahane's approach that helped India score quickly on Day 3 and put the pressure right back on South Africa.

Australia said Thursday it had cancelled the entry visa of Novak Djokovic, opening the way to his detention and deportation in a dramatic reversal for the tennis world number one.

The S&P 500 fell more than 1%, its biggest daily percentage decline since November 26, the first day of trading after news of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

With the review of poll preparedness by Election Commission completed for all the five poll-bound states, the updated rolls for Uttar Pradesh with January 1, 2022 as the reference date published on Wednesday and discussions on deployment of central paramilitary forces reportedly finalised between EC and MHA officials, the way is paved for the poll panel to announce the schedule of assembly polls in UP, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur.

Antiviral drug molnupiravir, which recently got approval from the drug regulator and is being launched by several local drug makers, has serious safety concerns, and thus has not been included in the national Covid-19 clinical protocol recommended by the health ministry, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) director general Balram Bhargava said.

The rush is almost inevitable as cities like Chennai, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi are registering a rapid rise in covid infections and a spike in hospital admissions lately. But most cases are mild and only a few needed ventilator or oxygen support. Chennai registered a more than three-fold increase in the number of patients in hospitals: 1,754 patients on January 3, compared to 507 on December 3.

The ‘precaution dose’ (booster) for Covid-19 — which will be administered from January 10 to health and frontline workers, and those above 60 with comorbidities — will be of the same vaccine as the first and second dose, the government said on Wednesday. “Those who got Covaxin will get Covaxin and those who got Covishield will get Covishield,” NITI Aayog member-health Dr VK Paul said.

In a major security lapse, PM Narendra Modi was stuck on a flyover for around 20 minutes on his way to Hussainiwala in Punjab due to a group of protesting farmers blocking the highway, leading to the Union home ministry issuing a statement terming the incident as a breach of security protocol and asking the Congress government for a detailed explanation.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Wednesday predicted a wet spell over northwest India, including Delhi-NCR, Punjab and Haryana, and central India till January 9 due to two consecutive active western disturbances. It, however, said that there may not be cold wave conditions over north India during the next five days.

Union health ministry on Wednesday said that India has reported over 6.3 times increase in its daily count of coronavirus cases in the last eight days. Union health ministry on Wednesday said that India has reported over 6.3 times increase in its daily count of coronavirus cases in the last eight days.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was stuck on a flyover during his Punjab visit on Wednesday- a lapse the Centre has blamed on Punjab government and sought a report. MHA said the PM's convoy decided to take the road due to poor weather, but the the Punjab government did not deploy additional security as a contingency plan to secure any movement by road.

South African batters, led by their gutsy skipper Dean Elgar, dug their heels in to reach within 122 runs of a series-levelling victory against a determined India as the second Test seemed poised for a gripping fourth day finish on Wednesday.

Antiviral drug molnupiravir, which recently got approval from the drug regulator and is being launched by several local drug makers, has serious safety concerns, and thus has not been included in the national Covid-19 clinical protocol recommended by the health ministry, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Director General Balram Bhargava said.

A large house fire in Philadelphia early Wednesday killed 13 people, including seven children, and sent two people to hospitals, fire officials said. Officials said at a news conference later in the morning that there were four smoke detectors in the building but that none were operating.

Equity benchmark sensex stretched its winning run to the fourth straight session on Wednesday to reclaim the 60,000-level as robust gains in banking and financial stocks offset profit-booking in the IT pack.

A show-cause notice has been slapped on Xiaomi India following recovery of documents during searches on its premises that indicated remittance of royalty and licence fee to US and Chinese firms under contractual obligations, the union finance ministry said on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was stuck on a flyover in Punjab for 20 minutes due to a protest on his route on Wednesday, took a dig at chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi for the "major security lapse." According to news agency ANI, PM Modi on his return to Bhatinda airport told officials there, "Apne CM ko thanks kehna ki mein Bhatinda airport tak zinda laut paaya (Say thanks to your chief minister that I could return alive till Bhatinda airport)."

Last week, WhatsApp also started to roll out a beta update 2.22.1.1 for iOS users. The update reportedly comes with hidden references about a feature that will allow users to create Communities in future updates.

Britain's Cairn Energy has dropped all lawsuits against the Indian government and its entities in courts from the US to France and to Singapore, to now be entitled for about Rs 7,900 crore refund of taxes that were collected to enforce a retrospective tax demand.

The Indian Air Force on Wednesday apprised Defence Minister Rajnath Singh about the findings of the tri-services investigation into the December 8 chopper crash that killed CDS Gen Bipin Rawat and 13 others, people familiar with the development said. The probe team has already completed its investigation into the crash of the Russian-origin Mi-17V5 helicopter, they said.

Union health ministry on Wednesday issued revised guidelines for home isolation of mild and asymptomatic Covid-19 patients. In its updated guideline, the ministry has clarified the criteria, precautions that need to be followed by such patients and their families, signs that require monitoring and prompt reporting to health facilities.

The Delhi high court on Wednesday halted Future Group's ongoing arbitration with estranged partner Amazon in light of an the Competition Commission of India's (CCI) suspension of a 2019 deal between the two sides.

Thousands of Covid self-test results could be going unreported in the city as scores opt for the convenient at-home testing kits over the more reliable RT-PCR tests but don’t relay the results to the health authorities.

India's services sector expanded for a fifth straight month in December, albeit at a slower pace than in the previous month, as demand rose but concerns over another wave of Covid-19 and inflationary pressures cast a shadow over the outlook, a survey showed.

India on Wednesday reported 58,097 new Covid cases, 55% higher than yesterday while the active cases rose to 2,14,004, according to the Union health ministry data. There are 2,135 Omicron cases in India with 23 states reporting the new Covid-19 strain. Maharashtra continues to be the worst-affected state with 653 cases followed by Delhi, which has 464 infections.

As India witnesses the third wave of Covid-19 led by Omicron variant, a large number of frontline workers, including doctors, paramedics, police and health department officials, in several cities across the country are turning out to be Covid positive. Experts have voiced concern that this might put pressure on the healthcare infrastructure.

Shares in Future Group companies fell on Wednesday, a day after an Indian court dismissed Future Retail's appeal to declare arbitration proceedings with now estranged partner Amazon.com Inc as illegal.

Months after a government bailout package gave a new lease of life and financial muscle to telecom companies, Bharti Airtel on Tuesday said it is withdrawing its proposed scheme for a new corporate structure that had been announced in April last year.

Shares were unchanged early on Wednesday, with gains in financials offsetting losses in technology stocks, while a fresh round of Covid-19-related curbs across the nation kept investors cautious.

Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, both Democrats, will speak on Thursday morning at the US Capitol, one year after a mob loyal to former President Donald Trump raided the complex in a failed attempt to stop the counting of Electoral College votes that officially delivered Biden's election victory.

Soaring Omicron cases around the globe could increase the risk of a newer, more dangerous variant emerging, the World Health Organization in Europe warned on Tuesday. While the variant is spreading like wildfire around the world, it appears to be far less severe than initially feared and has raised hopes that the pandemic could be overcome and life return to more normality.

Three JeM terrorists were killed in an encounter with security forces on Wednesday in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir, said the police. ​​​One of the terrorists killed in the encounter is a Pakistani national.

Hundreds of healthcare and frontline workers are falling prey to the Omicron-driven Covid wave in the city every day. As scores of doctors, policemen and workers from transportation go into isolation, there are concerns that medical and essential services could take a serious hit in the next few days.

The Supreme Court on Friday allowed resumption of NEET-PG and NEET-UG counseling process for admissions to All India Quota medical seats for 2021-22 academic session with 27% OBC and 10% EWS quota.

Three Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorists were killed in an overnight encounter with security forces in Budgam district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said on Friday. The encounter broke out in Budgam's Zolwa village late on Thursday, a police official said.

Equity benchmark Sensex jumped 335 points in opening trade on Friday, tracking gains in index-heavyweights ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries and HDFC Bank amid mixed cues from Asian markets. The BSE index was trading 335.30 points or 0.56 per cent higher at 59,937.14 in early trade. Likewise, the Nifty advanced 101.80 points or 0.57 per cent to 17,847.70.

India on Friday reported 1,17,100 new Covid-19 cases, highest since early June, while the active cases rose to 3,71,363, according to the Union health ministry data. There are 3,007 Omicron cases in India with 23 states reporting the new Covid-19 strain. Maharashtra continues to be the worst-affected state with 876 cases followed by Delhi, which has 465 infections.

The active Covid-19 curve could begin to flatten within three months in areas recording recent upsurges if covid protocols are followed and if one acts appropriately, said additional director general of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Dr Samiran Panda, as covid cases continue increasing exponentially in the country.

After a string of poor performances, the under-fire duo of Pujara and Rahane came good with the bat, scoring half-centuries in India's second innings of the second Test. "The team has backed them because of the experience and what they have done in the past. They had the belief that they will come good and they did," Gavaskar said.

Daily cases of Covid-19 in India crossed the grim landmark of 1 lakh on Thursday, just eight days after going past the 10,000 mark, as the virus continued to spread at an unprecedented speed in the country following the entry of the Omicron variant. India had last recorded 1 lakh new infections in a day on June 6, 2021 — 214 days ago — when the second pandemic wave was on the wane.

South Africa captain Dean Elgar hit a superb 96 not out to guide South Africa to an emphatic seven-wicket win in the second Test against India at the Wanderers on Thursday which levels the three-match series at 1-1. What had been expected to be a tense chase on the fourth day became a comfortable win for the home side after rain delayed the start of play by almost six hours.

The government on Thursday constituted a three-member committee headed by the secretary (security) of the cabinet secretariat to probe the "serious lapses" that left PM Modi stranded on a flyover in Punjab's Ferozepur for close to 20 minutes on Wednesday and "exposed him to grave security risk"​​. The Congress govt in Punjab instituted a separate inquiry headed by a former acting chief justice of the high court.

In strong rebuttals of recent Chinese actions, India on Thursday slammed Beijing for renaming of places in Arunachal Pradesh, saying instead of such antics it should settle issues on the western LAC, and also said that reports of the PLA's construction of a bridge over Pangong Tso, east of the LAC, were being monitored to ensure India’s security interests were safe.

The Russian deployment was a gamble by the Kremlin that rapid military force could secure its interests in the oil and uranium-producing Central Asian nation, by swiftly putting down the worst violence in Kazakhstan's 30 years of independence.

The Future Group is likely to approach the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to seek approval for a shareholders' meeting after the Delhi high court on Wednesday stayed proceedings in the ongoing Amazon-Future arbitration before a Singapore tribunal.

The American economy likely saw strong job gains in the final month of 2021, which could shorten the timeline for the US central bank to raise interest rates.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the record numbers of people catching the new variant -- which is rapidly out-competing the previously-dominant Delta variant in many countries -- meant hospitals were being overwhelmed.

A key takeaway that has emerged by analysing new Covid cases in the past three weeks is that the fever duration in the current surge of the pandemic has been much shorter than that of the Delta wave, Maharashtra Covid task force members observed. Another major observation by the experts is that the chest CT scan reports are also showing normal results in most patients affected by the virus this time.

The Supreme Court on Friday will pronounce its decision on the inclusion of 27% OBC and 10% EWS quota in medical admissions, just 16 hours after it reserved verdict on petitions challenging the extension of these two quotas for NEET-PG admissions for 2021-22 academic session.

The more infectious Omicron variant of Covid-19 appears to produce less severe disease than the globally dominant Delta strain, but should not be categorised as "mild". WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the variant should not be considered "mild" as global infections soar to records, healthcare systems are overwhelmed and governments struggle to tame the virus.

Ahead of slated commissioning of the India's indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC) this year, France kicked off the demonstration of its Rafale maritime fighter jet for the Indian Navy at the shore-based test facility (SBTF) in Goa on Thursday. The US is also slated to showcase its Boeing-manufactured fighter F/A-18 at the SBTF, which has a ski-jump to resemble an aircraft carrier’s deck, in March.

Amid the sudden spike in the number of Covid-19 cases, the Supreme Court on Thursday decided to hear all matters in virtual mode from Friday. According to a circular issued by the apex court administration, with effect from January 7, the benches will sit at the residential offices. It said transfer petitions will be listed before the regular benches, instead of single judge bench, till further orders.

A gutsy Dean Elgar was happy to shun elegance for efficacy as he steered South Africa to a creditable seven-wicket series-levelling victory in the second Test against India. The defeat was India's first at the Bull Ring in 30 years. Chasing a target of 240, skipper Elgar carried his bat through with an unbeaten 96 to set up an exciting final Test at the Newlands in Cape Town starting January 11.

The maximum poll expenditure limit for candidates has been hiked to Rs 95 lakh from Rs 70 lakh for Lok Sabha elections and to Rs 40 lakh from Rs 28 lakh for assembly elections, as per a decision taken by the law ministry on the recommendation of the Election Commission. The new expenditure limits for assembly polls will be applicable to the upcoming elections in UP, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur.

Ministry of external affairs has clarified that the bridge being built by China in the Pangong Tso region of Eastern Ladakh is in an area that has been under illegal Chinese occupation for around 60 years. An MEA spokesperson said that the government is taking steps to ensure that the country's security interests are protected, while adding that India has never accepted such illegal occupation.

One hundred twenty five passengers who arrived at Amritsar airport from Milan on a chartered flight have tested for Covid-19. The flight, operated by Portuguese company EuroAtlantic Airways, landed in Amritsar around 1:30pm on Wednesday with 179 passengers. RT-PCR test was conducted for 160 passengers while 19 children or infants were exempted for the test.

Reliance Retail has bought a 25.8 per cent stake in Dunzo, India's leading quick commerce player, for $200 million (around Rs 1,488 crore) as it looks to expand its presence in online grocery delivery business.

President Joe Biden on Thursday accused his predecessor Donald Trump of posing a continuing threat to American democracy in a speech on the anniversary of the deadly US Capitol attack by Trump supporters who tried to overturn his 2020 election defeat. Trump in a statement issued after the speech said that Biden "used my name today to try to further divide America."

French regulators have hit Google and Facebook with 210 million euros ($237 million) in fines over their use of "cookies", the data used to track users online, authorities said Thursday. The two platforms have three months to adapt their practices, after which France will impose fines of 100,000 euros per day, said National Commission for Information Technology and Freedom (CNIL).

In an announcement on Wednesday, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation said that the country will complete the building of the space station in 2022. Once ready, China will be the only country to own a space station of its own as the International Space Station (ISS) of Russia is a collaborative project of several countries.

Srinagar recorded the minimum temperature of 0.3 degree celsius, marginally down from the previous night's 0.8 degrees celsius, officials said. Gulmarg, the famous skiing resort in north Kashmir, recorded a low of minus 3.5 degrees celsius. The officials said Pahalgam, which serves as the base camp for the annual Amarnath yatra, recorded a low of minus 0.8 degrees celsius.

A public interest litigation on Thursday requested the Supreme Court to initiate a probe into the alleged serious security lapses in the Prime Minister's security in Punjab resulting in his motorcade getting stranded on a flyover for nearly half an hour.

You will no longer require a negative report from a pre-departure RT-PCR test if you are headed to the UK. “Good news for travellers from India to UK - lightening of testing requirements including scrapping pre departure test requirement,” British High Commissioner to India Alex Ellis Tweeted Thursday.

World number one tennis player Novak Djokovic was denied entry into Australia on Thursday after a storm of protest about a decision to grant him a medical exemption from COVID-19 vaccination requirements to play in the Australian Open. The tennis star remained in Australia after his lawyers launched an appeal seeking to overturn the federal government decision.

Equity indices snapped four session winning run on Thursday with the benchmark BSE sensex falling over 600 points dragged by IT and realty stocks amid weak global cues. The 30-share BSE index fell 621 points or 1.03 per cent to close at 59,602. While the broader NSE Nifty settles 179 points or 1 per cent lower at 17,746.

WhatsApp has reportedly started to roll out the first beta update of this year for iOS users. As per a report by WABetaInfo, WhatsApp has submitted a new update through the TestFlight beta Program, bringing the version up to 22.1.71. The report mentions that with the update, the company is redesigning the way you receive a notification when someone mentions you and replies to your message in a Group.

The 46-year-old woman was wanted for "kidnapping minors" after her ex-husband, who lives near the southern city of Seville, filed a complaint with police in mid-December accusing her of taking the boys aged 14 and 12 without authorisation.

Reliance Industries Ltd has raised $4 billion in US dollar bonds, in the country's largest ever foreign currency bond deal, according to a term sheet seen by Reuters.

Covid cases in Delhi are shooting up again after a lull, and the prime suspect behind the latest ‘wave’ is the variant, Omicron. In the few weeks since it was identified in South Africa, this variant has become notorious for dodging defences—both within the body and around it. It easily infects people who have been vaccinated or have had Covid before. It also sneaks into spaces you would consider safe.

The Punjab government on Thursday constituted a two-member high-level committee to conduct a thorough probe into the "lapses" that occurred during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Ferozepur, an official spokesperson said.

Lithuania allowed Taiwan to open a representative office in Vilnius in November under its own name -- a significant diplomatic departure that set off a bitter dispute with China.

Bitcoin fell below $43,000 on Thursday, testing multi-month lows after minutes from the Federal Reserve's last meeting showed it leaning toward more aggressive policy action, which sapped investor appetite for riskier assets.

Shares in Future Group companies jumped on Thursday, a day after an Indian court halted arbitration proceedings between the conglomerate and estranged partner Amazon.com Inc.

India's new Covid-19 cases soared to 90,928 in the past 24 hours, the health ministry said on Thursday, from 58,097 a day earlier. Daily deaths rose by 325, taking the total to 482,876. With this, the active caseload in the country stands at 2,85,401.

Fire tore through a duplex home early Wednesday in Philadelphia, killing 12 people, including eight children, fire officials said. At least two people were sent to hospitals, and officials warned the toll could grow as firefighters searched the brick rowhome, where 26 people had been staying.

It's true that the roller had its effect in the first hour and the pitch wasn't playing up as much as was the case in the first two days. But it takes nothing away from the fact that there was an element of fearless, counter-attacking approach about Pujara and Rahane's approach that helped India score quickly on Day 3 and put the pressure right back on South Africa.

Australia said Thursday it had cancelled the entry visa of Novak Djokovic, opening the way to his detention and deportation in a dramatic reversal for the tennis world number one.

The S&P 500 fell more than 1%, its biggest daily percentage decline since November 26, the first day of trading after news of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

With the review of poll preparedness by Election Commission completed for all the five poll-bound states, the updated rolls for Uttar Pradesh with January 1, 2022 as the reference date published on Wednesday and discussions on deployment of central paramilitary forces reportedly finalised between EC and MHA officials, the way is paved for the poll panel to announce the schedule of assembly polls in UP, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur.

Antiviral drug molnupiravir, which recently got approval from the drug regulator and is being launched by several local drug makers, has serious safety concerns, and thus has not been included in the national Covid-19 clinical protocol recommended by the health ministry, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) director general Balram Bhargava said.

The rush is almost inevitable as cities like Chennai, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi are registering a rapid rise in covid infections and a spike in hospital admissions lately. But most cases are mild and only a few needed ventilator or oxygen support. Chennai registered a more than three-fold increase in the number of patients in hospitals: 1,754 patients on January 3, compared to 507 on December 3.

India on Saturday reported 1,41,986 new Covid-19 cases, up by 21% since yesterday, while the active cases rose to4,72,169, according to the Union health ministry data. There are 3,071 Omicron cases in India with 23 states reporting the new Covid-19 strain. Maharashtra continues to be the worst-affected state with 876 cases followed by Delhi, which has 513 infections.

Reddit had confidentially filed for an IPO in December and is aiming for a valuation of over $15 billion at the time of its flotation. It was valued at $10 billion in a private fundraising round led by Fidelity Management in August.

Tennis world number one Novak Djokovic began a third day in Australian immigration detention on Saturday, joined by Czech women's player Renata Voracova as a blame game between Australian authorities over handling of COVID-19 vaccine exemptions gathered steam.

Dean Elgar looks ungainly at times, taking those blows on his body, but Elgar has a simple philosophy. "When it hits me, I can't get out. Some call such an approach stupid, some say it's brave, I would take the latter…and I believe if I can do that for the team, my teammates should also do it," Elgar said after his match-winning 96* on Thursday.

All international travellers flying into India will have to undergo a mandatory seven-day home quarantine and an RT-PCR test on the eighth day, while travellers from countries specified as “at risk” will also have to submit a sample for Covid testing post-arrival and will have to wait for the results at the airport before leaving or taking a connecting flight.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded the feat as a “historic milestone”, calling it a “remarkable day” on the vaccination front. “Congratulations to our fellow citizens on crossing the 150-crore milestone. Our vaccination drive has ensured that many lives are saved. At the same time, let us also keep following all Covid-19 protocols,” he said.

The FIR said the inspector proceeded to the spot after being informed that unidentified people were holding a protest on the Moga-Ferpozepur road and, hence, the route for those on the way to a BJP rally was blocked. That included VIPs. Kulgari police station SHO Birbal Singh completed his duty, went to the police station and registered the case.

A bench of Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli posted the PIL filed by advocates' body Lawyers Voice for further hearing on Monday, when it is likely to decide the nature of inquiry to be instituted and the composition of the panel to undertake the task.

The Indian economy is projected to grow by 9.2% during the current financial year, helped by a robust farm sector and strengthening recovery in manufacturing, construction and services sectors. However, economists warned of a possible adverse impact of the third wave of Covid-19 in the months ahead.

India’s economy is forecast to grow by 9.2% in the current fiscal year helped by a robust farm sector and strengthening recovery in manufacturing, construction and services sector but the third Covid wave may hurt expansion in the months ahead.

Thirteen people had been pulled out from the debris, three of whom died during rescue efforts, state-run CGTN-TV quoted the on-site emergency response team as saying. The accident took place at 12:10 pm local time due to a suspected gas leakage.

This is the second consecutive incident wherein a large number of passengers coming from Italy to Amritsar airport have tested positive for coronavirus on arrival. On Thursday, 125 passengers who were travelling from Milan in Italy on another charter flight were found positive.

Covid-19 hospitalizations in the United States are poised to hit a new high as early as Friday, according to a Reuters tally, surpassing the record set in January of last year as the highly contagious Omicron variant fuels a surge in the number of cases.

US employment increased far less than expected in December amid worker shortages, and job gains could remain moderate in the near term as spiraling Covid-19 cases disrupt economic activity.

Underlining the challenge posed by a rising number of Covid-19 cases across the country, with a focus on Omicron, the Centre on Friday emphasised that it is the primary responsibility of the states to ensure that all the oxygen equipment at all the health facilities are tested and kept in a functional state to meet any emergent situation.

Diplomats from countries that remain in the 2015 nuclear deal — Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China — are working with Tehran to revive the accord, which had sought to limit Iran's nuclear ambitions in exchange for trade.

The Omicron-driven surge in US Covid-19 cases has likely not topped out yet, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Friday as schools, hospitals and businesses struggle with rising caseloads.

The first advance estimate of gross domestic product (GDP) for the financial year 2021-22 (FY22) came 9.2 at per cent, data released by the government showed on Friday. "The growth in real GDP during 2021-22 is estimated at 9.2 per cent as compared to the contraction of 7.3 per cent in 2020-21," it said in an official release.

Twitter erupted to a huge laughter when cricketer Ravindra Jadeja took a funny take on keto diet by sharing a picture of him with a human skeleton model. Jadeja has been ruled out of the upcoming Test series against South Africa due to an injury. He is currently recovering.

"Arunachal's names were given by the country and that is acceptable to all. Our traditional names, our community's identity will remain forever. If someone outside gives some new names, that will not change our status," he told reporters on the sidelines of a function on Thursday.

The Centre on Friday mandated all international arrivals in India from 'non at-risk' countries to home quarantine for 7 days. Passengers coming from 'at-risk' countries and testing negative on arrival will also need to do the same.

India on Friday reached the historic milestone of administering 150 crore vaccine doses, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said. PM Modi while inaugurating a Cancer Institute in Kolkata said that We started 2022 on a high note by starting vaccination dose for 15-18 years old.

Equity benchmark sensex rebounded 143 points on Friday, boosted by gains in index majors Reliance Industries, TCS and ICICI Bank amid a mixed trend in global markets.

While schools have been ordered to close classrooms and go back to online teaching, students have mixed reactions to this. On one hand, they miss being in classrooms sharing jolly banters with friends, and on the other hand they are concerned about their health.

Novak Djokovic's fans rallied in the rain Friday to protest the tennis superstar's shock detention in Australia, a development that reverberated globally and sparked an angry reaction from Serbia.

“The current year has just started and November is far away. Then why there is worry about extension in the tenure of the army chief,” the Pakistan PM said. Bajwa will remain the army chief till November 28, 2022.

Emphasising the need for adopting a unified strategy to fight the surge in Covid-19 cases in Delhi-NCR region, Union home secretary Ajay Bhalla on Thursday called for strengthening of the monitoring and containment mechanism in Delhi as well as the nine NCR districts of UP and Haryana.

The Supreme Court on Friday directed the registrar general of Punjab and Haryana high court to secure and preserve all records relating to visit of the Prime Minister to Punjab forthwith.

Hundreds of healthcare and frontline workers are falling prey to the Omicron-driven Covid wave in the city every day. As scores of doctors, policemen and workers from transportation go into isolation, there are concerns that medical and essential services could take a serious hit in the next few days.

The Supreme Court on Friday allowed resumption of NEET-PG and NEET-UG counseling process for admissions to All India Quota medical seats for 2021-22 academic session with 27% OBC and 10% EWS quota.

Three Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorists were killed in an overnight encounter with security forces in Budgam district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said on Friday. The encounter broke out in Budgam's Zolwa village late on Thursday, a police official said.

Equity benchmark Sensex jumped 335 points in opening trade on Friday, tracking gains in index-heavyweights ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries and HDFC Bank amid mixed cues from Asian markets. The BSE index was trading 335.30 points or 0.56 per cent higher at 59,937.14 in early trade. Likewise, the Nifty advanced 101.80 points or 0.57 per cent to 17,847.70.

India on Friday reported 1,17,100 new Covid-19 cases, highest since early June, while the active cases rose to 3,71,363, according to the Union health ministry data. There are 3,007 Omicron cases in India with 23 states reporting the new Covid-19 strain. Maharashtra continues to be the worst-affected state with 876 cases followed by Delhi, which has 465 infections.

The active Covid-19 curve could begin to flatten within three months in areas recording recent upsurges if covid protocols are followed and if one acts appropriately, said additional director general of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Dr Samiran Panda, as covid cases continue increasing exponentially in the country.

After a string of poor performances, the under-fire duo of Pujara and Rahane came good with the bat, scoring half-centuries in India's second innings of the second Test. "The team has backed them because of the experience and what they have done in the past. They had the belief that they will come good and they did," Gavaskar said.

Daily cases of Covid-19 in India crossed the grim landmark of 1 lakh on Thursday, just eight days after going past the 10,000 mark, as the virus continued to spread at an unprecedented speed in the country following the entry of the Omicron variant. India had last recorded 1 lakh new infections in a day on June 6, 2021 — 214 days ago — when the second pandemic wave was on the wane.

South Africa captain Dean Elgar hit a superb 96 not out to guide South Africa to an emphatic seven-wicket win in the second Test against India at the Wanderers on Thursday which levels the three-match series at 1-1. What had been expected to be a tense chase on the fourth day became a comfortable win for the home side after rain delayed the start of play by almost six hours.

The government on Thursday constituted a three-member committee headed by the secretary (security) of the cabinet secretariat to probe the "serious lapses" that left PM Modi stranded on a flyover in Punjab's Ferozepur for close to 20 minutes on Wednesday and "exposed him to grave security risk"​​. The Congress govt in Punjab instituted a separate inquiry headed by a former acting chief justice of the high court.

In strong rebuttals of recent Chinese actions, India on Thursday slammed Beijing for renaming of places in Arunachal Pradesh, saying instead of such antics it should settle issues on the western LAC, and also said that reports of the PLA's construction of a bridge over Pangong Tso, east of the LAC, were being monitored to ensure India’s security interests were safe.

The Russian deployment was a gamble by the Kremlin that rapid military force could secure its interests in the oil and uranium-producing Central Asian nation, by swiftly putting down the worst violence in Kazakhstan's 30 years of independence.

The Future Group is likely to approach the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to seek approval for a shareholders' meeting after the Delhi high court on Wednesday stayed proceedings in the ongoing Amazon-Future arbitration before a Singapore tribunal.

The American economy likely saw strong job gains in the final month of 2021, which could shorten the timeline for the US central bank to raise interest rates.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the record numbers of people catching the new variant -- which is rapidly out-competing the previously-dominant Delta variant in many countries -- meant hospitals were being overwhelmed.

A key takeaway that has emerged by analysing new Covid cases in the past three weeks is that the fever duration in the current surge of the pandemic has been much shorter than that of the Delta wave, Maharashtra Covid task force members observed. Another major observation by the experts is that the chest CT scan reports are also showing normal results in most patients affected by the virus this time.

The Supreme Court on Friday will pronounce its decision on the inclusion of 27% OBC and 10% EWS quota in medical admissions, just 16 hours after it reserved verdict on petitions challenging the extension of these two quotas for NEET-PG admissions for 2021-22 academic session.

The more infectious Omicron variant of Covid-19 appears to produce less severe disease than the globally dominant Delta strain, but should not be categorised as "mild". WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the variant should not be considered "mild" as global infections soar to records, healthcare systems are overwhelmed and governments struggle to tame the virus.

Ahead of slated commissioning of the India's indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC) this year, France kicked off the demonstration of its Rafale maritime fighter jet for the Indian Navy at the shore-based test facility (SBTF) in Goa on Thursday. The US is also slated to showcase its Boeing-manufactured fighter F/A-18 at the SBTF, which has a ski-jump to resemble an aircraft carrier’s deck, in March.

Amid the sudden spike in the number of Covid-19 cases, the Supreme Court on Thursday decided to hear all matters in virtual mode from Friday. According to a circular issued by the apex court administration, with effect from January 7, the benches will sit at the residential offices. It said transfer petitions will be listed before the regular benches, instead of single judge bench, till further orders.

A gutsy Dean Elgar was happy to shun elegance for efficacy as he steered South Africa to a creditable seven-wicket series-levelling victory in the second Test against India. The defeat was India's first at the Bull Ring in 30 years. Chasing a target of 240, skipper Elgar carried his bat through with an unbeaten 96 to set up an exciting final Test at the Newlands in Cape Town starting January 11.

India on Saturday reported 1,59,632 new Covid-19 cases, up by 11% since yesterday, while the active cases rose to 5,90,611, according to the Union health ministry data. There are 3,623 Omicron cases in India with 23 states reporting the new Covid-19 strain. Maharashtra continues to be the worst-affected state with 1,009 cases followed by Delhi, which has 513 infections.

Polling in UP — stretching over seven phases on February 10, 14, 20, 23, 27 and March 3 and 7 — will be followed closely as it has been the mainstay of BJP’s successive Lok Sabha majorities in 2014 and 2019 besides delivering a sweeping verdict for the saffron party in the 2017 state poll. Counting for all the states will be done on March 10.

Taking note of the rising Covid graph, the Election Commission on Saturday announced a clutch of precautionary and proactive measures for the five poll-bound states, including a total ban on physical rallies, roadshows, car and bike rallies and processions till January 15.

The order came on a complaint filed by the Digital News Publishers Association, which is a private company that promotes and secures interest of digital news publishers. It had filed complaint against Alphabet Inc, Google LLC, Google India Private Ltd and Google Ireland Ltd.

Delhi University has opted for CU-CET (Central Universities Common Entrance Test) as the mode of entrance exam for undergraduate admissions for academic session 2022-23. This was revealed to TOI by vice-chancellor Yogesh Singh on Saturday. The education ministry and National Testing Agency (NTA) are responsible for conducting the exams.

Ferozepur SSP Harmandeep Singh Hans, one of the dramatis personae in the row over "security lapses" during PM Narendra Modi's January 5 visit to the Punjab district, was among seven IPS officers transferred by the Channi government on Saturday, hours before the model code of conduct for assembly elections kicked in.

After years of squabbling with the US, the government on Saturday said that Washington had agreed to easier rules to allow the export of Indian mangoes and pomegranates in return for the entry of American cherries and Alfalfa hay as well as pork. The move will end a two-year restriction on the export of Indian mangoes to the US.

Polling in Uttar Pradesh will be held in seven phases from February 10 to March 7 while Punjab, Uttarakhand and Goa will have a single round of voting on February 14, the Election Commission announced on Saturday.Announcing the poll schedule for the elections in five states, chief election commissioner Sushil Chandra said that Manipur will vote in two phases on February 27 and March 3. Results will be announced on M

The James Webb Space Telescope completed its two-week-long deployment phase on Saturday, unfolding the final mirror panel as it readies to study every phase of cosmic history. The most powerful space telescope ever built and the successor to Hubble, Webb blasted off in an Ariane 5 rocket from French Guiana on December 25.

Voting for the high-stakes assembly elections will be held in seven phases, starting from the western part of the politically crucial state on February 10 and moving eastwards, with the final phase on March 7.

PM Narendra Modi tweeted "Excellent! Well done my young friends. Let us continue this momentum. Urging everyone to follow all Covid-19 related protocols and get vaccinated, if you haven't already."

The results of the study, uploaded on medRxiv that carries pre-prints of research papers before they are peer-reviewed, said the findings indicate that a booster shot of Covaxin is safe and may be necessary to ensure persistent immunity to prevent breakout infections.

Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra, during the briefing on election schedule, on Saturday said that the Election Commission aims to conduct Covid-safe elections in the five states of Goa, Manipur, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab with maximum voter participation. "Polling time in all five states to be increased by one hour," announed the EC.

An average of 2,106,118 new daily infections were reported over the seven-day period, shortly after the one million case threshold was passed in the week of December 23-29, 2021. New global case numbers have soared by 270 per cent since the highly contagious Omicron variant was discovered in South Africa.

The Election Commission on Saturday announced the assembly poll schedule for Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa. Addressing a press briefing, the poll panel said they aim to conduct Covid-safe elections in five states with maximum voter participation with extensive preparations. Elections will be held for 403 assembly seats in UP, 117 in Punjab, 70 in Uttarakhand 60 in Manipur and 40 in Goa.

Usman Khawaja finessed his second century of the match to place Australia in a commanding position to chase down yet another victory over weary England in the fourth Ashes Test in Sydney on Saturday.

Over 2 crore teenagers in the age group of 15-18 years have received their first dose of Covid-19 vaccine in less than a week of the inoculation drive being launched for children, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Saturday.

Temperatures fell to minus 8 degrees Celsius (17.6 Fahrenheit) amid heavy snowfall at Pakistan's mountain resort town of Murree overnight, killing at least 16 people who were stuck in their vehicles, officials said Saturday. Interior minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said thousands of vehicles had been pulled from the snow but more than a thousand were still stuck in the area Saturday.

Based on preliminary analysis by computational modeling done by IIT Madras, which was shared with PTI, the R0 value was close to 2.9 nationally in the past week (December 25 to December 31). The number was recorded at 4 this week (January 1-6).

India on Saturday reported 1,41,986 new Covid-19 cases, up by 21% since yesterday, while the active cases rose to4,72,169, according to the Union health ministry data. There are 3,071 Omicron cases in India with 23 states reporting the new Covid-19 strain. Maharashtra continues to be the worst-affected state with 876 cases followed by Delhi, which has 513 infections.

Reddit had confidentially filed for an IPO in December and is aiming for a valuation of over $15 billion at the time of its flotation. It was valued at $10 billion in a private fundraising round led by Fidelity Management in August.

Tennis world number one Novak Djokovic began a third day in Australian immigration detention on Saturday, joined by Czech women's player Renata Voracova as a blame game between Australian authorities over handling of COVID-19 vaccine exemptions gathered steam.

Dean Elgar looks ungainly at times, taking those blows on his body, but Elgar has a simple philosophy. "When it hits me, I can't get out. Some call such an approach stupid, some say it's brave, I would take the latter…and I believe if I can do that for the team, my teammates should also do it," Elgar said after his match-winning 96* on Thursday.

All international travellers flying into India will have to undergo a mandatory seven-day home quarantine and an RT-PCR test on the eighth day, while travellers from countries specified as “at risk” will also have to submit a sample for Covid testing post-arrival and will have to wait for the results at the airport before leaving or taking a connecting flight.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded the feat as a “historic milestone”, calling it a “remarkable day” on the vaccination front. “Congratulations to our fellow citizens on crossing the 150-crore milestone. Our vaccination drive has ensured that many lives are saved. At the same time, let us also keep following all Covid-19 protocols,” he said.

The FIR said the inspector proceeded to the spot after being informed that unidentified people were holding a protest on the Moga-Ferpozepur road and, hence, the route for those on the way to a BJP rally was blocked. That included VIPs. Kulgari police station SHO Birbal Singh completed his duty, went to the police station and registered the case.

A bench of Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli posted the PIL filed by advocates' body Lawyers Voice for further hearing on Monday, when it is likely to decide the nature of inquiry to be instituted and the composition of the panel to undertake the task.

The Indian economy is projected to grow by 9.2% during the current financial year, helped by a robust farm sector and strengthening recovery in manufacturing, construction and services sectors. However, economists warned of a possible adverse impact of the third wave of Covid-19 in the months ahead.

India’s economy is forecast to grow by 9.2% in the current fiscal year helped by a robust farm sector and strengthening recovery in manufacturing, construction and services sector but the third Covid wave may hurt expansion in the months ahead.

Thirteen people had been pulled out from the debris, three of whom died during rescue efforts, state-run CGTN-TV quoted the on-site emergency response team as saying. The accident took place at 12:10 pm local time due to a suspected gas leakage.

This is the second consecutive incident wherein a large number of passengers coming from Italy to Amritsar airport have tested positive for coronavirus on arrival. On Thursday, 125 passengers who were travelling from Milan in Italy on another charter flight were found positive.

Covid-19 hospitalizations in the United States are poised to hit a new high as early as Friday, according to a Reuters tally, surpassing the record set in January of last year as the highly contagious Omicron variant fuels a surge in the number of cases.

US employment increased far less than expected in December amid worker shortages, and job gains could remain moderate in the near term as spiraling Covid-19 cases disrupt economic activity.

Underlining the challenge posed by a rising number of Covid-19 cases across the country, with a focus on Omicron, the Centre on Friday emphasised that it is the primary responsibility of the states to ensure that all the oxygen equipment at all the health facilities are tested and kept in a functional state to meet any emergent situation.

Diplomats from countries that remain in the 2015 nuclear deal — Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China — are working with Tehran to revive the accord, which had sought to limit Iran's nuclear ambitions in exchange for trade.

The Omicron-driven surge in US Covid-19 cases has likely not topped out yet, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Friday as schools, hospitals and businesses struggle with rising caseloads.

The first advance estimate of gross domestic product (GDP) for the financial year 2021-22 (FY22) came 9.2 at per cent, data released by the government showed on Friday. "The growth in real GDP during 2021-22 is estimated at 9.2 per cent as compared to the contraction of 7.3 per cent in 2020-21," it said in an official release.

Twitter erupted to a huge laughter when cricketer Ravindra Jadeja took a funny take on keto diet by sharing a picture of him with a human skeleton model. Jadeja has been ruled out of the upcoming Test series against South Africa due to an injury. He is currently recovering.

"Arunachal's names were given by the country and that is acceptable to all. Our traditional names, our community's identity will remain forever. If someone outside gives some new names, that will not change our status," he told reporters on the sidelines of a function on Thursday.

The Centre on Friday mandated all international arrivals in India from 'non at-risk' countries to home quarantine for 7 days. Passengers coming from 'at-risk' countries and testing negative on arrival will also need to do the same.

India on Friday reached the historic milestone of administering 150 crore vaccine doses, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said. PM Modi while inaugurating a Cancer Institute in Kolkata said that We started 2022 on a high note by starting vaccination dose for 15-18 years old.

Equity benchmark sensex rebounded 143 points on Friday, boosted by gains in index majors Reliance Industries, TCS and ICICI Bank amid a mixed trend in global markets.

While schools have been ordered to close classrooms and go back to online teaching, students have mixed reactions to this. On one hand, they miss being in classrooms sharing jolly banters with friends, and on the other hand they are concerned about their health.

Novak Djokovic's fans rallied in the rain Friday to protest the tennis superstar's shock detention in Australia, a development that reverberated globally and sparked an angry reaction from Serbia.

“The current year has just started and November is far away. Then why there is worry about extension in the tenure of the army chief,” the Pakistan PM said. Bajwa will remain the army chief till November 28, 2022.

Emphasising the need for adopting a unified strategy to fight the surge in Covid-19 cases in Delhi-NCR region, Union home secretary Ajay Bhalla on Thursday called for strengthening of the monitoring and containment mechanism in Delhi as well as the nine NCR districts of UP and Haryana.

The Supreme Court on Friday directed the registrar general of Punjab and Haryana high court to secure and preserve all records relating to visit of the Prime Minister to Punjab forthwith.

Hundreds of healthcare and frontline workers are falling prey to the Omicron-driven Covid wave in the city every day. As scores of doctors, policemen and workers from transportation go into isolation, there are concerns that medical and essential services could take a serious hit in the next few days.

The Supreme Court on Friday allowed resumption of NEET-PG and NEET-UG counseling process for admissions to All India Quota medical seats for 2021-22 academic session with 27% OBC and 10% EWS quota.

The Supreme Court on Monday set up a high-level committee to probe into the breach of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's security during his visit to Ferozepur, Punjab. The panel will be headed by a retired Supreme Court judge. The apex court also proposed to include DGP Chandigarh, IG National Investigation Agency, Registrar General of Punjab and Haryana high court, and ADGP (security) of Punjab, in the independent committee.

The arrival of omicron bodes ill for China, where increasingly strict measures to eliminate the virus have failed to stamp out the less-transmissible delta. Previously isolated outbreaks are bleeding into one another, preventing the world’s most populous country from reverting to the vaunted “Covid Zero” status it maintained for much of the pandemic.

Amid rising Covid-19 cases across the country, India began administering the “precaution dose” or the booster shot of Covid-19 vaccine in its high-risk population — frontline workers and senior citizens with comorbidities — on Monday.

Shares of Tata Consultancy Services on Monday jumped over 3 per cent after the company said its board will consider a buyback proposal on January 12. The stock gained 3.24 per cent to Rs 3,979.90 on the BSE.

The rupee appreciated by 18 paise to 74.16 against the US dollar in opening trade on Monday, tracking strong gains in domestic equities. At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened sharply higher at 74.15 against the American dollar, then inched slightly lower to quote 74.16, registering a rise of 18 paise from the last close.

The BSE gauge sensex soared 470 points to trade above the psychological 60,000-level in opening deals on Monday on account of buying across counters. Starting on a positive note, the 30-share benchmark hit the early high of 60,242 before easing out some gains. It was last quoted at 60,077.67, higher by 333.02 points or 0.56 per cent.

A strain of Covid-19 that combines Delta and Omicron has been found in Cyprus, according to Leondios Kostrikis, professor of biological sciences at the University of Cyprus and head of the laboratory of biotechnology and molecular virology.

An Australian judge demanded Monday to know what more Novak Djokovic could have done to meet the country's strict pandemic entry requirements, offering a glimmer of hope to the detained tennis superstar as he fights deportation.

TOI has learnt that the BCCI is looking at organizing the IPL across three venues in Mumbai - the Wankhede Stadium, Brabourne Stadium, the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai (also a venue for the 2022 AFC's Women's Asian Cup in Jan-Feb), and the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Gahunje, near Pune.

More than one crore health and frontline workers along with some citizens above 60 years of age suffering from comorbidities will be eligible to receive the third dose (Booster) of Covid-vaccines from Monday as India starts administration of ‘precaution dose’ in the high-risk population amid rising Covid-19 cases across the country, an official said.

India recorded by far the fastest ever rise in weekly Covid-19 cases with a six-fold increase in infections in the week ending Sunday, as the Omicron-fuelled third wave of the pandemic accelerated across the country. India reported more than 7.8 lakh cases during the week (January 3-9), more than six times higher than last week’s tally of nearly 1.3 lakh. The previous week (December 27-January 2) itself had recorded a 2.8x surge in infections.

Health ministry has applied filters on the CoWin platform to exclude Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s photo from the vaccine certificate to be issued in the five poll-bound states, official sources said. This came in the wake of the model code of conduct that came into effect on Saturday in the five states including in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab following the Election Commission’s announcement.

Nineteen people, including 9 children, have been killed in an apartment fire in New York City, in what the city's fire commissioner called one of the worst blazes in recent memory. Stefan Ringel, a senior adviser to Mayor Eric Adams, confirmed the death toll Sunday to The Associated Press, while a city official who was not authorized to speak publicly confirmed the number of children dead.

The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has amended rules to mandate that all bank fraud cases of over Rs 3 crore will be referred to an expert panel to decide if an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is warranted in what is seen as a fresh attempt to comfort bankers. Earlier, only fraud cases of over Rs 50 crore in public sector banks were referred to this panel.

The third wave of Covid may be here but not all states need to worry yet. For, barring West Bengal, Maharashtra, Goa, Mizoram, Punjab, Kerala and Delhi where fortnightly Covid positivity rates or total confirmed cases per 100 tests measured over a 14-day period (December 26-January 8) have gone up to 17%, the situation in other parts has not taken a serious turn.

Union minister Piyush Goyal on Sunday hit out at Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi over his briefing Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's security issue, and said that the Congress leaders have once again exposed their “sycophancy towards the Gandhi family”.

It would be disastrous if divorce is not granted to a couple whose marriage has broken once and for all, the Punjab and Haryana HC has said while overturning a Gurgaon family court’s order in 2015 that rejected a husband’s plea for divorce from his long estranged wife.

Even as India continues to discuss modalities for transporting 50,000 MT to Afghanistan through the land route, Iran Saturday offered to help India deliver humanitarian aid including wheat to the country under Taliban rule.

The government has opened a multi-agency probe against the Indian operations of top Chinese phone companies Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo, amid allegations of “lapses and discrepancies” in their statutory financial filings and other reporting over the last few years, apart from looking into their business practices.

In another big gesture to Sikhs, Prime Minister Narendra Modi marked the birthday of the Guru Gobind Singh by declaring that December 26 will be observed as ‘Veer Baal Diwas’ as a tribute to the sons of the 10th Guru who attained martyrdom fighting the Mughals under Aurangzeb.

US e-tailer Amazon has stepped up its legal battle with Kishore Biyani’s Future Group, challenging a Competition Commission of India (CCI) order at the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) and filing a petition in the Supreme Court to quash a Delhi High Court order.

PM Narendra Modi on Sunday underscored the need to focus on preparedness and ensure adequate health infrastructure at the district level to combat rapidly rising Covid-19 cases across the country powered by Omicron variant of SARS-COV2.

Scientists at the Department of Biotechnology’s Insacog (Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium) working on genome sequencing of Covid-positive clinical samples have said that along with the original Omicron (B.1.1.529) variant, its sibling (sub-lineage) BA.1 is dominantly co-circulating and rapidly replacing the Delta variant in Maharashtra and some other states.

Integrated science labs, smart classrooms, play-based learning and support for vocational education will be among the focus areas of the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan’s five-year plan, which has been sent to states and Union Territories.

The country’s maiden manned mission to space, Gaganyaan, which is targeted to send two-three gagannauts to space for seven days, is set to have two landing site choices, a senior Isro official handling the mission said.

Two unidentified militants were killed in an encounter with security forces in Kulgam district of Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday, police said. Security forces launched a cordon and search operation in Hassanpora village of Kulgam district following information about the presence of militants there, a police spokesperson said.

On numerous flights you might have hated the passenger just in front or right behind in economy class for reasons like a seat getting reclined when you’re having a meal or tapping of seat by knees. This usually leads to a heated argument or complaint to the crew. But an IndiGo Jammu-Mumbai flight on the penultimate day of last year saw two passengers — seated on 3A and 4A — getting into fisticuffs over some issue.

The minimum support price’s (MSP) tilt in favour of oilseeds has shown results with the acreage of mustard reporting a 23% increase this year, so far, over its sown area in the corresponding period last year. It is expected to increase a bit further as sowing in the ongoing Rabi (winter crop) season continues till the end of this month.

The Covid-19 third wave peak in India is expected to arrive at the end of this month with daily cases of four to eight lakh (seven-day average) and the peak in Delhi and Mumbai are expected around mid-January with daily cases of 50,000-60,000 and 30,000 odd cases (seven-day average), respectively, said IIT Kanpur professor Manindra Agrawal, who is leading the government's backed Sutra model to mathematically predict the spread of the virus, on Sunday.

In terms of active cases, 12 districts in the state have more than 500 cases. Of these Gautam Budh Nagar leads with 4,612 cases, followed by Lucknow (3,653), Ghaziabad (3,297), Meerut (2,519) and Varanasi (1,313).

Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa will be held between February 10 and March 7 in seven phases with the counting of votes on March 10, the Election Commission announced on Saturday.

A total of 164 people, including two children, were killed in violent unrest in Kazakhstan over the last week, Russia's Sputnik news agency cited the health ministry as saying on Sunday.

Sri Lanka has benefited from billions of dollars in soft loans from China but the island nation is currently in the midst of a foreign exchange crisis placing it on the verge of default, according to analysts.

The state BJP has in the past backed a caste census with its MLAs voting in favour of resolutions passed twice, unanimously, by the legislature. A meeting between the Prime Minister and an all-party delegation from Bihar headed by the chief minister failed to achieve a breakthrough.

A probe has been ordered against a private laboratory after a number of flyers who reached here from Italy recently tested positive for COVID-19 amid allegations by several of them that their test reports were incorrect. The services of the Delhi-based laboratory has been replaced with a local lab. At least 173 passengers on a Rome-Amritsar chartered flight were found to be Covid-positive after being tested on arrival on Friday

Nearly 400 staffers working with Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha secretariats and allied services have tested positive for Covid-19 in the last few days, triggering a move to impose restrictions on employees' attendance. According to sources, 65 staffers of Rajya Sabha Secretariat, 200 of Lok Sabha Secretariat and 133 of allied services have tested positive for Covid-19 between January 4-8. This comes days before the Budget session of Parliament.

IndiGo on Sunday said it will cancel around 20 per cent of its flights because of the surge in Covid cases driven by the Omicron variant and waive change fees till March 31 in response to customer needs. "IndiGo is waiving change fees and is offering free changes for all new and existing bookings made up to January 31, for flights up to March 31, 2022," the airline said in a press release.

Mayawati's remarks came a day after Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath said the assembly elections in the state will be an "80 per cent versus 20 per cent" one, alluding to the roughly 20 per cent Muslim population.

Deposits in bank accounts opened under the Jan Dhan scheme, launched about seven and half years ago by the government, have crossed the Rs 1.5 lakh crore mark. As per the finance ministry data, of the total 44.23 crore such accounts, 34.9 crore were with the public sector banks, 8.05 crore with regional rural banks, and the rest 1.28 crore with private sector banks.

Battle-weary England dug in for a gripping draw with just one wicket left to deny dominant Australia a 4-0 series lead in the fourth Ashes Test in Sydney on Sunday. Number 11 batsman James Anderson safely played out a tense 102nd and final over from leg-spinner Steve Smith in deteriorating evening light as England ended on 270 for nine chasing a 388-run target in a heart-pumping finish.

With the fate of Ukraine and potentially broader post-Cold War European stability at stake, the United States and Russia are holding critical strategic talks that could shape the future of not only their relationship but the relationship between the US and its NATO allies. But prospects are bleak. The immediacy of the threat of a Russian invasion of Ukraine will top the agenda in a series of high-level meetings.

India on Saturday reported 1,59,632 new Covid-19 cases, up by 11% since yesterday, while the active cases rose to 5,90,611, according to the Union health ministry data. There are 3,623 Omicron cases in India with 23 states reporting the new Covid-19 strain. Maharashtra continues to be the worst-affected state with 1,009 cases followed by Delhi, which has 513 infections.

Saudi authorities have released a princess and her daughter who had been held without charge for nearly three years in the capital, a human rights group said on Saturday. Basma bint Saud, 57, a royal family member long seen as a proponent of women's rights and a constitutional monarchy, has been detained since March 2019, and in April 2020 implored King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to release her on health grounds.

Polling in UP — stretching over seven phases on February 10, 14, 20, 23, 27 and March 3 and 7 — will be followed closely as it has been the mainstay of BJP’s successive Lok Sabha majorities in 2014 and 2019 besides delivering a sweeping verdict for the saffron party in the 2017 state poll. Counting for all the states will be done on March 10.

Taking note of the rising Covid graph, the Election Commission on Saturday announced a clutch of precautionary and proactive measures for the five poll-bound states, including a total ban on physical rallies, roadshows, car and bike rallies and processions till January 15.

The order came on a complaint filed by the Digital News Publishers Association, which is a private company that promotes and secures interest of digital news publishers. It had filed complaint against Alphabet Inc, Google LLC, Google India Private Ltd and Google Ireland Ltd.

Delhi University has opted for CU-CET (Central Universities Common Entrance Test) as the mode of entrance exam for undergraduate admissions for academic session 2022-23. This was revealed to TOI by vice-chancellor Yogesh Singh on Saturday. The education ministry and National Testing Agency (NTA) are responsible for conducting the exams.

Ferozepur SSP Harmandeep Singh Hans, one of the dramatis personae in the row over "security lapses" during PM Narendra Modi's January 5 visit to the Punjab district, was among seven IPS officers transferred by the Channi government on Saturday, hours before the model code of conduct for assembly elections kicked in.

After years of squabbling with the US, the government on Saturday said that Washington had agreed to easier rules to allow the export of Indian mangoes and pomegranates in return for the entry of American cherries and Alfalfa hay as well as pork. The move will end a two-year restriction on the export of Indian mangoes to the US.

Polling in Uttar Pradesh will be held in seven phases from February 10 to March 7 while Punjab, Uttarakhand and Goa will have a single round of voting on February 14, the Election Commission announced on Saturday.Announcing the poll schedule for the elections in five states, chief election commissioner Sushil Chandra said that Manipur will vote in two phases on February 27 and March 3. Results will be announced on M

Debt-ridden Vodafone Idea has decided to opt for converting about Rs 16,000 crore interest dues liability payable to the government into equity which will amount to around 35.8% stake in the company, as per a regulatory filing of the telecom firm. If the plan goes through, then the government will become one of the biggest shareholders in the company which is reeling under a debt burden of about Rs 1.95 lakh cr.

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said on Monday he was unsure about the need for a fourth dose of Covid-19 vaccine and that a shot targeting the Omicron variant would be ready in March. The comments contrasted with those made by Moderna CEO Stephen Bancel, who said last week people could need another shot in the fall of 2022 as the efficacy of boosters was likely to decline over the next few months.

The world number one still faces the threat of being detained by the federal government for a second time and deported, despite Monday's court ruling quashing the government's earlier decision to cancel his visa. Judge Anthony Kelly had said he quashed the decision to block Djokovic's entry because the player had not been given enough time to respond to it.

The last seven years have been the hottest on record globally "by a clear margin", the European Union's climate monitoring service reported Monday, as it raised the alarm over sharp increases in record concentrations of methane in the atmosphere.

North Korea fired a "suspected ballistic missile" into the sea, South Korea's military said Tuesday, less than a week after Pyongyang reported testing a hypersonic missile.The early-morning launch came as the UN Security Council met in New York to discuss last week's test of what Pyongyang called a hypersonic missile.

China locked down a city of five million people a day after detecting omicron in the central Henan province, its second shut down in as many months. Authorities in the city of Anyang told residents not to leave their homes and banned use of all vehicles.

Around 5-10% of the active Covid-19 cases have needed hospitalisation in the present surge so far, the health ministry data shows even as the Centre cautioned states that the situation is dynamic and demand for hospitalisation may change rapidly.

Leading Covid-19 task force members and health experts treating coronavirus patients across the country said on Monday that the Covid antiviral drug molnupiravir is reducing hospitalisation by 30-50 %, as well as the severity of the disease.

The rollout of the ‘precaution dose’ (booster) of Covid vaccine on Monday received a modest response on the first day with more than 10.5 lakh people getting their third shot till 10pm. This included around 7.4 lakh health and frontline workers, and around 3.2 lakh elderly above 60 years of age.

The tender process to sell the two new franchises got underway in August last year and right from floating the ITT to eventually inviting the bids in the last week of October, the Board went about in a manner that reflected due-diligence and clarity.

For the first time in 14 days, daily cases of Covid-19 in India decreased on Monday due to lower testing and detections over the weekend but deaths from the virus continued to creep up.

An estimated 5.6% of the establishments across nine sectors had vacancies which totalled 4.3 lakh, according to the quarterly employment survey, reports Swati Mathur. About 65.8% of such vacancies were not due to retirement or resignation of the employees.

In yet another money laundering case involving crypto currencies, the Enforcement Directorate on Monday claimed it has attached assets of a Kerala businessman worth Rs 37 crore. The agency claimed that the businessman, Nishad K, and his associates were involved in raising funds to the tune of Rs 1,200 crore, promising to allot crypto currencies to investors.

Amid a steep rise in Covid-19 cases across the country, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Monday issued a new advisory waiving off testing requirements for many categories including contacts of confirmed Covid-19 cases unless identified as “high-risk” based on age or comorbidities. Besides, it also exempted asymptomatic patients undergoing surgical or non surgical invasive procedures including pregnant women hospitalised for delivery, unless warranted or symptoms develop.

The Supreme Court on Monday assured Congress leader and senior advocate Kapil Sibal that it would take up a public interest litigation petition demanding action against those who indulged in hate speech and gave calls for armed action against the minority community at congregations in Haridwar and Delhi last month.

President Joe Biden's administration is closely monitoring the India-China border dispute, informed White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Monday (local time), adding that the US is "concerned" by China's attempt to intimidate its neighbours.

India will likely cross the peak that it witnessed during the second wave of Covid-19 but is fully prepared with two-times more infrastructure and services to tackle the upsurge, government sources said even as daily cases increased more than 28 times in last 14 days.

The protection given to husbands from being booked for rape under the IPC may have to do with the “qualitative difference” between marital and non-marital relationships, the Delhi high court said on Monday. In preliminary remarks, Justice C Hari Shankar, as part of a division bench, tested claims and submissions made by a batch of petitions seeking to criminalise sex without consent in a marriage as ‘marital rape’.

Amid concerns over growing Chinese assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific, a German warship will dock in Mumbai later this month. Seen as a "signal" to China, the deployment of frigate Bayern by Germany in the Indo-Pacific followed Berlin's announcement of its strategy in 2020 to uphold rules-based international order in the region.

High court judge deputy master Marsh has reserved judgment on whether to stay an order for enforced possession of Vijay Mallya’s multi-million-pound luxury townhouse, 18/19 Cornwall Terrace, which overlooks Regent’s Park in London.

Pakistan PM Imran Khan on Monday took a Twitter swipe at his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, for his "continuing silence" on the alleged anti-Muslim hate speeches by some speakers at the Dharma Sansad in Uttarakhand's Haridwar last month.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter on Monday to congratulate all the people who received their ‘precaution dose’ on the first day of the roll-out.

Air India aircraft maintenance technicians, employees who are on fixed term contract with the national carrier, have threatened to go on strike on January 17 over long-pending issues such as employment contract renewal, salary revision and like.

Terming Covid-19 prevention and vaccination as the only reliable weapons against Covid-19, Prof Manindra Agarwal from the Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur (IIT-K) on Monday said big cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata were barely a week away from the peak of third wave of coronavirus pandemic.

As many as 115 companies have filed applications to seek benefits under the production linked incentive (PLI) scheme for automobile and auto component sector, the heavy industries ministry said on Monday.

Actor Sonu Sood's sister Malvika joined the Congress on Monday in presence of Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi and state party chief Navjot Singh Sidhu. Punjab is scheduled to go to the polls on February 10. The votes will be counted on March 10.

Novak Djokovic on Monday said he hoped to still compete in the Australian Open while his mother said the decision to overturn his visa cancellation was the "biggest victory in his career." The ruling overturned the cancellation of his visa on Covid-19 health grounds, and ending his detention, potentially clearing the way for his attempt on an unprecedented 21st Grand Slam singles title.

High levels of protective immune cells that fight some common colds also made people less likely to contract Covid-19 in a study. Researchers found higher levels of T cells against certain colds in people who didn’t develop Covid while living with someone who had the disease, according to a study released Monday by the UK’s Imperial College London.

India captain Virat Kohli on Monday said he will return to the team for the series-deciding third Test against South Africa as he is "absolutely fit" but ruled out the participation of pacer Mohammed Siraj.

This will result in dilution for all the existing shareholders of the company, including the founders, the unprofitable wireless carrier said in a stock exchange filing. Vodafone Group will own around 28.5% and Aditya Birla Group will have about 17.8% in the company, it said.

Khan took to Twitter to make the allegations in the wake of alleged inflammatory and provocative speeches against Muslims at an event in Haridwar in Uttarakhand held in December. On his Twitter handle, Khan also questioned whether the BJP government supports the call for genocide of minorities in India.

Equity indices surged on Monday with the benchmark BSE sensex rising just over 650 points led by gains in banking and auto stocks.The 30-share BSE index jumped 651 points or 1.09 per cent to close at 60,396. While, the broader NSE Nifty settled 191 points or 1.07 per cent higher at 18,003.

There has been major confusion over how Djokovic was given an exemption to enter the country, without having disclosed his vaccination status. Tennis Australia gave him the exemption after it was cleared by two medical panels, but the Australian governments rules are different and therefore Djokovic, a nine-time Australian Open champion was not allowed to enter the country and his visa was revoked.

After ensuring judicial preservation of official records relating to the security breach during PM Modi’s January 5 visit to Punjab, a CJI-led Supreme Court bench on Monday said it will appoint a retired SC judge-led high-level panel to inquire into the incident and fix accountability of erring officials.

The Centre on Monday made it clear to states and UTs that no time limit has been set for the operationalisation of Covid vaccination centres, and that they can operate till 10 pm daily based on availability of human resources and infrastructure. In a letter to states and UTs, additional secretary in the Union health ministry, Manohar Agnani, said there is an impression that Covid Vaccination Centres (CVCS) can operate only from 8 am to 8 pm daily.

Economists, including those at Citigroup, India Ratings & Research, and ICICI Bank, have lowered their gross domestic product (GDP) estimates after official data on Friday showed Asia’s third-largest economy will likely expand by 9.2% in the fiscal year to March -- a pace that’s slower than the 9.5% previously expected by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), as well as the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The arrival of omicron bodes ill for China, where increasingly strict measures to eliminate the virus have failed to stamp out the less-transmissible delta. Previously isolated outbreaks are bleeding into one another, preventing the world’s most populous country from reverting to the vaunted “Covid Zero” status it maintained for much of the pandemic.

Pine Labs, an Asian digital payments provider backed by Sequoia India and Mastercard, is moving ahead with preparations for a US listing and seeks to raise about $500 million, according to people familiar with the matter.

Amid rising Covid-19 cases across the country, India began administering the “precaution dose” or the booster shot of Covid-19 vaccine in its high-risk population — frontline workers and senior citizens with comorbidities — on Monday.

Shares of Tata Consultancy Services on Monday jumped over 3 per cent after the company said its board will consider a buyback proposal on January 12. The stock gained 3.24 per cent to Rs 3,979.90 on the BSE.

The rupee appreciated by 18 paise to 74.16 against the US dollar in opening trade on Monday, tracking strong gains in domestic equities. At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened sharply higher at 74.15 against the American dollar, then inched slightly lower to quote 74.16, registering a rise of 18 paise from the last close.

The BSE gauge sensex soared 470 points to trade above the psychological 60,000-level in opening deals on Monday on account of buying across counters. Starting on a positive note, the 30-share benchmark hit the early high of 60,242 before easing out some gains. It was last quoted at 60,077.67, higher by 333.02 points or 0.56 per cent.

A strain of Covid-19 that combines Delta and Omicron has been found in Cyprus, according to Leondios Kostrikis, professor of biological sciences at the University of Cyprus and head of the laboratory of biotechnology and molecular virology.

TOI has learnt that the BCCI is looking at organizing the IPL across three venues in Mumbai - the Wankhede Stadium, Brabourne Stadium, the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai (also a venue for the 2022 AFC's Women's Asian Cup in Jan-Feb), and the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Gahunje, near Pune.

More than one crore health and frontline workers along with some citizens above 60 years of age suffering from comorbidities will be eligible to receive the third dose (Booster) of Covid-vaccines from Monday as India starts administration of ‘precaution dose’ in the high-risk population amid rising Covid-19 cases across the country, an official said.

India recorded by far the fastest ever rise in weekly Covid-19 cases with a six-fold increase in infections in the week ending Sunday, as the Omicron-fuelled third wave of the pandemic accelerated across the country. India reported more than 7.8 lakh cases during the week (January 3-9), more than six times higher than last week’s tally of nearly 1.3 lakh. The previous week (December 27-January 2) itself had recorded a 2.8x surge in infections.

Health ministry has applied filters on the CoWin platform to exclude Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s photo from the vaccine certificate to be issued in the five poll-bound states, official sources said. This came in the wake of the model code of conduct that came into effect on Saturday in the five states including in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab following the Election Commission’s announcement.

Nineteen people, including 9 children, have been killed in an apartment fire in New York City, in what the city's fire commissioner called one of the worst blazes in recent memory. Stefan Ringel, a senior adviser to Mayor Eric Adams, confirmed the death toll Sunday to The Associated Press, while a city official who was not authorized to speak publicly confirmed the number of children dead.

The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has amended rules to mandate that all bank fraud cases of over Rs 3 crore will be referred to an expert panel to decide if an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is warranted in what is seen as a fresh attempt to comfort bankers. Earlier, only fraud cases of over Rs 50 crore in public sector banks were referred to this panel.

The third wave of Covid may be here but not all states need to worry yet. For, barring West Bengal, Maharashtra, Goa, Mizoram, Punjab, Kerala and Delhi where fortnightly Covid positivity rates or total confirmed cases per 100 tests measured over a 14-day period (December 26-January 8) have gone up to 17%, the situation in other parts has not taken a serious turn.

With the country in the grip of a third wave of coronavirus infections, the central paramilitary forces (CPMF) are not untouched either with over 4,200 active cases now among the seven CPMFs. CISF, which has a high level of public dealing as it handles security of airports across the country, is the most affected with over 1,500 active cases, followed by the CRPF that has over 1,100 personnel down with Covid-19 as on date.

India’s economy is expected to grow 8. 3% in the fiscal year ending March 2022, unchanged from the June 2021 outlook, the World Bank forecast in its latest global economic prospects report.

The rupee rose to an over three-month high on Tuesday, regaining 73 levels. By close of trade, it had gained 13 paise to end at 73. 91 against the US dollar. The last time the rupee had closed around this level was at 73. 84 on September 27 last year.

"There's no way we're going to eradicate this" virus, Anthony Fauci said, given its contagiousness, its propensity to mutate into new variants and the large pool of unvaccinated people.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday said the word "dowry" ought to be given a wider interpretation to include any demand made on a woman, whether in respect of a property or a valuable security of any nature, and held that demand for money for constructing a house comes within the ambit of dowry.

On a day when the sun was out for most of the time and wind blew from across the Atlantic, watching cricket might have been blissful. Walking out there to face the new ball and not getting distracted by the uneven bounce or by the captivating sight of the Table Mountains, however, was going to be another challenge altogether.

Planning to throw the digital-social media net wider, Congress is planning a web of WhatsApp groups down to the assembly segment level for political publicity and voter mobilisation for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Covid-19 infections continued to surge in the country at a slightly slower rate than seen last week, with over 1.9 lakh fresh cases reported on Tuesday, up 17% from the previous day's tally. Deaths from the virus, although still very low overall, were rising at a faster rate with each passing day.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday reserved orders on the future course of the multi-layered litigations between Biyani group's Future Coupons and cash-starved Future Retails, the latter managing to stay afloat with a promised Rs 25,000 crore deal with Reliance Industries, on one hand and the trillion dollar multinational retail company Amazon on the other.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 183.15 points, or 0.51%, to 36,252.02, the S&P 500 gained 42.78 points, or 0.92%, to 4,713.07 and the Nasdaq Composite added 210.62 points, or 1.41%, to 15,153.45.

Amid rising cases of Omicron, industry bodies have petitioned the government that local restrictions should be linked to hospitalisation and not to the overall case count. They have also pitched for a booster dose for the entire population.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has said that digital technology is a powerful deflationary force in an inflationary economy because of the enormous increases in productivity it brings.

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has appointed former governor of RBI, Urjit Patel, as vice-president for south Asia, the Pacific Islands and southeast Asia — succeeding D J Pandian.

The US Mint has started rolling out quarters which feature late American author and activist Maya Angelou, the first Black woman to appear on the coin. The coin is part of the American Women Quarters programme, the US Mint said.

The Omicron variant is on track to infect more than half of Europeans, but it should not yet be seen as a flu-like endemic illness, the WHO said on Tuesday. Meanwhile, a technical body of the UN health agency said on Tuesday that current Covid-19 vaccines may need to be reworked to ensure they are effective against Omicron and future variants.

Two health experts of Indian-origin are arguing that allowing a rapid spread of Omicron, which some experts see as inevit able, may be a better and safer bet to end the pandemic, even as other mainstream professionals are warning that such a strategy would be playing with fire.

As many as 20 sugar mills, all in the private sector, still owe more than Rs 1,600 crore in dues from the previous crushing season to farmers across 50 assembly constituencies in Uttar Pradesh. Sensing how this could adversely affect BJP in the assembly elections, just weeks away, UP CM Yogi Adityanath has directed officials to recover the dues by immediately liquidating “other assets of these mills”.

In remarks that could cause unease in Congress, the party’s Punjab unit chief Navjot Singh Sidhu said on Tuesday that the people of Punjab, and not the Congress high command, would decide the state’s next chief minister.

BSP chief and former UP CM Mayawati won’t field herself in the UP elections, choosing to focus instead on her party’s campaign and marshalling it through the rough and tumble of polls in the other two states where it will be in the fray — Uttarakhand and Punjab.

Consent for sexual intercourse provided under the misconception of fact cannot be considered a free one, the Nagpur bench of Bombay high court (HC) ruled while rejecting a man’s complaint for quashing an FIR for rape against him.

In a major scare at the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad (IIT-H) campus, 119 students and staff have tested positive for Covid over the past week, authorities said.

Octogenarian Brahmdeo Mandal, who took multiple Covid shots, is now hiding in fear of arrest in connection with an FIR lodged against him on charges of misleading the health department. He has threatened to kill himself by suicide if he is prosecuted.

The Manipur government has extended the “disturbed area” provision of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) in the state for one more year, but spared municipal areas of capital city Imphal. It was extended with retrospective effect from December 1, 2021.

The ICMR’s national task force for Covid-19 has decided against including antiviral drug molnupiravir in the clinical management protocol for Covid as of now, official sources said on Tuesday.

In what could lessen the trauma and discomfiture of sexual assault survivors in narrating their ordeal in crowded conventional courts, the Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered all high courts to set up within four months at least one safe, separate and exclusive facility in each district court complex to help such vulnerable witnesses record their statements uninhibitedly.

In a relief to homebuyers who are forced to take possession of their flats and start living due to delay on part of the builder to get all clearances from the authorities, the Supreme Court on Tuesday held that it would amount to deficiency in services on the part of real estate company if it failed to get occupation certificate and homebuyers could seek compensation.

It is a “very disturbing” scenario in Maharashtra where former police commissioner Param Bir Singh doesn’t have faith in his own force and the state government has no faith in CBI, the Supreme Court said on Tuesday. A bench of Justices S K Kaul and M M Sundresh made this observation after the counsel for the former police chief submitted that the state police was trying to corner him in departmental cases.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday said suspension of 12 BJP MLAs in Maharashtra for one year is worse than expulsion and as per the constitutional provision a constituency can’t go unrepresented for more than six months.

The naval variant of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, with an extended range of 350 to 400-km, and the indigenous man-portable anti-tank guided missile (MP-ATGM), with a 2.5-km strike range, were successfully tested on Tuesday.

On a day when Delhi recorded 23 deaths due to Covid-19, the highest daily toll in nearly seven months, and 21,259 cases, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) issued an order directing all private offices, except those in exempted categories, to shut down. The positivity rate was 25.65% on Tuesday, up from 25% a day earlier.

President Joe Biden said on Tuesday the United States must find ways to pass voting rights bills even if it means getting rid of filibuster rules that currently require 60 senators to support most legislation.

Hours after Maurya quit, claiming that about a dozen more BJP MLAs would also quit, the party’s MLA from Tindwari in Banda, Brijesh Kumar Prajapati, three-time MLA Roshanlal Verma who represents Tilhar constituency in Shahjahanpur and has won the elections thrice – in 2007, 2012 and 2017 – and Bilhaur legislator Bhagwati Sagar also resigned from the primary membership of the party. All of them are expected to join the SP soon.

In a rare development, the Centre is set to receive ownership in two private telecom companies – the debt-laden Vodafone Idea and Tata group’s Tata Teleservices (TTL) – in lieu of the interest dues from them, as part of the revival package for ailing players announced last September.

North Korean state media said on Wednesday that the country has conducted a successful test of a hypersonic missile, state media reported, with leader Kim Jong Un attending the launch for the first time in more than a year. On Tuesday authorities in South Korea and Japan detected the suspected launch, which drew condemnation by authorities in Washington and Tokyo and prompted an expression of concern from the UN secretary-general.

Sharing suggestions with all the states and Union Territories on how to ensure safety of transgenders lodged in jails and their protection from any form of exploitation, the home ministry has proposed creation of a separate enclosure or ward for trans-men and trans-women inmates in prisons, separate from the male and female enclosures, while ensuring that this does not isolate them completely or propagate any social stigma.

As the city’s daily Covid tally tumbled for the fourth consecutive day on Tuesday, experts said the Covid-Omicron wave may already be “flattening”, barely three weeks after cases started rising exponentially.

The Editors Guild of India on Tuesday condemned the continued online harassment and organised trolling of women journalists and demanded a Supreme Court monitored probe, and urgent government action to dismantle such “misogynistic and abusive” digital ecosystems.

Faced with the challenge of getting a controversial legislation passed to meet the International Monetary Fund’s requirements ahead of a bailout package of $1 billion, Pakistan PM Imran Khan said on Tuesday that the country’s economic condition, under his government, was still better than many countries of the region, particularly India.

A World Health Organization technical body said on Tuesday that current Covid-19 vaccines may need to be reworked to ensure they are effective against Omicron and future variants of the coronavirus. The technical group, made up of independent experts, said it would consider a change in vaccination composition and stressed that shots needed to be more effective in protecting against infection.

India skipper Virat Kohli was a picture of patience and perseverance in his well-crafted 79 but South Africa gained the upper hand by bowling out the visitors for an underwhelming 223 on Day 1 of the series-deciding third and final Test on Tuesday.

Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday said that he has tested positive for Covid-19 and is experiencing mild symptoms."Following all the necessary protocols, I have isolated myself and I am under home quarantine. I request all those who have come in contact with me to isolate themselves and get tested," Gadkari said on Twitter.

Two health experts of Indian-origin are arguing that allowing a rapid spread of Omicron, which some experts see as inevitable, may be a better and safer bet to end the pandemic, even as other mainstream professionals are warning that such a strategy would be playing with fire.

The World Bank on Tuesday retained India's economic growth forecast at 8.3 per cent for fiscal year 2021-22. The World Bank has kept India's growth estimate unchanged since June 2021 outlook as the recovery is yet to become broad-based.

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Tuesday said that his party is in talks with the Trinamool Congress and the Congress for an alliance in Goa. “NCP leader Praful Patel, Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut are talking with local Congress leaders there,” Pawar told reporters in Mumbai.

The ICMR's National Task Force for Covid-19 has decided against including antiviral drug Molnupiravir in the Clinical Management Protocol for Covid-19 as of now, official sources said. According to the health ministry, Molnupiravir is an antiviral drug that inhibits SARS-CoV-2 replication by viral mutagenesis. ICMR chief Dr Balram Bhargava had last week said that Molnupiravir has major safety concerns.

Troubled by the political bickering that had first forced the company to opt out of the IPL ahead of the 2020 season, Vivo once again decided to exit because of the lack of traction they were getting out of the investment. The BCCI have found a new title partner in the Tatas, and a deal has been signed for the 2022 edition, following which either renegotiations will take place or the BCCI will float a fresh RFP.

Instagram is reportedly testing a new feature that will allow users to re-arrange the posts on their profile. The Facebook owned platform is testing a new ‘Edit Grid’ option that can be found under the profile settings.

More than half of people in Europe are projected to catch Omicron in the next two months, the WHO said Tuesday, as millions in China faced fresh lockdowns on the two-year anniversary of the world's first Covid death.The highly-transmissible variant has ripped through countries at breakneck pace, forcing governments to impose fresh measures and scramble to roll out booster shots.

India is considering easing scrutiny on certain foreign direct investment (FDI), according to people familiar with the matter, after rules mainly aimed at China created a bottleneck for inflows.

The government on Tuesday extended till March 15 the deadline for corporates to file Income Tax returns for the fiscal ended March 2021. The deadline to file tax audit report and transfer pricing audit report for 2020-21 fiscal too has been extended till February 15.

BMC commissioner Iqbal Chahal has said that vaccination works and civic data shows that 96% of the 1,900-odd patients on oxygen beds in Mumbai have not taken even a single dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. The BMC has decided that unlike the first and second waves where positivity was the benchmark to impose a lockdown or restrictions, in the third wave further curbs would be imposed only if there is a burden of high hospitalisation rate and steep rise in oxygen usage.

Senior leaders of BJP, BSP and Congress making a beeline for the SP in the run up to the 2022 assembly elections is being seen as a sample of political deftness that Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav has achieved over the years. However, the real test of his political acumen will come into play in handling the possible disruption that the new political alliances can cause within the SP ranks.

Daily Covid-19 cases jumped by nearly 50% on Wednesday in Karnataka as well as Bengaluru. The state reported 21,390 fresh infections and its capital, 15,617, up from 14,473 and 10,800 respectively.The city’s daily test positivity rate was 16% whereas Karnataka’s touched 11%.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday released its first list of candidates for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. In the first list of 125 candidates, 50 candidates are women, including Asha Singh, mother of the Unnao rape victim. From Shahjahanpur, Priyanka said.

“Still working through a lot of challenges with the government,” Musk said in a Twitter post early Thursday in Asia, replying to a user who’d asked if there was any update on Tesla’s launch in in South Asian nation.

Shares of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) on Thursday gained over 2 per cent after the firm reported a 12.2 per cent jump in December quarter net profit on handsome revenue growth, and guided towards maintaining the same momentum going forward. The stock gained 2.25 per cent to Rs 3,944.40 at the BSE.

Filmmaker Anup Singh recently announced that his new book titled 'Irrfan: Dialogues with the Wind' is expected to be released in February 2022. Read more.

Shares of Wipro Ltd fell as much as 6.3 per cent on Thursday, a day after the Indian IT services provider reported subdued growth in quarterly profit while larger peers posted strong results amid upbeat demand outlook.

Novak Djokovic was drawn to play fellow Serb Miomir Kecmanovic in the first round of the Australian Open despite ongoing uncertainty Thursday over his visa status. The world number one, top seed and defending champion is looking to clinch a 10th title at Melbourne Park and a record 21st Grand Slam crown.

Retail inflation jumped to a five-month high in December on the back of higher food, beverages, clothing, footwear, fuel and light prices and posed a fresh challenge for policymakers against the backdrop of a third wave of Covid.

Markets were unchanged on Thursday as losses in Wipro and private banks were offset by strength in Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services after the technology firms logged strong third-quarter numbers and projected tech spending to continue.

India logged 2.47 lakh new Covid cases, 27 percent jump from yesterday while the active cases rose to 11,17,531, according to the Union health ministry data updated on Thursday. The death toll climbed to 4,85,035 with 380 fresh fatalities according to the data updated at 9 am.

The 14th round of Corps Commander Level Talks between India and China that took place at the Chushul-Moldo meeting point, on the Chinese side, lasted for around 13 hours on Wednesday, sources said. Sources added that the Indian side was represented by the new 14 Corps chief Lieutenant General Anindya Sengupta.

Vodafone Idea on Wednesday said it will announce a fund-raise “shortly” as the company — which has got a fresh lease of life following a bailout package extended by the government — has received “huge interest” from investors, especially international funds.

Virat Kohli reached the milestone of 100 catches in 99 Tests and he is now the sixth Indian outfielder to reach the 'century'. While most of Kohli's catches have come fielding in the slips, he is an equally proficient fielder in the outfield as well. Sunil Gavaskar, who was the first Indian to reach the landmark, feels that Kohli's achievement is even more special because he is such a bundle of energy and is also the captain of the team.

India is witnessing a “phenomenally high” growth rate in Covid-19 cases with 300 districts recording above 5% weekly positivity rate, up from 78 districts a week ago, officials said. The surge in cases is also evident as more states are reporting high case load, with some including poll bound Uttar Pradesh (14 times), Bihar (11.27 times) and Madhya Pradesh (10.95 times) witnessing an exponential rise in active caseload over last one week.

From going wicketless and giving away 70 runs off 17 overs in the previous Test to making a roaring comeback in the very next game and picking a fifer, seventh overall, for 42 runs off 23. 3 overs - Jasprit Bumrah proved once again why he's the toast of India's bowling attack.

Are Indian men becoming more sensitive? Is religious intolerance on the rise? These are some questions a recent report on consumer complaints received against advertisements over the last three years raised on Wednesday.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) announced a mega stock repurchase proposal on Wednesday to reward shareholders. The move is supported by higher profits and cash flows as the software services giant benefits from the pandemic-induced digital ramp-up.

India’s three biggest IT companies all announced their third-quarter financial results on Wednesday, and all had solid double-digit year-on-year revenue growth rates.

TCS, Infosys and Wipro together made a net addition of 50,994 employees in the December quarter (see graphic above), compared to 42,829 in the September quarter. TCS added 28,238 employees on a net basis (excluding those who quit), taking the total number of employees to 5.5 lakh.

A day after Punjab CM Charanjit Channi and state Congress chief Navjot Sidhu pressed their claim for the CM’s post, party MP from Punjab Manish Tewari suggested that neither of them deserves to be given the top job, muddying the waters further and compounding the sense of free for all in the state.

Rapid antigen testing kits have flooded into supermarkets, online shops and pharmacies around the world as countries race to keep up with Omicron variant’s swift pace of transmission, marking a shift to the self-administered tests from PCR testing, which has long been considered the gold standard for detecting Covid.

A booster shot of indigenously developed vaccine Covaxin after two doses is able to generate robust antibody responses and neutralise the Omicron and Delta variants of Sars-CoV-2, a study conducted at Atlanta-based Emory University has found.

Use of anti-viral drug Molnupiravir has risks that warrant caution, health officials said underlining serious concerns about rampant, irrational and overuse of medicines in Covid-19 treatment.

The ministry of information and broadcasting on Wednesday asked the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), responsible for measuring TV viewership in India, to immediately release Television Rating Points (TRP) for news channels.

On a day when another UP minister resigned alleging neglect of backwards and Dalits, the BJP leadership acknowledged the seriousness of the effort to dent its sprawling social coalition, but was not ready to hit the panic button yet.

The White House said on Wednesday it was encouraged by a US judge's decision not to dismiss the Federal Trade Commission's antitrust lawsuit against Facebook.

India and the UK are set to officially launch negotiations on an ambitious free trade agreement at an event in New Delhi on Thursday, with Britain represented by its visiting international trade secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan.

On a day when another UP minister resigned alleging neglect of backwards and Dalits, the BJP leadership acknowledged the seriousness of the effort to dent its sprawling social coalition, but was not ready to hit the panic button yet.

PM Narendra Modi on Wednesday said the purpose of raising the age of marriage of women from 18-21 years was based on the principle of equality and to bring more women into the country’s workforce allowing them an opportunity to pursue their professional goals.

Pakistan’s new national security policy seeks peace with India, apparently no hostility for the next 100 years, and also doesn’t rule out normalisation of trade and economic ties without waiting for a final resolution of the Kashmir issue “provided there is progress in the talks” between the two countries.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought responses from the Centre, the Delhi Police Commissioner and the Uttarakhand Director General of Police on a PIL demanding stringent action against those who delivered hate speech, allegedly calling for armed action against the minority community at congregations in Haridwar and Delhi last month.

World stocks rose on Wednesday while U.S. Treasury yields and the dollar fell, after the latest U.S. inflation data showed price pressures surging but within expectations, apparently suggesting the Federal Reserve will not have to hike interest rates too aggressively.

In a second pre-poll jolt to BJP in as many days, UP cabinet minister Dara Singh Chauhan on Wednesday followed his former ministerial colleague Swami Prasad Maurya out of the Yogi Adityanath government after accusing it of “tampering” with the reservation rights of Dalits and backwards. Both Chauhan and Maurya had defected to BJP from Mayawati’s BSP in 2015.

It was a showstopper — both time and a flock of pilgrims stood still for a while to soak up the scene of two turbaned old men pat each other’s backs in a joyous embrace against the backdrop of Gurdwara Darbar Sahib at Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan on Wednesday. The significance of that hug was not lost on anyone. It was the reunion of two octogenarian brothers separated by Partition, 74 years ago.

China has accelerated settlement-building along its border with Bhutan with more than 200 structures, including two-storey buildings, under construction in six locations, according to satellite image analysis. The images and analysis by the US data analytics firm HawkEye 360, which uses satellites to gather intelligence on ground-level activities, and vetted by two other experts, provide a detailed look into China’s recent construction along its frontier with Bhutan.

AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday disclosed that talks for a pre-poll alliance with farmers’ outfit Sanyukt Samaj Morcha (SSM) led by farm leader Balbir Singh Rajewal didn’t fructify due to differences over seat-sharing and admitted that the failure to work out a tie-up with the outfit will have some impact on AAP’s vote share.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath is likely to contest the assembly elections from Ayodhya or his home turf, Gorakhpur, BJP sources have indicated.

In the biggest single-day increase in cases since the beginning of the pandemic, India reported nearly 2.5 lakh fresh infections on Wednesday, over 50,000 higher than the previous day’s count, even as the tally went past the 2-lakh mark for the first time since May 26.

Pakistan continues to harbour 350 to 400 terrorists at border launch pads and terror-training camps, exposing its “nefarious designs” despite the ongoing border ceasefire, but the Indian Army is determined to impose “dire costs” on any cross-border terrorism, General MM Naravane said on Wednesday.

Bharat Biotech said the study conducted using a live virus neutralisation assay showed the booster dose generated robust neutralising antibody responses against both Omicron (B.1.529) and Delta (B.1.617.2). "100% of test serum samples showed neutralisation of the Delta variant and more than 90% of serum samples showed neutralisation of the Omicron variant," Bharat Biotech said.

US consumer prices increased solidly in December as rental accommodation and used cars maintained their strong gains, culminating in the largest annual rise in inflation in nearly four decades, which bolstered expectations that the Federal Reserve will start raising interest rates as early as March.

Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday alleged that the Congress high command and his Punjab counterpart had conspired to assassinate the Prime Minister through the 'security breach' on January 5 while Narendra Modi was visiting the northern state. He demanded that Charanjit Singh Channi, the chief minister of Punjab, should be arrested for his role in the alleged conspiracy.

Retail inflation based on consumer price index (CPI) jumped to 5.59 per cent for the month of December, data released by government showed on Wednesday. The inflation figure for the month of November was recorded at 4.91 per cent.

Jasprit Bumrah (23.3-8-42-5) was at the heart of India's swift and brutal counter-attack as he got his seventh five-wicket haul with fine complementary acts from Mohammed Shami (16-4-39-2) and Umesh Yadav (16-3-64-2) that helped them bundle out the Proteas for 210.

A US judge has rejected a bid by Britain's Prince Andrew to dismiss Virginia Giuffre's lawsuit accusing the Duke of York of sexually abusing her when she was 17 and being trafficked by the late financier Jeffrey Epstein. Andrew has denied Giuffre's accusations that he forced her to have sex more than two decades ago.

Stressing that the overall “threat” along the entire 3,488-km Line of Actual Control (LAC) “has by no means reduced” despite “partial troop disengagement” in eastern Ladakh, Gen Naravane said the Indian Army will continue to deal with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in “a firm, resolute and peaceful manner to ensure sanctity of our claims”.

Wipro on Wednesday said it expects to hire about 30,000 freshers in FY23, as the IT services major strives to ensure that supply is not a constraint in managing the robust demand environment. Wipro on Wednesday posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 2,969 crore for the December 2021 quarter and said it has logged strong performance in revenues and order bookings.

Assembly elections 2022 in Uttar Pradesh would be a litmus test for many second generation leadership as they will be in total command in key political parties for the first time. While Akhilesh Yadav, Jayant Chaudhary and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra are active in politics for quite some time, so far they were working under the tutelage of their seniors. It would be the first time they would be on their own.

Airlines in India could make their highest-ever collective loss at over Rs 20,000 crore this fiscal due to twin blows of Covid impact on traffic and steep jet fuel prices, says rating agency Crisil.

Resource-rich Kazakhstan, on China's western border, has economic and strategic importance for Beijing and is an important link in its "Belt and Road" infrastructure initiative to expand its global trade and political influence in rivalry with the US and its allies.

Boris Johnson is facing the gravest crisis of his premiership after revelations about a series of gatherings in Downing Street during Covid lockdowns, some at times when ordinary people were unable to bid farewell in person to dying relatives.

Right before the umpires were about to take the bails off, the third day of the third Test at Newlands got enveloped in drama and snowballed into a controversy. The incident was a result of a DRS 'gaffe' when a R Ashwin delivery that looked like it was going on to hit the stumps eventually was seen missing the bails, after the review.

South African pacer Lungi Ngidi on Thursday said the Indians were clearly "frustrated and under pressure" as a controversial DRS call saved home skipper Dean Elgar, triggering angry reactions from the visiting camp on day three.

A non-binding shareholder resolution called on Microsoft to review the effectiveness of its sexual harassment policies. The resolution, sponsored by Arjuna Capital, was approved in November over the company’s opposition. It came after reports that Gates behaved inappropriately toward female employees years ago.

India reported 2,64,202 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, 6.7% higher than the previous day, said the Ministry of health and family welfare on Friday morning.

Cannabis compounds have the ability to prevent the virus that causes Covid-19 from entering human cells, US researchers have found. The paper titled “Cannabinoids Block Cellular Entry of SARS-CoV-2 and the Emerging Variants” has been published in the Journal of Natural Products.

Karnataka's active Covid caseload crossed the one-lakh mark, whereas the daily test positivity rate (TPR) in Bengaluru hit a peak of 21%. The state reported 25,005 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday, taking the total number of active cases to 1.1 lakh. Karnataka's active caseload has seen a 10-fold rise in 13 days. The last time the state had seen over one lakh active cases was seven months ago.

Social media giant Facebook , now known as Meta Platforms, faces a 2.3 billion pound plus ($3.2 billion plus) class action in Britain over allegations it abused its market dominance by exploiting the personal data of 44 million users.

A court here acquitted former Bishop of Jalandhar diocese Franco Mulakkal in the nun rape case on Friday. It was the additional district and sessions court 1 here which pronounced the verdict in the case.

Immigration Minister Alex Hawke used discretionary powers to again cancel Djokovic's visa, after a court quashed an earlier revocation and released him from immigration detention on Monday.

A mass cyberattack was carried out on Thursday night on websites of the Ukrainian government, some of which were not accessible on Friday morning. The websites of the ministry of foreign affairs, the cabinet of ministers, agrarian policy, security and defence council and the ministry of education all appeared to be not working.

In what could be the impact of the recent resignation spree or a cautious move to stall the opposition’s bid to set the narrative that OBCs are leaving the party, BJP will deny tickets to only 15-17% sitting MLAs instead of the earlier planned 30%. By this calculation, BJP will deny tickets to not more than three to four dozen MLAs. This would bring respite to several MLAs who had the inkling of being denied tickets.

The budget session of Parliament will commence on January 31 with the address of the president to both the Houses. The first half of the budget session will run from January 31 to February 11. It will reassemble on March 14 to sit until April 8, subject to government exigencies.

India's Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail (ABFRL) said on Friday it would buy a 51% stake in House of Masaba Lifestyle for about 900 million rupees ($12.14 million), as it seeks to strengthen its presence in the fast growing segment.

BJP is ready with its first list of 172 candidates for the UP elections, most of them for seats that will go to polls in the first three phases, after a meeting in New Delhi on Thursday put its seal of approval on the names that are likely to be declared either on Friday or Saturday.

WHO experts said arthritis drug baricitinib used with corticosteroids to treat severe or critical Covid patients led to better survival rates and reduced need for ventilators. Experts also recommended synthetic antibody treatment Sotrovimab for people with non-serious Covid at highest risk of hospitalisation, such as the elderly, people with immunodeficiencies or chronic diseases such as diabetes.

The team that manages to reduce the margins of error more successfully will take the match and the series. At 101-2 though, South Africa are slightly ahead, a good deal of luck, and relative easing of the track coming to their aid. India scored 198 runs in the second innings, 28 of which came through extras and 100 off Pant's bat. The rest of the batting order put together the remaining 70 runs.

The US Supreme Court delivered a blow to President Joe Biden on Thursday, blocking his Covid vaccination-or-testing mandate for employees of large businesses. At the same time, the nation's highest court allowed a vaccination mandate for health care workers at facilities receiving federal funding.

At a time when several states are imposing restrictions to check the Omicron surge, PM Modi on Thursday advised chief ministers to opt for local containment measures, instead of blanket curbs that may impact livelihoods.

Fresh Covid-19 cases in India rose 7% to nearly 2.64 lakh on Thursday, a day after a record rise of more than 50,000 had pushed the day's tally to 2.47 lakh. Deaths from the virus remained relatively low but were rising. With data from Tripura awaited at the time of writing, 218 fatalities were reported on Thursday, the second consecutive day of 200-plus deaths.

Can a wife be put on a lower pedestal or be less empowered than a sex worker who has the right to say no at any stage, the Delhi high court said on Thursday while hearing a batch of petitions on marital rape. The court’s remarks came when it pointed out that to exclude “certain circumstances” from the ambit of rape “because of inter-party relationship” is problematic and that the marital rape exception could be examined in the light of protection granted to sex workers in rape law.

The railways reported the first incident of passenger deaths in an accident on Thursday after a gap of nearly 34 months. At least seven passengers on board were left dead and over 50 injured, several of them critically, as 12 bogies of the Guwahati-bound Bikaner Express derailed in West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri district.

The Delhi high court on Thursday agreed to examine former Union minister M J Akbar’s appeal against the trial court order acquitting journalist Priya Ramani in his criminal defamation case over her allegations of sexual harassment. “Admit. List in due course,” said Justice Mukta Gupta who had issued notice to Ramani on the appeal in August last year.

More signs that the Biden administration will waive sanctions against India for buying Russian S-400 air defense system emerged on Wednesday with a key official saying Washington will have to weigh geo-strategic considerations involving China against a domestic law that calls for punitive action.

Two soldiers of the Indian Army were killed allegedly in an ‘accidental firing’ at a forward location along the Line of Control (LoC) in Rajouri district of J&K on Thursday.

With Dharam Singh Saini becoming the third UP minister after Swami Prasad Maurya and Dara Singh Chauhan to quit the Yogi Adityanath cabinet on Thursday, the BJP brass watched the Opposition replicating its strategy of squeezing its rival’s strength at the eleventh hour to gain much-needed

Surprised over sedition charges invoked by the Haryana Police against a youngster, who had made a hoax call to stop a train that he had missed, a local court in Faridabad has described the case as “misuse of the sedition law”.

The India State of Forest Report (ISFR) has for the first time mapped climate change hotspots in the country in three future time period scenarios of 2030, 2050 and 2085. It observed that Ladakh, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand are projected to witness the highest temperature increase whereas Andaman & Nicobar Islands, West Bengal, Goa, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh may face least temperature rise over these short, medium and long time periods.

With varying degrees of enthusiasm, senior British government ministers on Thursday expressed support for Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson and rejected demands he resign for attending a garden party during the country's first coronavirus lockdown.

Industry bodies — CII and Ficci — have suggested a graded highly-localised plan for Covid-impacted areas instead of state-wide strategy, which is linked to bed occupancy in hospitals as against the current system of restrictions kicking in when the case count goes up.

The ongoing third Covid wave in India, like the two previous ones, is characterised by unwarranted testing, medication and hospitalisations, said a group of 35 distinguished doctors from across the country and abroad. In an open letter, they have appealed to the central and state health authorities to stop these “unwarranted” practices and promote evidence-based medicine.

Over 3.14 crore adolescents — accounting for 42% of youngsters between 15-18 years of age — have received the first dose of Covid vaccines in about 11 days since rollout of the vaccination drive for this category on January 3.

The World He alth Organisation (WHO) guideline development group of international experts has recommended the use of rheumatoid arthritis drug, Baricitinib in patients with severe Covid disease in combination with corticosteroids.

India’s domestic passenger traffic has dropped 37% since January 1, with less than two lakh people flying daily, which takes the traffic back to the volumes handled in July last year. An estimated 30% drop in air passengers is expected in the final quarter of this fiscal, according to aviation observers.

There was no breakthrough in the marathon top-level military talks between India and China on Wednesday, with Beijing again showing reluctance to complete troop disengagement at a friction point in eastern Ladakh while also refusing to discuss steps to defuse the bigger problems at Depsang and Demchok.

CPM Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas has written to Union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Jitendra Singh asking them to reconsider the proposed sale of public sector company Central Electronics Limited (CEL) to a private entity at “throwaway prices” on grounds that there are “fundamental issues” staring at the deal.

Sohail Kaskar, the nephew of Dawood Ibrahim, who was likely to be deported to India from the US, has managed to escape to Pakistan via Dubai, senior police officers told TOI. Sources said that 41-year-old Sohail’s landing in Pakistan is a major blow to the Indian government’s efforts in bringing him to India. Sohail is the son of Dawood’s late brother Noora who died in 2010 due to kidney failure in Pakistan.

Andhra Pradesh CM and YSRC president Jagan Mohan Reddy is said to have offered a Rajya Sabha seat to Tollywood star and former Union minister K Chiranjeevi. Sources close to the CM’s office told TOI that Jagan and Chiranjeevi discussed more about politics rather than film industry issues during their meeting on Thursday.

India’s green cover has touched nearly one-fourth of its geographical area with "forests" and "trees outside recorded forest areas" put together recording an increase of 2,261 sq km (0.3%) in 2021 compared to the previous assessment in 2019, shows the latest India State of Forest Report (ISFR 2021) released on Thursday.

The Jammu and Kashmir police said on Thursday that the Jaish-e-Muhammad terrorist killed in the Kulgam encounter on Wednesday night had been identified as Babar Bhai of Pakistan, a terrorists who had been active since 2018, and that an AK assault rifle, a pistol and two grenades were found on him.

The railways reported the first incident of passenger deaths in an accident on Thursday after a gap of nearly 34 months. At least five passengers on board were left dead and another 20 were injured as 12 bogies of the Guwahati-bound Bikaner Express derailed in West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri district.

President Joe Biden on Thursday said he will deploy more military health workers to six US states beginning next week, and give Americans free masks and more free tests to tackle the fast-spreading Omicron variant around the country. The dispatch of 1,000 military health personnel is "part of a major deployment of our nation's armed forces to help hospitals across the country manage this surge of the Omicron virus," Biden said.

Rishabh Pant was fearless without being careless during a brilliant hundred in the most adverse circumstances but South Africa were on course for a memorable series win against India on a day when visiting skipper Virat Kohli was left fuming due to a contentious DRS decision in the third and final Test.

The data compiled by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Nasa also revealed that the last eight years were the eight hottest and the last decade was the warmest since record-keeping began in 1880, officials said.

How long does the coronavirus remain infectious once it is exhaled? Just five minutes. That is what an experimental study conducted by scientists at the University of Bristol in the UK suggests. The virus loses most of its infectivity within five minutes of its being converted into the form of particles small and light enough to be carried on the air.

Senior leaders of BJP, BSP and Congress making a beeline for the SP in the run up to the 2022 assembly elections is being seen as a sample of political deftness that Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav has achieved over the years. However, the real test of his political acumen will come into play in handling the possible disruption that the new political alliances can cause within the SP ranks.

A few days back, after their umpteenth failure, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane were trending on social media with the hashtag being 'PuRane' (Old). But after five failures in six completed knocks in South Africa, the two veterans surely seem to have played their last Test for India for some time.

A panel of Pakistan's central bank has recommended a complete ban on cryptocurrency and other related activities in the country, according to a media report on Thursday, days after a top court ordered a probe into a US $100-million digital currency fraud. The committee observed cryptocurrency was traded in speculation, where people could be enticed to invest for short-term capital gains.

The Election Commission has extended the ban on physical rallies and roadshows till January 22 in states where assembly elections are scheduled in February-March. The Commission had on January 8 banned rallies and roadshows till January 15, when it announced polls to the five states.

As several leaders from the BJP shifted allegiance to the Samajwadi Party (SP) saying it worked for the Dalits and backward classes, BSP supremo Mayawati pooh-poohed the claim saying the party's past record shows its "anti-Dalit" approach. Mayawati also clarified that she would not contest the Assembly elections.

West Bengal government on Saturday extended the ongoing Covid-19 restrictions till January 31. The state government also allowed marriage functions with a maximum of 200 attendees or 50 per cent of the venue's capacity, whichever is lesser.

Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday announced that he would not let any more Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs or ministers join the SP. "Let me tell BJP that I will not take any BJP MLA, minister anymore. They can deny tickets (to their leaders) if they wish to," said Yadav.

The supremely-talented Punjab batter Shubman Gill will lend solidity to the Indian middle-order when a major reshuffle is expected to force struggling Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane out of the Test team.

During the meeting, Jaishankar conveyed that India has always stood with Sri Lanka, and will continue to support that country in all possible ways for overcoming the economic and other challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, a statement issued by the ministry of external affairs said.

Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane on Saturday said that the Indian Army's message is clear that it will not let any attempt to unilaterally change the status quo along the country's borders succeed. While Speaking at the Army Day parade, Gen Naravane said that last year was challenging for the Army because of the China tensions and to keep the situation under control the 14th meeting took place recently.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, who is spearheading the BJP's campaign in the state, will contest the upcoming assembly election from Gorakhpur (Urban) seat. Voting in Gorakhpur will be held in the sixth phase on March 3 while Sirathu to go to polls on February 27.

An underwater volcano off Tonga erupted on Saturday, triggering a tsunami warning for several South Pacific island nations, with footage on social media showing waves crashing into homes. Tsunami waves of 2.7 feet (83 cm) were observed by gauges at the Tongan capital of Nuku’alofa.

The country's largest private sector lender HDFC Bank on Saturday reported an 18.1 per cent rise in its standalone net profit at Rs 10,342.20 crore for the third quarter ended December 2021. The bank had registered a net profit of Rs 8,758.29 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal year.

India's dream of winning a maiden Test series in the Rainbow Nation remained unrealised as the visitors, who were tagged favourites to create history this time around, suffered a 1-2 series defeat at the hands of an inexperienced South African side.

India reported 2,68,833 new Covid-19 cases and 402 deaths in the last 24 hours while the Omicron tally rose to 6,041, according to the Union health ministry data released on Saturday morning.

Newly unredacted documents from a state-led antitrust lawsuit against Google accuse the search giant of colluding with rival Facebook to manipulate online advertising sales. The CEOs of both companies were aware of the deal and signed off on it, the lawsuit alleges. When the two sides hammered out the terms of the agreement, “the team sent an email addressed directly to CEO” Zuckerberg, the lawsuit states.

As India is celebrating Indian Army Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said India is proud of the stellar contribution of the Army in Peacekeeping Missions overseas. The Prime Minister also highlighted that Indian Army personnel serve in hostile terrains and are at the forefront of helping fellow citizens during a humanitarian crisis.

Rafael Nadal took a swipe at rival Novak Djokovic on Saturday as the world number fights deportation from Australia, saying: "The Australian Open is much more important than any one player." Ahead of the start of the first Grand Slam on Monday, Nadal told reporters at Melbourne Park: "Australian Open will be a great Australian Open with or without him."

India has finally bagged a $375 million (Rs 2,770 crore) deal to export BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles to the Philippines, which has had several bitter tiffs with China over territorial claims in the South China Sea in recent months. The Philippines’ Department of National Defence has issued the “notice of award” to BrahMos Aerospace Private Ltd, under which the actual contract is likely to be inked next week.

With two India-bound flights of Emirates last week closely avoiding a collision at Dubai Airport, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Friday sought a report from UAE authorities on the incident.

A tri-services court of inquiry has ruled out mechanical failure behind the chopper crash on December 8 that killed India's first Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat. In a report, the panel said that the accident was a result of entry into clouds due to unexpected change in weather conditions, which led to "spatial disorientation of the pilot".

The road transport ministry has proposed mandatory installation of six airbags in all cars with seating capacity of up to eight persons from October this year. While the move, irrespective of cost and variant, which was announced by union minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday is aimed at improving the safety of passengers in the rear seats, it will push up the cost by at least Rs 8,000 to 10,000 per vehicle. Cost may be a little higher for vehicles with lower sales.

India captain Virat Kohli on Friday defended his team's verbal attack on the broadcasters after Dean Elgar's contentious DRS reprieve, saying that people on the outside don't understand the trigger for such an outburst.

The country's exports in December 2021 surged 38.91 per cent on an annual basis to $37.81 billion, the highest-ever monthly figure, due to healthy performance by sectors such as engineering, textiles and chemicals, even as the trade deficit widened to $21.68 billion during the month, government data showed on Friday.

The United States is concerned that Russia is preparing for an invasion of Ukraine soon, which may result in "widespread human rights violations and war crimes," if diplomacy fails to meet its objectives, a US official said on Friday.

Tesla Inc will accept meme-based cryptocurrency dogecoin as payment for its merchandise such as the "Giga Texas" belt buckle and mini models of electric vehicles, Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said in a tweet on Friday.

The UK government apologised to Queen Elizabeth II on Friday, after it was revealed that Prime Minister Boris Johnson's staff broke coronavirus restrictions by partying on the eve of Prince Philip's funeral. "It is deeply regrettable that this took place at a time of national mourning," Johnson's spokesman told reporters.

A bench of Justices Indira Banerjee and JK Maheshwari said that failure to control an adult brother, living independently, or giving advice to adjust to sister-in-law to avoid retaliation cannot constitute cruelty to the bride within the meaning of Section 498A of the IPC.

The sensex and Nifty broke their five-day rising streak to close with slim losses on Friday, weighed by negative global cues and foreign fund outflows. In a largely subdued session, the 30-share BSE Sensex ended 12.27 points or 0.02 per cent lower at 61,223.03. Similarly, the NSE Nifty slipped 2.05 points or 0.01 per cent to 18,255.75.

Polish scientists have discovered a gene that they say more than doubles the risk of falling severely ill with, or even dying from Covid-19. The health ministry in Warsaw expects the discovery to help identify people who are most at risk from the disease, which has already killed more than 100,000 people in Poland alone.

Australia said Friday it will detain Novak Djokovic this weekend after again stripping him of his visa, in a dramatic setback to the tennis world number one's goal of winning a record 21st Grand Slam.

Hundreds of lives were saved on Sunday after a major collision between two Emirates planes was averted during take-off at Dubai airport. EK-524 Dubai to Hyderabad and EK-568 Dubai to Bengaluru Emirates flight were scheduled to take off but came on the same runway.

With the internet regulating the majority of daily life activities, it is not surprising that it does have a real-time impact on the relationship between parents and their children. While a number of studies have corroborated the impact of the internet, many have shed lights on the good and bad sides of this impact.

Those recovering from Covid do not need to re-test after seven days of home isolation, unless they recorded fever during the last three days, the health ministry has said. In a new set of Covid protocols on Friday, the ministry also said that asymptomatic contacts of Covid patients do not need to take a test.

Passenger vehicle wholesales in India declined 13 per cent to 2,19,421 units last month, auto industry body SIAM said on Friday. Passenger vehicle sales in December 2020 stood at 2,52,998 units.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had a meal at a dalit household here on Friday and said during the Samajwadi Party rule it was "social exploitation" and not "social justice", whereas the BJP government was working for the development of every section of society without any discrimination.

The wholesale price-based inflation bucked the 4-month rising trend in December 2021, and eased to 13.56 per cent, mainly on account of softening in fuel, power and manufacturing items even though food prices hardened.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the online Davos Agenda summit of the World Economic Forum on the first day of the five-day event beginning January 17, joining a host of other global leaders who will share their visions for 2022 on the state of the world.

Airlines in India could make their highest-ever collective loss at over Rs 20,000 crore this fiscal due to twin blows of Covid impact on traffic and steep jet fuel prices, says rating agency Crisil.

Resource-rich Kazakhstan, on China's western border, has economic and strategic importance for Beijing and is an important link in its "Belt and Road" infrastructure initiative to expand its global trade and political influence in rivalry with the US and its allies.

Boris Johnson is facing the gravest crisis of his premiership after revelations about a series of gatherings in Downing Street during Covid lockdowns, some at times when ordinary people were unable to bid farewell in person to dying relatives.

Right before the umpires were about to take the bails off, the third day of the third Test at Newlands got enveloped in drama and snowballed into a controversy. The incident was a result of a DRS 'gaffe' when a R Ashwin delivery that looked like it was going on to hit the stumps eventually was seen missing the bails, after the review.

South African pacer Lungi Ngidi on Thursday said the Indians were clearly "frustrated and under pressure" as a controversial DRS call saved home skipper Dean Elgar, triggering angry reactions from the visiting camp on day three.

A non-binding shareholder resolution called on Microsoft to review the effectiveness of its sexual harassment policies. The resolution, sponsored by Arjuna Capital, was approved in November over the company’s opposition. It came after reports that Gates behaved inappropriately toward female employees years ago.

India reported 2,64,202 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, 6.7% higher than the previous day, said the Ministry of health and family welfare on Friday morning.

Cannabis compounds have the ability to prevent the virus that causes Covid-19 from entering human cells, US researchers have found. The paper titled “Cannabinoids Block Cellular Entry of SARS-CoV-2 and the Emerging Variants” has been published in the Journal of Natural Products.

Karnataka's active Covid caseload crossed the one-lakh mark, whereas the daily test positivity rate (TPR) in Bengaluru hit a peak of 21%. The state reported 25,005 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday, taking the total number of active cases to 1.1 lakh. Karnataka's active caseload has seen a 10-fold rise in 13 days. The last time the state had seen over one lakh active cases was seven months ago.

Social media giant Facebook , now known as Meta Platforms, faces a 2.3 billion pound plus ($3.2 billion plus) class action in Britain over allegations it abused its market dominance by exploiting the personal data of 44 million users.

A court here acquitted former Bishop of Jalandhar diocese Franco Mulakkal in the nun rape case on Friday. It was the additional district and sessions court 1 here which pronounced the verdict in the case.

Immigration Minister Alex Hawke used discretionary powers to again cancel Djokovic's visa, after a court quashed an earlier revocation and released him from immigration detention on Monday.

A mass cyberattack was carried out on Thursday night on websites of the Ukrainian government, some of which were not accessible on Friday morning. The websites of the ministry of foreign affairs, the cabinet of ministers, agrarian policy, security and defence council and the ministry of education all appeared to be not working.

In what could be the impact of the recent resignation spree or a cautious move to stall the opposition’s bid to set the narrative that OBCs are leaving the party, BJP will deny tickets to only 15-17% sitting MLAs instead of the earlier planned 30%. By this calculation, BJP will deny tickets to not more than three to four dozen MLAs. This would bring respite to several MLAs who had the inkling of being denied tickets.

While the number of Covid-19 cases continued to drop for the third consecutive day in Mumbai, the daily toll rose to double digits - 11 - after five months. On Saturday, 10,661 cases were registered in Mumbai as against 11,317 on Friday. On Sunday, the city is likely to cross the 10-lakh mark for Covid cases since the pandemic began in March 2020.

India on Sunday completed one year of its vaccination drive as it battles the third wave of the deadly Covid-19 pandemic. The country has successfully administered a total of 156.76 crore vaccine doses so far. Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya hailed the vaccination drive and called it the "the most successful in the world."

India logged 2.71 lakh new Covid cases, marginally higher than yesterday, while the active cases rose to 15,50,377 according to the Union health ministry data updated on Sunday. The death toll climbed to 4,86,066 with 314 fresh fatalities.

England's health service said it will expand its Covid-19 booster vaccination programme to include 16- and 17-year-olds from Monday. Until now, booster jabs have been limited to 16- and 17-year-olds most at risk from the coronavirus.

From a team that was trying not to lose away from home, India suddenly became the outfit that was always playing to win under Virat Kohli. Kohli got a coach in Ravi Shastri who bought his philosophy and the new Indian captain was prompt to chalk out a new roadmap for Indian cricket.

BJP allocated a significant share of tickets for backwards even as it sprung a surprise by fielding chief minister Yogi Adityanath from his home turf, Gorakhpur (Urban) seat, instead of the Hindutva nerve-centre of Ayodhya as speculated, in the first list of 107 candidates for UP that it announced on Saturday.

Nepal had objected to an announcement by India and China in 2015 to develop a trade corridor via the Lipulekh pass and then again to India's own new political map that was issued in 2019 after the reorganisation of what was the Jammu and Kashmir state.

On Saturday, Virat Kohli chose to walk away from the Indian Test captaincy, bringing down the curtains on an era in Indian cricket with a measured statement announcing his resignation. Kohli’s announcement followed a 1-2 defeat to South Africa—a series that India were considered favourites to win before it began.

Virat Kohli wasn't pushed but he decided to jump. It was a Twitter message on September 16 when he informed the world about his decision to quit T20 captaincy, keen to focus all his energies on Test cricket and ODI format keeping the 2023 World Cup in mind.

The Election Commission has extended the ban on physical rallies and roadshows till January 22 in states where assembly elections are scheduled in February-March. The Commission had on January 8 banned rallies and roadshows till January 15, when it announced polls to the five states.

"Hearty thanks to respected Prime Minister @narendramodi, Honorable National President @JPNadda and Parliamentary Board for making me the candidate of Bharatiya Janata Party from Gorakhpur (urban) in the upcoming assembly elections," tweeted Yogi in Hindi.

Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday invited students, teachers and parents to participate in the 5th edition of "Pariksha Pe Charcha 2022" and get a chance to be mentored by Prime Minister Modi.

As several leaders from the BJP shifted allegiance to the Samajwadi Party (SP) saying it worked for the Dalits and backward classes, BSP supremo Mayawati pooh-poohed the claim saying the party's past record shows its "anti-Dalit" approach. Mayawati also clarified that she would not contest the Assembly elections.

Virat Kohli on Saturday dropped a bombshell by quitting Test captaincy following the unexpected series defeat against South Africa. Kohli was appointed Test captain back in 2014 when MS Dhoni stepped down in the middle of the series against Australia.

West Bengal government on Saturday extended the ongoing Covid-19 restrictions till January 31. The state government also allowed marriage functions with a maximum of 200 attendees or 50 per cent of the venue's capacity, whichever is lesser.

Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday announced that he would not let any more Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs or ministers join the SP. "Let me tell BJP that I will not take any BJP MLA, minister anymore. They can deny tickets (to their leaders) if they wish to," said Yadav.

The supremely-talented Punjab batter Shubman Gill will lend solidity to the Indian middle-order when a major reshuffle is expected to force struggling Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane out of the Test team.

During the meeting, Jaishankar conveyed that India has always stood with Sri Lanka, and will continue to support that country in all possible ways for overcoming the economic and other challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, a statement issued by the ministry of external affairs said.

Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane on Saturday said that the Indian Army's message is clear that it will not let any attempt to unilaterally change the status quo along the country's borders succeed. While Speaking at the Army Day parade, Gen Naravane said that last year was challenging for the Army because of the China tensions and to keep the situation under control the 14th meeting took place recently.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, who is spearheading the BJP's campaign in the state, will contest the upcoming assembly election from Gorakhpur (Urban) seat. Voting in Gorakhpur will be held in the sixth phase on March 3 while Sirathu to go to polls on February 27.

An underwater volcano off Tonga erupted on Saturday, triggering a tsunami warning for several South Pacific island nations, with footage on social media showing waves crashing into homes. Tsunami waves of 2.7 feet (83 cm) were observed by gauges at the Tongan capital of Nuku’alofa.

The country's largest private sector lender HDFC Bank on Saturday reported an 18.1 per cent rise in its standalone net profit at Rs 10,342.20 crore for the third quarter ended December 2021. The bank had registered a net profit of Rs 8,758.29 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal year.

India's dream of winning a maiden Test series in the Rainbow Nation remained unrealised as the visitors, who were tagged favourites to create history this time around, suffered a 1-2 series defeat at the hands of an inexperienced South African side.

India reported 2,68,833 new Covid-19 cases and 402 deaths in the last 24 hours while the Omicron tally rose to 6,041, according to the Union health ministry data released on Saturday morning.

Newly unredacted documents from a state-led antitrust lawsuit against Google accuse the search giant of colluding with rival Facebook to manipulate online advertising sales. The CEOs of both companies were aware of the deal and signed off on it, the lawsuit alleges. When the two sides hammered out the terms of the agreement, “the team sent an email addressed directly to CEO” Zuckerberg, the lawsuit states.

As India is celebrating Indian Army Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said India is proud of the stellar contribution of the Army in Peacekeeping Missions overseas. The Prime Minister also highlighted that Indian Army personnel serve in hostile terrains and are at the forefront of helping fellow citizens during a humanitarian crisis.

Rafael Nadal took a swipe at rival Novak Djokovic on Saturday as the world number fights deportation from Australia, saying: "The Australian Open is much more important than any one player." Ahead of the start of the first Grand Slam on Monday, Nadal told reporters at Melbourne Park: "Australian Open will be a great Australian Open with or without him."

India has finally bagged a $375 million (Rs 2,770 crore) deal to export BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles to the Philippines, which has had several bitter tiffs with China over territorial claims in the South China Sea in recent months. The Philippines’ Department of National Defence has issued the “notice of award” to BrahMos Aerospace Private Ltd, under which the actual contract is likely to be inked next week.

With two India-bound flights of Emirates last week closely avoiding a collision at Dubai Airport, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Friday sought a report from UAE authorities on the incident.

A tri-services court of inquiry has ruled out mechanical failure behind the chopper crash on December 8 that killed India's first Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat. In a report, the panel said that the accident was a result of entry into clouds due to unexpected change in weather conditions, which led to "spatial disorientation of the pilot".

The road transport ministry has proposed mandatory installation of six airbags in all cars with seating capacity of up to eight persons from October this year. While the move, irrespective of cost and variant, which was announced by union minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday is aimed at improving the safety of passengers in the rear seats, it will push up the cost by at least Rs 8,000 to 10,000 per vehicle. Cost may be a little higher for vehicles with lower sales.

India captain Virat Kohli on Friday defended his team's verbal attack on the broadcasters after Dean Elgar's contentious DRS reprieve, saying that people on the outside don't understand the trigger for such an outburst.

The country's exports in December 2021 surged 38.91 per cent on an annual basis to $37.81 billion, the highest-ever monthly figure, due to healthy performance by sectors such as engineering, textiles and chemicals, even as the trade deficit widened to $21.68 billion during the month, government data showed on Friday.

The United States is concerned that Russia is preparing for an invasion of Ukraine soon, which may result in "widespread human rights violations and war crimes," if diplomacy fails to meet its objectives, a US official said on Friday.

Tesla Inc will accept meme-based cryptocurrency dogecoin as payment for its merchandise such as the "Giga Texas" belt buckle and mini models of electric vehicles, Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said in a tweet on Friday.

The UK government apologised to Queen Elizabeth II on Friday, after it was revealed that Prime Minister Boris Johnson's staff broke coronavirus restrictions by partying on the eve of Prince Philip's funeral. "It is deeply regrettable that this took place at a time of national mourning," Johnson's spokesman told reporters.

Tata Consultancy Services promoters - Tata Sons and Tata Investment Corporation Ltd (TICL) - intend to participate in the IT services major's Rs 18,000 crore buyback offer by tendering shares worth about Rs 12,993.2 crore.

A bench of Justices Indira Banerjee and JK Maheshwari said that failure to control an adult brother, living independently, or giving advice to adjust to sister-in-law to avoid retaliation cannot constitute cruelty to the bride within the meaning of Section 498A of the IPC.

The sensex and Nifty broke their five-day rising streak to close with slim losses on Friday, weighed by negative global cues and foreign fund outflows. In a largely subdued session, the 30-share BSE Sensex ended 12.27 points or 0.02 per cent lower at 61,223.03. Similarly, the NSE Nifty slipped 2.05 points or 0.01 per cent to 18,255.75.

Polish scientists have discovered a gene that they say more than doubles the risk of falling severely ill with, or even dying from Covid-19. The health ministry in Warsaw expects the discovery to help identify people who are most at risk from the disease, which has already killed more than 100,000 people in Poland alone.

Australia said Friday it will detain Novak Djokovic this weekend after again stripping him of his visa, in a dramatic setback to the tennis world number one's goal of winning a record 21st Grand Slam.

Hundreds of lives were saved on Sunday after a major collision between two Emirates planes was averted during take-off at Dubai airport. EK-524 Dubai to Hyderabad and EK-568 Dubai to Bengaluru Emirates flight were scheduled to take off but came on the same runway.

With the internet regulating the majority of daily life activities, it is not surprising that it does have a real-time impact on the relationship between parents and their children. While a number of studies have corroborated the impact of the internet, many have shed lights on the good and bad sides of this impact.

Those recovering from Covid do not need to re-test after seven days of home isolation, unless they recorded fever during the last three days, the health ministry has said. In a new set of Covid protocols on Friday, the ministry also said that asymptomatic contacts of Covid patients do not need to take a test.

Passenger vehicle wholesales in India declined 13 per cent to 2,19,421 units last month, auto industry body SIAM said on Friday. Passenger vehicle sales in December 2020 stood at 2,52,998 units.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had a meal at a dalit household here on Friday and said during the Samajwadi Party rule it was "social exploitation" and not "social justice", whereas the BJP government was working for the development of every section of society without any discrimination.

The wholesale price-based inflation bucked the 4-month rising trend in December 2021, and eased to 13.56 per cent, mainly on account of softening in fuel, power and manufacturing items even though food prices hardened.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the online Davos Agenda summit of the World Economic Forum on the first day of the five-day event beginning January 17, joining a host of other global leaders who will share their visions for 2022 on the state of the world.

Airlines in India could make their highest-ever collective loss at over Rs 20,000 crore this fiscal due to twin blows of Covid impact on traffic and steep jet fuel prices, says rating agency Crisil.

Resource-rich Kazakhstan, on China's western border, has economic and strategic importance for Beijing and is an important link in its "Belt and Road" infrastructure initiative to expand its global trade and political influence in rivalry with the US and its allies.

On February 25, 2017, amidst UP assembly elections, then foreign minister Sushma Swaraj called up the then BJP Gorakhpur MP Yogi Adityanath and asked him to lead a parliamentary delegation to Port Louis (Mauritius). Yogi, who had been campaigning hard for BJP in the state, confirmed participation only after March 6 when polling for all phases would end.

China has detected locally-transmitted Omicron infections in the capital Beijing, the financial center Shanghai, and Guangdong, where the southern technology center of Shenzhen is located, which together account for one-fifth of the country’s gross domestic product.

When ex-IPS officer Asim Arun and former IAS officer Ram Bahadur formally joined the BJP on Sunday, the development marked a conspicuous trend of bureaucrats turning to politics after completing their services or taking a VRS midway.

Credit Suisse Chairman Antonio Horta-Osorio has resigned after flouting Covid-19 quarantine rules, the bank said on Monday, raising questions over the embattled lender's new strategy as it tries to recover from a string of scandals.

India on Monday reported 2.58 lakh new Covid-19 cases, while the active cases rose to 16,56,341 according to the Union health ministry data. 8,209 cases of Omicron variant have been reported across 28 states and union territories. Maharashtra has most number of Omicron cases with 1,738 infections while Delhi is at the second spot with 1,672 cases.

The Covid vaccination programme is set to start for the 12-14 age group from February-end, Dr N K Arora, chairman of the Covid-19 working group of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation told TOI on Sunday. Adolescent vaccination is making impressive strides across the country.

India's leading Kathak exponent and Padma Vibhushan awardee, Pt Birju Maharaj, passed away early Monday after suffering a heart attack. The 83-year-old doyen, who was the torchbearer of the Kalka-Bindadin gharana of the Lucknow style of Kathak, breathed his last at New Delhi's Saket Hospital.

China's economy got off to a strong start in 2021 as activity rebounded from a pandemic-induced slump the previous year, but it has lost steam due to a property downturn, debt curbs and strict Covid-19 curbs which have hit consumption.

Seventy per cent of India's adults have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 while 93 per cent received the first jab, said Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya while launching a postage stamp on indigenously developed vaccine Covaxin to mark one year of the inoculation drive. This is a proud moment for Indians and the entire world is amazed by the country's Covid inoculation drive, he said at the commemorative postage stamp release event.

Sunil Gavaskar wants Rishabh Pant to succeed Virat Kohli as the next India Test captain as he believes a sense of responsibility will make the glovesman a better cricketer in all forms of the game. Kohli surprised the cricket fraternity by quitting Test captaincy on Saturday evening, a day after losing the Test series in South Africa 1-2 to draw the curtains on a successful seven-year reign.

Princess Sophia Duleep Singh deserves more attention as a role model for young girls in Britain, says British Indian author Sufiya Ahmed about her new children’s book on the granddaughter of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and goddaughter of Queen Victoria.

Omicron is a "deviant" from the Covid-19 pandemic progression script and so it must be postulated that two pandemics are going on side by side, one by the Delta and close relatives and the other by the latest variant of concern, said noted virologist Dr T Jacob John. Speaking on how the pandemic can now be expected to progress, he pointed out that Omicron is not "fathered, or mothered, by Wuhan-D614G, Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Kappa or Mu and That much is for sure".

Top doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty scripted a stunning straight-game win over three-time world champions Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia to become the first men's team from the country to win the India Open. The world no 10 Indian pair, which had won its first Super 500 tournament in Thailand in 2019, upset the top seeded Indonesian pair 21-16 26-24 in 43 minutes to make a rampaging start to the new season.

There is no justification now for keeping schools closed in view of the pandemic and even if there are new waves, closing schools should be the last resort, according to the World Bank's Global Education Director Jaime Saavedra.

Novak Djokovic flew out of Australia on Sunday after a court upheld the government's decision to cancel his visa, capping days of drama over the country's COVID-19 entry rules and his unvaccinated status. The unanimous ruling by a three-judge Federal Court bench dealt a final blow to Djokovic's hopes of chasing a record 21st Grand Slam win at the Australian Open that starts on Monday.

India's Lakshya Sen secured his maiden Super 500 title by winning the Yonex-Sunrise India Open with a stunning straight-game victory over reigning world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore in the men's singles final. The 20-year-old Sen, who had claimed his maiden world championships medal with a bronze in Spain last month, produced a fine performance to outshine the fifth seeded shuttler 24-22, 21-17 in the summit clash that lasted 54 minutes.

Bharatiya Janta Party election co-incharge of Uttar Pradesh and Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Thakur on Sunday slammed Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav asking him from which constituency will he contest the forthcoming Assembly elections.

Australia's fast bowlers ran through the English batting line-up to claim a comprehensive 146-run win in the fifth and final Ashes Test at Hobart on Sunday, sealing a one-sided series 4-0. After a bright 68-run opening stand chasing 271 for victory, England collapsed once again to hand the Test to the rampant Australian outfit, losing 10 wickets for 56 runs in 137 balls.

In a few dry words, the chief justice of Australia's Federal Court, James Allsop, Sunday dispensed with the unvaccinated Novak Djokovic's attempt to reinstate his cancelled visa. "The orders of the court are that the amended application be dismissed with costs", Allsop said announcing the unanimous decision, on the eve of the first matches at the Australian Open.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday acknowledged the contribution of health and frontline workers, scientists as India completed one year of its Covid-19 vaccination drive. In a series of tweets Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed each and every person associated with the drive.

India on Sunday completed one year of its vaccination drive as it battles the third wave of the deadly Covid-19 pandemic. The country has successfully administered a total of 156.76 crore vaccine doses so far. Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya hailed the vaccination drive and called it the "the most successful in the world."

While the number of Covid-19 cases continued to drop for the third consecutive day in Mumbai, the daily toll rose to double digits - 11 - after five months. On Saturday, 10,661 cases were registered in Mumbai as against 11,317 on Friday. On Sunday, the city is likely to cross the 10-lakh mark for Covid cases since the pandemic began in March 2020.

The first list of 107 candidates released by the Bharatiya Janata Party for the first two phases follows the formula propounded by former CM Kalyan Singh — and perfected by Union home minister Amit Shah when he was UP in charge in 2013 — to unit all castes, especially the OBCs and Dalits,

India logged 2.71 lakh new Covid cases, marginally higher than yesterday, while the active cases rose to 15,50,377 according to the Union health ministry data updated on Sunday. The death toll climbed to 4,86,066 with 314 fresh fatalities.

As Test captain, Virat Kohli has had a stellar record. He led the team in 68 Tests out of which India won as many as 40. His win percentage as Test skipper stands at a very healthy 58.82%.

England's health service said it will expand its Covid-19 booster vaccination programme to include 16- and 17-year-olds from Monday. Until now, booster jabs have been limited to 16- and 17-year-olds most at risk from the coronavirus.

From a team that was trying not to lose away from home, India suddenly became the outfit that was always playing to win under Virat Kohli. Kohli got a coach in Ravi Shastri who bought his philosophy and the new Indian captain was prompt to chalk out a new roadmap for Indian cricket.

BJP allocated a significant share of tickets for backwards even as it sprung a surprise by fielding chief minister Yogi Adityanath from his home turf, Gorakhpur (Urban) seat, instead of the Hindutva nerve-centre of Ayodhya as speculated, in the first list of 107 candidates for UP that it announced on Saturday.

Nepal had objected to an announcement by India and China in 2015 to develop a trade corridor via the Lipulekh pass and then again to India's own new political map that was issued in 2019 after the reorganisation of what was the Jammu and Kashmir state.

On Saturday, Virat Kohli chose to walk away from the Indian Test captaincy, bringing down the curtains on an era in Indian cricket with a measured statement announcing his resignation. Kohli’s announcement followed a 1-2 defeat to South Africa—a series that India were considered favourites to win before it began.

Virat Kohli wasn't pushed but he decided to jump. It was a Twitter message on September 16 when he informed the world about his decision to quit T20 captaincy, keen to focus all his energies on Test cricket and ODI format keeping the 2023 World Cup in mind.

The Election Commission has extended the ban on physical rallies and roadshows till January 22 in states where assembly elections are scheduled in February-March. The Commission had on January 8 banned rallies and roadshows till January 15, when it announced polls to the five states.

"Hearty thanks to respected Prime Minister @narendramodi, Honorable National President @JPNadda and Parliamentary Board for making me the candidate of Bharatiya Janata Party from Gorakhpur (urban) in the upcoming assembly elections," tweeted Yogi in Hindi.

Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday invited students, teachers and parents to participate in the 5th edition of "Pariksha Pe Charcha 2022" and get a chance to be mentored by Prime Minister Modi.

As several leaders from the BJP shifted allegiance to the Samajwadi Party (SP) saying it worked for the Dalits and backward classes, BSP supremo Mayawati pooh-poohed the claim saying the party's past record shows its "anti-Dalit" approach. Mayawati also clarified that she would not contest the Assembly elections.

Virat Kohli on Saturday dropped a bombshell by quitting Test captaincy following the unexpected series defeat against South Africa. Kohli was appointed Test captain back in 2014 when MS Dhoni stepped down in the middle of the series against Australia.

West Bengal government on Saturday extended the ongoing Covid-19 restrictions till January 31. The state government also allowed marriage functions with a maximum of 200 attendees or 50 per cent of the venue's capacity, whichever is lesser.

Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday announced that he would not let any more Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs or ministers join the SP. "Let me tell BJP that I will not take any BJP MLA, minister anymore. They can deny tickets (to their leaders) if they wish to," said Yadav.

The supremely-talented Punjab batter Shubman Gill will lend solidity to the Indian middle-order when a major reshuffle is expected to force struggling Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane out of the Test team.

During the meeting, Jaishankar conveyed that India has always stood with Sri Lanka, and will continue to support that country in all possible ways for overcoming the economic and other challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, a statement issued by the ministry of external affairs said.

Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane on Saturday said that the Indian Army's message is clear that it will not let any attempt to unilaterally change the status quo along the country's borders succeed. While Speaking at the Army Day parade, Gen Naravane said that last year was challenging for the Army because of the China tensions and to keep the situation under control the 14th meeting took place recently.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, who is spearheading the BJP's campaign in the state, will contest the upcoming assembly election from Gorakhpur (Urban) seat. Voting in Gorakhpur will be held in the sixth phase on March 3 while Sirathu to go to polls on February 27.

An underwater volcano off Tonga erupted on Saturday, triggering a tsunami warning for several South Pacific island nations, with footage on social media showing waves crashing into homes. Tsunami waves of 2.7 feet (83 cm) were observed by gauges at the Tongan capital of Nuku’alofa.

The country's largest private sector lender HDFC Bank on Saturday reported an 18.1 per cent rise in its standalone net profit at Rs 10,342.20 crore for the third quarter ended December 2021. The bank had registered a net profit of Rs 8,758.29 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal year.

India's dream of winning a maiden Test series in the Rainbow Nation remained unrealised as the visitors, who were tagged favourites to create history this time around, suffered a 1-2 series defeat at the hands of an inexperienced South African side.

India reported 2,68,833 new Covid-19 cases and 402 deaths in the last 24 hours while the Omicron tally rose to 6,041, according to the Union health ministry data released on Saturday morning.

Newly unredacted documents from a state-led antitrust lawsuit against Google accuse the search giant of colluding with rival Facebook to manipulate online advertising sales. The CEOs of both companies were aware of the deal and signed off on it, the lawsuit alleges. When the two sides hammered out the terms of the agreement, “the team sent an email addressed directly to CEO” Zuckerberg, the lawsuit states.

As India is celebrating Indian Army Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said India is proud of the stellar contribution of the Army in Peacekeeping Missions overseas. The Prime Minister also highlighted that Indian Army personnel serve in hostile terrains and are at the forefront of helping fellow citizens during a humanitarian crisis.

Rafael Nadal took a swipe at rival Novak Djokovic on Saturday as the world number fights deportation from Australia, saying: "The Australian Open is much more important than any one player." Ahead of the start of the first Grand Slam on Monday, Nadal told reporters at Melbourne Park: "Australian Open will be a great Australian Open with or without him."

India has finally bagged a $375 million (Rs 2,770 crore) deal to export BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles to the Philippines, which has had several bitter tiffs with China over territorial claims in the South China Sea in recent months. The Philippines’ Department of National Defence has issued the “notice of award” to BrahMos Aerospace Private Ltd, under which the actual contract is likely to be inked next week.

India on Tuesday reported 2.38 lakh new Covid-19 cases, while the active cases rose to 17,36,628 according to the Union health ministry data. 8,891 cases of Omicron variant have been reported across 28 states and union territories. The death toll climbed to 4,86,761 with 310 fresh fatalities according to the data updated at 9am.

Soon after a new combat uniform was unveiled by the 13-lakh strong Army, a major battle has erupted over who will manufacture them. Employees of the state-owned ordnance clothing factories (OCFs) contend they should get the mega contract, while the Army wants an open tender with private companies also in the fray to ensure soldiers get the best possible camouflage fatigues at the cheapest rates.

Equity benchmark sensex climbed over 135 points in opening trade on Tuesday, tracking gains in index-majors ITC, Tech Mahindra and Bajaj Finserv amid a largely positive trend in the global markets.

Two deposed captains, Virat Kohli and Quinton de Kock, could play significant roles in a three-match one-day international series between South Africa and India, starting at Boland Park in Paarl on Wednesday.

The US, its allies and even Russia and China have yet to recognize the Taliban government due to concerns over continued links with terrorism as well as human rights abuses and banning girls’ education. Some of the Taliban’s cabinet members are blacklisted under US and UN sanctions.

For almost two years, India has steeled itself for a gargantuan task: readying the country’s premier insurer -- with nearly $500 billion in assets and a valuation estimated as high as $203 billion -- for what could become its biggest-ever stock listing.

Brushing aside the Centre's "it's states' responsibility" stand, the Supreme Court on Monday asked the Union government to draft model national builder-buyer and agent-buyer agreements to protect homebuyers from remaining at the mercy of real estate companies and getting fleeced by them.

Daily cases of Covid fell below 2.5 lakh for the first time in five days as lower testing over the weekend led to detection of around 2.35 lakh fresh infections on Monday, down from nearly 2.59 lakh on previous day. Deaths from the virus continued to inch up for the seventh consecutive day with 250 fatalities reported in India, as compared to 235 on Sunday.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Monday promised interest-free loans for farmers and setting-up of a revolving fund to pay sugarcane growers the price of their produce within 15 days if voted to power in the 2022 assembly polls. "A revolving fund will also be set up to pay farmers the price of their produce within 15 days after them selling their yield," Akhilesh said.

Brent crude prices hit their highest level in more than seven years on Tuesday on growing demand optimism, easing concerns about the Omicron Covid variant and geopolitical tensions. The contract hit $86.84 in Asian trade, a level not seen since late October 2014.

Banks are dreading the elections in Punjab and their fears found an expression through Patiala Central Cooperative Bank Ltd which told the Supreme Court on Monday that no farmer is returning the loan taken from banks as they are hoping for a waiver by the government that will come to power after the polls.

PM Narendra Modi made a bold pitch for foreign investment, assuring all support to investors, saying India has fast-pedalled on reforms and infrastructure and the financial mood is positive even as it is facing another wave. “The spirit of entrepreneurship in the country can provide new energy to every global partner. This is the best time to invest in India,” he said at the World Economic Forum’s annual meet.

The biblical adage about reaping what you sow holds a whole new meaning for Hukumchand Patidar. Dropping out of school in Class 10 to work in the fields, the farmer from Rajasthan's Jhalawar is now rubbing shoulders with scientists and academics in a team assigned the task of designing the curriculum on organic farming for India's agricultural universities.

Leading the pack are freshers (94%) and Gen Z professionals (87%), according to a new job-seeker study by the online professional network, LinkedIn. Based on the responses of 1,111 workers in India, the survey - the findings of which were shared exclusively with TOI - shows that professionals are leaving their current jobs due to poor work-life balance (30%), not enough money (28%), or greater career ambitions (23%).

When it has become almost a norm for travellers to carry either negative RT-PCR test reports or Covid vaccination certificates, the Union government has informed the Supreme Court that it has “not issued any Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) which makes carrying of vaccination certificates mandatory for any purpose”.

The Election Commission on Monday shifted the Punjab assembly poll date to February 20 from February 14, in view of requests received from several political parties and the state government to defer polling by a few days in view of Guru Ravidas Jayanti on February 16. The counting date is unchanged on March 10.

The downward spiral of Covid-19 cases in Delhi continued for the fourth consecutive day, with the city reporting 12,527 new cases on Monday. Data shared by the state government shows the daily tally has fallen by nearly 49 per cent in these four days, from 24,383 cases on January 14. The positivity rate, too, is down — from 30.64 per cent to 27.99 per cent — in this period.

The Supreme Court on Monday chided states and Union Territories (UTs) for not doing enough to identify and rehabilitate children who are forced to live on streets. The court reminded them that it is their duty to provide food and shelter to them. A bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and BV Nagarathna directed the state and UT governments to make extra effort to reach out to those children.

Oral antivirals, antibiotics, monoclonal antibodies and vitamins have no place in India’s latest Covid management guidelines, which were put up on the Union health ministry website on Monday. Antiviral remdesivir, which is given via an IV drip, is recommended for moderate to severely ill patients on oxygen support.

The rabbi of the Texas synagogue, where four people were held hostage by a British-Pakistani man, says he threw a chair at the gunman and then escaped with two other hostages after a 10-hour standoff.

Three people died after the car they were in plunged off an elevated section of a highway near Los Angeles and landed on the street below, authorities said.

Assuring all support to the exporting community, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal on Monday said the exports target of $650 billion for both goods and services within the current financial year is achievable.

India has attracted higher FDI flows and continues to remain among the top attractive destinations for international investors, according to an article published in Reserve Bank of India's monthly bulletin for January 2022.

HCL Technologies CEO Vijayakumar on Monday said he expects the rising attrition rates to stabilise in the future quarters as he exuded confidence in the steps being taken by the IT major, including ramping up fresher hiring, to arrest the spike.

Market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies jumped to an all-time high of over Rs 280 lakh crore on Monday as benchmark indices bounced back after taking a breather in the previous trade.

A familiar guns vs border battle has erupted between Republicans and Democrats in the United States following the Texas hostage-taking by a British-Pakistani assailant even as his family in the UK claimed he was suffering from mental health issues that might have led to his actions.

"The vaccine is being finished, it should be in the clinic in coming weeks. We are hoping in the March timeframe to be able to have data to share with regulators to figure out next steps," Bancel said at the World Economic Forum's virtual Davos Agenda conference.

Oyo Hotels, the once hard-charging startup that struggled during the pandemic, is eyeing a valuation of about $9 billion in its initial public offering (IPO) after preliminary conversations with potential investors, according to people familiar with the matter.

The government is likely to earmark nearly $19 billion in the budget to compensate fertiliser companies for selling their products to farmers at lower than market prices, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Axis Bank has emerged as the frontrunner to buy Citi's consumer business in India, which is being valued at $1.5 billion in a planned deal that's likely to happen this month, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the matter.

A 2,670 kilometre land border drawn up by the British Empire in 1893 to safeguard its interests in Southern Asia continues to create tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan 128 years later.

Two Indians were among three people killed in Abu Dhabi on Monday after three fuel tankers exploded in an industrial area near the international airport. The explosions are suspected to have been caused due to a drone attack, said United Arab Emirates authorities.

The Election Commission on Monday rescheduled the voting date for Punjab assembly elections to February 20. Punjab was earlier scheduled to vote on February 14 in the second phase of the polls. In a statement, the commission said polls would now be held on February 20. It coincides with the third phase of polling in Uttar Pradesh.

India's white-ball skipper Rohit, who was also the designated Test vice-captain for the tour of South Africa, sustained a left-hamstring strain during a net session just prior to the team's departure for the tour and had to pull out.

The global job market will taker longer to recover than previously thought, with unemployment levels set to remain above pre-Covid-19 levels until at least 2023 due to uncertainty about the pandemic's course and duration, the International Labour Organization said in a report on Monday.

Automobile dealers' body FADA has urged the government to reduce GST rates on two-wheelers to 18 per cent in order to generate demand in the segment. The Federation of Automobile Dealers Association (FADA), which represents over 15,000 automobile dealers having 26,500 dealerships, noted that two-wheelers are not a luxury item and hence GST rates need to come down.

India pacer Jasprit Bumrah on Monday said that everybody in Team India respects Virat Kohli's decision to stand down as the Test skipper. Bumrah's comments come two days after Kohli announced his decision to stand down as India's Test captain.

The percentage of senior citizens falling sick with Covid has been increasing steadily in Maharashtra over the past 15 days, daily reports from the state’s Medical Education and Drug Department (MEDD) have shown. The trend, experts said, is worrying as the elderly are more likely to get the severe disease. They have called for increased focus on the healthcare needs of this age group, especially those with pre-existing conditions.

On February 25, 2017, amidst UP assembly elections, then foreign minister Sushma Swaraj called up the then BJP Gorakhpur MP Yogi Adityanath and asked him to lead a parliamentary delegation to Port Louis (Mauritius). Yogi, who had been campaigning hard for BJP in the state, confirmed participation only after March 6 when polling for all phases would end.

China has detected locally-transmitted Omicron infections in the capital Beijing, the financial center Shanghai, and Guangdong, where the southern technology center of Shenzhen is located, which together account for one-fifth of the country’s gross domestic product.

When ex-IPS officer Asim Arun and former IAS officer Ram Bahadur formally joined the BJP on Sunday, the development marked a conspicuous trend of bureaucrats turning to politics after completing their services or taking a VRS midway.

Credit Suisse Chairman Antonio Horta-Osorio has resigned after flouting Covid-19 quarantine rules, the bank said on Monday, raising questions over the embattled lender's new strategy as it tries to recover from a string of scandals.

India on Monday reported 2.58 lakh new Covid-19 cases, while the active cases rose to 16,56,341 according to the Union health ministry data. 8,209 cases of Omicron variant have been reported across 28 states and union territories. Maharashtra has most number of Omicron cases with 1,738 infections while Delhi is at the second spot with 1,672 cases.

The Covid vaccination programme is set to start for the 12-14 age group from February-end, Dr N K Arora, chairman of the Covid-19 working group of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation told TOI on Sunday. Adolescent vaccination is making impressive strides across the country.

India's leading Kathak exponent and Padma Vibhushan awardee, Pt Birju Maharaj, passed away early Monday after suffering a heart attack. The 83-year-old doyen, who was the torchbearer of the Kalka-Bindadin gharana of the Lucknow style of Kathak, breathed his last at New Delhi's Saket Hospital.

China's economy got off to a strong start in 2021 as activity rebounded from a pandemic-induced slump the previous year, but it has lost steam due to a property downturn, debt curbs and strict Covid-19 curbs which have hit consumption.

Seventy per cent of India's adults have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 while 93 per cent received the first jab, said Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya while launching a postage stamp on indigenously developed vaccine Covaxin to mark one year of the inoculation drive. This is a proud moment for Indians and the entire world is amazed by the country's Covid inoculation drive, he said at the commemorative postage stamp release event.

Sunil Gavaskar wants Rishabh Pant to succeed Virat Kohli as the next India Test captain as he believes a sense of responsibility will make the glovesman a better cricketer in all forms of the game. Kohli surprised the cricket fraternity by quitting Test captaincy on Saturday evening, a day after losing the Test series in South Africa 1-2 to draw the curtains on a successful seven-year reign.

Princess Sophia Duleep Singh deserves more attention as a role model for young girls in Britain, says British Indian author Sufiya Ahmed about her new children’s book on the granddaughter of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and goddaughter of Queen Victoria.

India on Wednesday reported the single day rise of 2,82,970 new Covid-19 infections, as per the data by the Union health ministry, taking the cases' tally to 3,79,01,241. This includes 8,961 cases of the Omicron variant, according to the government data updated today. There has been an 0.79 per cent increase in Omicron cases since Tuesday, the ministry said.

India recorded a sharp uptick in Covid-19 deaths on Tuesday, with the toll rising 40% in a day to cross 350, even as fresh cases surged again after three days to the highest tally in the third wave so far. There were 353 deaths reported on Tuesday, with data from Tripura awaited, nearly 100 more than the previous day’s toll of 254, making it the sharpest single-day increase during the current wave.

Telecom Reliance Jio on Wednesday said it has paid Rs 30,791 crore, including accrued interest, to the Department of Telecom to clear the entire spectrum payments liabilities that the company acquired before March 2021 auctions.

The sustained boom in global tech spending, a revival of local housing demand and a rebound in bank earnings are expected to be among the key drivers of gains for India’s stock market this year.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday lauded youngsters in the 15-18 age group for showing enthusiasm in getting vaccinated against Covid-19 and called for continuing the momentum.

Three Indian Navy sailors were killed and 11 sustained burn injuries in an explosion on board the Rajput-class destroyer, INS Ranvir, at the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai on Tuesday. The explosion occurred around 4.45pm in an internal compartment of the destroyer, which was anchored at Mumbai on cross-coast deployment from eastern Naval Command at Visakhapatnam.

Data filed by states in the Supreme Court shows that the number of Covid compensation claims received by some of them far exceed their official count of deaths. In Gujarat and Telangana, it’s as high as almost nine and seven times, respectively, while in absolute numbers, the gap between the official toll and compensation claims is the largest in Maharashtra.

AAP on Tuesday declared Sangrur MP and former stand-up comic Bhagwant Mann as its candidate for Punjab CM, based on 93% of 21 lakh responses received in a reality show-like telephone poll in which Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu curiously ended up with the second highest votes. AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal said some people voted for him, too, but that wouldn’t count as he was never in the race.

Indian fugitive business tycoon Vijay Mallya and his family are set to be evicted from their multi-million-pound London home after mortgagee Swiss bank UBS won the right in court on Tuesday to repossess it and sell it. If the family do not leave immediately of their own accord, they may get evicted from the house by bailiffs.

Covid's third wave is likely to peak by January 25 in Bengaluru, with daily fresh infections touching 35,000 cases, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials told Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai during a review meeting on the pandemic on Monday. The city reported 25,595 new cases on Tuesday, taking active cases across the state to nearly 1.8 lakh.

The government has approved the appointment of Eastern Command chief Lt General Manoj Pande as the next Army vice-chief, even as the decision on the next chief of defence staff (CDS) is still awaited. Lt Gen Pande will succeed Lt-General CP Mohanty, who is slated to retire on January 31, sources said on Tuesday.

After demolishing the gender barrier and directing entry of women aspirants in the National Defence Academy (NDA) which was earlier allowed only for men, the Supreme Court has agreed to examine a plea for letting women compete with men for admission for all seats without putting restrictions on the number of women to be enrolled.

The number of Omicron cases in most metros has started falling but health experts are of the view that a "pan-India peak" is still lurking ahead as infection is now spreading to smaller cities, which are likely to see a surge over the next two to three weeks. Taking note of this, the Centre has asked states and Union territories to enhance testing to identify new clusters and hotspots of infection.

A day after the SC verdict, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday attacked Congress for “committing a fraud on the country” in the Devas deal with Antrix, and said it would move aggressively and target assets owned by promoters of the company, both in India and abroad. "It was a fraud of Congress, by Congress and for Congress... It’s Congress’s turn to explain,” Sitharaman said.

Bemused by the Centre's deadpan statement that there are no starvation deaths in the country, the Supreme Court on Tuesday asked whether the government seriously believed that the apex court would accept such a stand when statistics and data, both from domestic and foreign surveys till recently, indicated much to the contrary.

With surge in daily Covid cases, Kerala has seen a 15% increase in ICU bed occupancy and 20% increase in oxygen-bed occupancy within a day. As the coronavirus infection fuels daily record infection rates in the state, public health experts fear that the most vulnerable this time are senior citizens and those with comorbidities, who were protected during the first and second waves.

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee has written to PM Narendra Modi opposing the proposed amendments to Rule 6 of IAS (Cadre) Rules, 1954, which would allow the Centre to post any IAS officer working in the state for central deputation. The proposed amendment asks the states to nominate a pre-decided number of IAS officers for central deputation reserve and allows the Centre to post these officers.

Nearly a dozen homes and offices belonging to a nephew of Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi and some of his aides were searched in concerted raids by the Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday as part of a new probe into money laundering allegations linked to the 2018 illegal sand mining case. The raids yielded around Rs 6 crore in unaccounted cash, directorate officials said.

The government has included tuberculosis as a comorbidity that can put patients at "high risk" of severe coronavirus infection and also advised TB testing post Covid-19, if cough persists for more than two to three weeks, in new clinical management protocol for the disease. Both Covid and TB are infectious and primarily attack the lungs, presenting similar symptoms of cough, fever and difficulty in breathing.

BJP MP from Allahabad Rita Bahuguna Joshi has said that she is "ready to step down as an MP if her son, Mayank Joshi, is fielded from Lucknow Cantonment in the state assembly elections". ​​The former Congress leader, who joined BJP in 2016, said that she had sent this proposal to party national president JP Nadda.

India skipper KL Rahul on Tuesday hinted that all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer is likely to be groomed as the additional pace bowling option that the team has lacked ever since Hardik Pandya's back injury while declaring that he will open alongside veteran Shikhar Dhawan in the first ODI against South Africa.

Microsoft Corp said on Tuesday it would buy "Call of Duty" videogame maker Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion in cash, the largest deal in the sector making the Xbox maker the third-largest gaming company by revenue.

Indonesia's parliament on Tuesday passed a law approving the relocation of its capital from slowly sinking Jakarta to a site 2,000 kilometres (1,200 miles) away on jungle-clad Borneo island that will be named "Nusantara". Home to more than 30 million people in its greater metro area, Jakarta has long been plagued by infrastructure problems and flooding, with experts predicting up to a third of the city could be underwater by 2050.

Senior bureaucrat Vikram Dev Dutt has been appointed as the chairman and managing director of Air India as part of a senior-level bureaucratic reshuffle effected by the Centre on Tuesday.

Which way will the Dalit votes go? That's the big question that has attained much pertinence amid BJP and SP taking the pole positions even as BSP chief Mayawati remains conspicuous by her ground-level absence ahead of the high-stake Uttar Pradesh polls.

While there is one school of thought that Rohit Sharma should be handed the Test captaincy as well, others feel a youngster like KL Rahul or Rishabh Pant perhaps might be a better bet in the long run. And then there are other potential candidates like R Ashwin and Jasprit Bumrah.

Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday wrote to West Bengal and Tamil Nadu chief ministers over the exclusion of the states' tableaux for Republic Day celebrations. In a letter, the defence minister wrote, Tamil Nadu's tableaux could not make it into the final list of 12 tableaux selected for participation in the Republic Day Parade.

The department of telecom (DoT) said on Tuesday it has revised policy for issue/renewal of no objection certificate (NOC) for sale/rent of international roaming SIM cards and global calling cards of foreign operators in India.

Mukesh Ambani led Reliance Retail has acquired a 54 per cent stake in domestic robotics company Addverb for $132 million (about Rs 983 crore), a senior official of the robotic firm said Tuesday.

The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) under the IT ministry has issued a new advisory for Twitter users. In the advisory, the CERT-In has asked users to secure their Twitter accounts.

The Centre is likely to continue with its fiscal consolidation plans in the 2022-23 Budget, despite lower than estimated receipts from privatisation of state-run companies, and largely stick to its deficit targets. Robust revenues, both on the indirect and direct taxes front, are expected to provide enough headroom to the government to balance its fiscal goals and spending needs for the year ahead.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday asked BJP workers to encourage farmers for chemical-free farming.While interacting with BJP party workers in Varanasi, PM Modi said "We need to give a push to natural farming. Farmers should be encouraged for chemical-free farming. We should connect everyone in celebration of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav."

Supply chain company Delhivery has received capital markets regulator Sebi's approval to raise Rs 7,460 crore through an initial public offering (IPO). The IPO comprises fresh issuance of equity shares worth Rs 5,000 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) component of Rs 2,460 crore by existing shareholders, according to the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP).

A substantial 68% of Covid patients who died of complications at state-run medical colleges and hospitals in the last 48 days were unvaccinated, the latest report by Maharashtra's Medical Education and Drug Department has said.

You will get to actually own India’s biggest insurer, at least partially, if you can lay hands on a part of Life Insurance Corporation's stake that will be up for sale soon. Here's what the share sale is all about.

India on Tuesday reported 2.38 lakh new Covid-19 cases, while the active cases rose to 17,36,628 according to the Union health ministry data. 8,891 cases of Omicron variant have been reported across 28 states and union territories. The death toll climbed to 4,86,761 with 310 fresh fatalities according to the data updated at 9am.

Soon after a new combat uniform was unveiled by the 13-lakh strong Army, a major battle has erupted over who will manufacture them. Employees of the state-owned ordnance clothing factories (OCFs) contend they should get the mega contract, while the Army wants an open tender with private companies also in the fray to ensure soldiers get the best possible camouflage fatigues at the cheapest rates.

Equity benchmark sensex climbed over 135 points in opening trade on Tuesday, tracking gains in index-majors ITC, Tech Mahindra and Bajaj Finserv amid a largely positive trend in the global markets.

Two deposed captains, Virat Kohli and Quinton de Kock, could play significant roles in a three-match one-day international series between South Africa and India, starting at Boland Park in Paarl on Wednesday.

The US, its allies and even Russia and China have yet to recognize the Taliban government due to concerns over continued links with terrorism as well as human rights abuses and banning girls’ education. Some of the Taliban’s cabinet members are blacklisted under US and UN sanctions.

For almost two years, India has steeled itself for a gargantuan task: readying the country’s premier insurer -- with nearly $500 billion in assets and a valuation estimated as high as $203 billion -- for what could become its biggest-ever stock listing.

Brushing aside the Centre's "it's states' responsibility" stand, the Supreme Court on Monday asked the Union government to draft model national builder-buyer and agent-buyer agreements to protect homebuyers from remaining at the mercy of real estate companies and getting fleeced by them.

Daily cases of Covid fell below 2.5 lakh for the first time in five days as lower testing over the weekend led to detection of around 2.35 lakh fresh infections on Monday, down from nearly 2.59 lakh on previous day. Deaths from the virus continued to inch up for the seventh consecutive day with 250 fatalities reported in India, as compared to 235 on Sunday.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Monday promised interest-free loans for farmers and setting-up of a revolving fund to pay sugarcane growers the price of their produce within 15 days if voted to power in the 2022 assembly polls. "A revolving fund will also be set up to pay farmers the price of their produce within 15 days after them selling their yield," Akhilesh said.

Brent crude prices hit their highest level in more than seven years on Tuesday on growing demand optimism, easing concerns about the Omicron Covid variant and geopolitical tensions. The contract hit $86.84 in Asian trade, a level not seen since late October 2014.

Banks are dreading the elections in Punjab and their fears found an expression through Patiala Central Cooperative Bank Ltd which told the Supreme Court on Monday that no farmer is returning the loan taken from banks as they are hoping for a waiver by the government that will come to power after the polls.

PM Narendra Modi made a bold pitch for foreign investment, assuring all support to investors, saying India has fast-pedalled on reforms and infrastructure and the financial mood is positive even as it is facing another wave. “The spirit of entrepreneurship in the country can provide new energy to every global partner. This is the best time to invest in India,” he said at the World Economic Forum’s annual meet.

The biblical adage about reaping what you sow holds a whole new meaning for Hukumchand Patidar. Dropping out of school in Class 10 to work in the fields, the farmer from Rajasthan's Jhalawar is now rubbing shoulders with scientists and academics in a team assigned the task of designing the curriculum on organic farming for India's agricultural universities.

India on Thursday reported 3,17,532 new coronavirus infections, the highest in 249 days, taking the total tally of Covid-19 cases to 3,82,18,773, which includes 9,287 cases of the Omicron variant, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday.

In a huge relief to over a thousand Air India US-bound passengers stranded for the last two days, the airline on Thursday said that it has received a go-ahead from Boeing to operate its Boeing 777 aircraft to the US.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday slammed the Central government for not reacting to the alleged abduction of Indian youth by China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) and said that the silence is a statement of the Centre as they do not care.

Kashmiri Hindus on Wednesday observed a 'Black Day' and staged a protest to mark 32 years of their mass exodus following a genocidal campaign initiated by terrorists. The protesters held several placards, which read 'Hang our killers'. They demanded justice for the victims who sacrificed their lives and severe punishment for those responsible for the exodus.

Wednesday saw a new high for the third wave as the count of daily Covid cases crossed 3 lakh. After a brief respite for three days — Saturday, Sunday and Monday — when there was a decline in cases, the count is climbing rapidly again for the past two days. With data from some states still awaited, the national tally stood at 3,04,416 as of 11pm.

Record four-time champions and title contenders India stormed into the Super League quarterfinals of the U-19 World Cup after thrashing minnows Ireland by 174 runs in a league game here, in which they barely managed to field a playing XI after being hit by Covid-19.

The Pentagon has declassified and publicly released video footage of a U.S. drone strike in Kabul that killed 10 civilians in the final hours of a chaotic American withdrawal that ended a 20-year war in Afghanistan. The New York Times obtained the footage through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against US Central Command, which then posted the imagery to its website.

People onboard two IndiGo flights had a miraculous escape when the aircraft were cleared to take off simultaneously in the same direction from Bengaluru airport’s parallel runways on January 7, 2022. Luckily, a radar controller spotted the potentially grave error and alerted pilots in both flight decks. One plane swerved sharply to left and the other to right to avoid a collision.

China’s People’s Liberation Army has abducted a 17-year-old boy from Indian territory in Arunachal Pradesh’s Upper Siang district, member of parliament from the state Tapir Gao said on Wednesday. Gao said the boy, identified as Miram Taron, was abducted from Lungta Jor area on Tuesday. Taron’s friend Johny Yaiying, who managed to escape, informed the authorities, Gao told PTI.

The drug regulator’s subject expert committee (SEC) on Covid vaccines on Wednesday recommended full authorisation for the two widely used jabs — Covishield and Covaxin. However, the vaccines will continue to be available and administered only at the centres that are registered under the government’s CoWin platform, official sources said.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to recall its month-old orders quashing 27% OBC quota in panchayat polls in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh and said the state election commissions would dereserve OBC seats in all future local body elections across India unless such quota is determined in strict compliance of SC's triple-test guidelines.

The Omicron variant has further pushed back the resumption of scheduled international flights. They will now remain suspended till February 28, 2022, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said in a circular on Wednesday. Flights under the expensive option of air bubbles, which India now has with over 30 countries, will continue.

Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav’s younger daughter-in-law Aparna Bisht Yadav made her much-speculated move to BJP on Wednesday, becoming the third member of the extended clan to walk the saffron path and creating an opportunity for her new party to highlight a possible poll-eve schism in UP’s political dynasty.

The crime syndicate responsible for the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts is enjoying 5-star hospitality in Pakistan and given state protection”, the Indian envoy at the UN said, in a veiled reference to Dawood Ibrahim. In August 2020, Pakistan had for the first time acknowledged the presence of Dawood on its soil after the government imposed sweeping sanctions on 88 banned terror groups and their leaders.

The three Indian Navy sailors who were killed in the explosion on board the Rajput-class destroyer, INS Ranvir, at the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai on Tuesday were taking a nap during a work break when the incident took place, said Colaba police. Prima facie, the blast occurred due to a malfunction in the warship air-conditioning compartment ‘possibly linked to Freon gas leak’, said a source.

For the second day in a row, Air India cancelled most of its flights on the India-US routes over safety concerns pertaining to the 5G communications rollout in the US and its possible hazardous effect on aircraft navigation systems. Six return flights were cancelled, said an airline source. A day earlier, the airline had cancelled eight return flights.

Ahead of the assembly elections in five states, the Press Council of India on Wednesday issued nine-point guidelines for print media in which it said newspapers must follow the norms of journalistic conduct set by the PCI and refrain from publishing paid news. It also said the press must “eschew” news that promotes enmity or hatred between people on caste, race or communal lines.

After summoning the chief secretaries of Bihar and Andhra Pradesh with three hours’ notice to appear virtually for slow disbursal of Covid compensation, the Supreme Court on Wednesday pulled up some states for not taking proactive steps and asked the authorities to reach out to the families of the victims without waiting for them to file claims.

Aam Aadmi Party has projected Amit Palekar as its candidate for chief minister in Goa. AAP national convener and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal formally announced the party’s decision in Goa on Wednesday. Palekar, a lawyer-turned-politician, said his first order of business would be to end corruption in the state government within 24 hours of AAP forming government.

Banaras Hindu University (BHU) has become the first university in the country to introduce “Hindu dharma” in its regular curriculum. The university has started a postgraduate course in Hindu studies, university authorities said on Tuesday, claiming that this is the first such course offered by any university in the country.

Concluding that getting the shots is still the safest way to prevent Covid-19, a new study in two states that compares coronavirus protection from prior infection and vaccination found people who were both vaccinated and had survived a prior bout had the most protection.

India Under-19 skipper Yash Dhull, his deputy Sheikh Rasheed and four of their teammates have tested positive for COVID-19, forcing them out of the Group B World Cup game against Ireland on Wednesday. Apart from Dhull and Rasheed, batter Aaradhya Yadav, Vasu Vats, Manav Parakh, and Siddharth Yadav were also found infected with the virus, because of which India barely managed to field an XI against Ireland.

The White House announced Biden would nominate long-time diplomat and attorney Elizabeth Bagley to serve as ambassador to Brazil and career senior foreign service officer Alexander Laskaris to serve in Chad.

Urging Russian President Vladimir Putin to choose the "peaceful path" on Ukraine, United States secretary of state Antony Blinken on Wednesday said they will continue relentless diplomatic efforts to prevent any aggression.

The country's edible oils import bill surged 75 per cent to Rs 1,04,354 crore during the first nine months (April-December 2021) of the current fiscal from Rs 59,543 crore in the year-ago period, a processors association said on Wednesday.

Twenty eight overs into India's chase of 297 in the first ODI, it looked like Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli were trying to tell Temba Bavuma and Rassie van der Dussen that they are the real masters of constructing an ODI innings. At the end of the day, Bavuma and van der Dussen's 204-run partnership trumped the pros as South Africa lodged a convincing 31-run win.

Over 77 years since Anne Frank's death, the suspect who betrayed her and her family to the Nazi has been identified, according to a new book 'The Betrayal of Anne Frank'.

'Anxiety' has been picked as the children's word of the year by Oxford University Press (OUP), based on their recent research. Read more details here.

The University of Michigan has agreed to a $490 million settlement with hundreds of people who say they were sexually assaulted by a former sports doctor at the school, those involved in the agreement said Wednesday.

Amid the Covid-19 pandemic continuing and the cases rising, this would be the second year in a row when there would be no foreign leader as the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations. "This year there will not be a foreign head of state or head of government as the chief guest for our Republic Day event," a source said.

An anti-vax Czech folk singer has died after she deliberately contracted Covid to obtain a health pass that would have allowed her to visit the sauna and theatre, her family said. Proof of vaccination or a recent infection is required to access cultural and sports facilities as well as for travel and for visiting bars and restaurants in the EU member state, which is facing a soaring Covid count.

Investors' wealth has eroded by Rs 5,24,647.66 crore in last two days as markets saw a hectic sell-off on Wednesday as well. The BSE sensex plunged 656.04 points or 1.08 per cent to settle at 60,098.82. The 30-share index had tanked 554.05 points or 0.90 per cent on Tuesday.

Alarm bells are ringing in the airline industry with the pandemic crippling traveller numbers and no real relief in sight from the government on price of jet fuel — which in India is among the costliest globally for domestic flights — and indirect taxes.

PARIS: More than 100 millionaires made an unusual plea on Wednesday: "Tax us now". Their appeal came as a study backed by wealthy individuals and nonprofits found that a wealth tax on the world's richest people could raise $2.52 trillion per year -- enough to pay for Covid vaccines for everyone and pull 2.3 billion people out of poverty.

COVID-19 breached the Indian women's football team's bio-security bubble on Wednesday ahead of the AFC Asian Cup with two players testing positive for the virus, forcing the organisers to shift them to a medical facility for isolation. Hosts India open their campaign in the continental showpiece against Iran at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.

The government on Wednesday approved equity infusion of Rs 1,500 crore in the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA), which would raise its additional lending capacity by Rs 12,000 crore.

People onboard two IndiGo flights had a miraculous escape when the aircraft were cleared to take off simultaneously in the same direction from the Kempegowda International Airport's parallel runways on January 7.

India tennis star Sania Mirza on Wednesday announced that 2022 will be her last season since her body is "wearing down" and motivation and energy for the everyday grind is not the same anymore.

Omicron has further pushed back the resumption of scheduled international flights. They will now remain suspended till February 28, 2022, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said in a circular Wednesday.

Aparna Yadav, daughter-in-law of former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, after joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday expressed gratitude to the party and said that "nation comes first" adding that she admires Prime Minister Narendra Modi's work.

The other two India players, who achieved this rare feat are wicket-keeper Syed Kirmani and flamboyant opener Virender Sehwag. Rahul was handed the captaincy for the three-match ODI series after newly-appointed skipper Rohit Sharma wasn't fit for the series

It's been close to six months since that last day of the Tokyo Olympics on August 8, 2021; and TimesofIndia.com set out to investigate the lost ground Olympic sports in India have regained, while still restricted by SOPs for Covid-19.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday pulled up state governments for failing to disburse claims to the next of kin of Covid-19 victims, and issued a show cause notice to the Andhra Pradesh chief secretary as to why contempt action be not initiated against him.

China hasn’t been Covid Zero for months, and with every new mutation, the stakes rise for President Xi Jinping and the rest of the world. On a list of the top global political risks in 2022, the Eurasia Group put the failure of China’s pandemic strategy at No. 1.

What is the N gene? How do I know if I have tested positive for the delta variant or the omicron variant? How to check the Ct value? These are very common questions people ask each other the moment they download the COVID-19 test report. It is very important to understand what a COVID-19 test report holds so that one can know the severity of the infection.

India on Wednesday reported the single day rise of 2,82,970 new Covid-19 infections, as per the data by the Union health ministry, taking the cases' tally to 3,79,01,241. This includes 8,961 cases of the Omicron variant, according to the government data updated today. There has been an 0.79 per cent increase in Omicron cases since Tuesday, the ministry said.

India recorded a sharp uptick in Covid-19 deaths on Tuesday, with the toll rising 40% in a day to cross 350, even as fresh cases surged again after three days to the highest tally in the third wave so far. There were 353 deaths reported on Tuesday, with data from Tripura awaited, nearly 100 more than the previous day’s toll of 254, making it the sharpest single-day increase during the current wave.

Telecom Reliance Jio on Wednesday said it has paid Rs 30,791 crore, including accrued interest, to the Department of Telecom to clear the entire spectrum payments liabilities that the company acquired before March 2021 auctions.

The sustained boom in global tech spending, a revival of local housing demand and a rebound in bank earnings are expected to be among the key drivers of gains for India’s stock market this year.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday lauded youngsters in the 15-18 age group for showing enthusiasm in getting vaccinated against Covid-19 and called for continuing the momentum.

With Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav set to contest from party pocket borough, Karhal in Mainpuri, the upcoming UP elections is witnessing a marked trend of heavyweights heading back to their political backyards not just to win a seat, but also use it as a vantage point to influence a

​​The government sources clarified that the flame of the Amar Jawan Jyoti is not being extinguished. It is being merged with the flame at the National War Memorial, the sources said.

Union Home minister Amit Shah on Friday greeted the people of Manipur, Meghalaya, and Tripura on the occasion of their Statehood Day and said the Narendra Modi government is committed for the all-round development of the region and brought peace there. The three states were formed on this day 50 years back in 1972 with the enactment of North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act, 1971.

Covid numbers in Madhya Pradesh shot up to 9,385 daily cases on Thursday - an alarming 25% surge in 24 hours. It's been only 19 days since the daily count had touched 100 in this wave.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that the Somnath Temple is the epitome of faith and culture that is visited by over one crore pilgrims every year. Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the new Circuit House near Somnath Temple in Gujarat, the Prime Minister congratulated the Government of Gujarat and the Somnath Temple Trust for the project.

Shares of Hindustan Unilever Ltd defied the muted broader market trend and surged over 2 per cent in morning trade on Friday after the FMCG major reported strong December quarter earnings. On the BSE, the stock opened at Rs 2,282.00, then jumped 2.42 per cent and touched an early high of Rs 2,316.40 in initial deals.

In a blockbuster T20 World Cup opener for India, the team was on Friday drawn to clash with arch-rivals Pakistan on October 23 at the iconic MCG as the International Cricket Council released the fixtures.

Taking to Twitter, the Congress MP said, "It is a matter of great sadness that the immortal flame that used to burn for our brave soldiers will be extinguished today. Some people cannot understand patriotism and sacrifice - never mind. We will once again light the Amar Jawan Jyoti for our soldiers."

India logged 3.47 lakh new Covid cases, 9% higher than yesterday. The death toll climbed to 4,88,396 with 703 fresh fatalities according to the data updated at 9 am. 9,692 cases of Omicron variant have reported across 28 state and union territories.

The Supreme Court on Thursday conferred daughters with equal right to father’s property even prior to codification of Hindu personal laws and enactment of the Hindu Succession Act in 1956 and said that the law of inheritance would apply to partition of properties even if the father had died intestate before 1956.

Amar Jawan Jyoti or the ‘eternal flame’ at the iconic India Gate will be extinguished after 50 years on Friday and merged with the flame at the adjoining National War Memorial (NWM) in the run-up to this Republic Day. A part of the flame at the Amar Jawan Jyoti will be carried to the NWM during a solemn ceremony to merge the two flames at 3.30 pm,” a defence ministry official said Thursday.

The proportion of Covid deaths in active cases during the current surge is significantly lower, helped by large-scale vaccination coverage, than the previous second wave, the Centre said underlining the role of vaccines in protecting against severe illness and deaths due to Covid-19. "Vaccine online tracker shows the benefit of its ability to reduce deaths considerably among vaccinated compared to unvaccinated,” ICMR director general Balram Bhargava said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday targeted naysayers saying there is a tendency to tarnish India’s image, both within the country and internationally, and exhorted non-state actors to make an effort to change this "perception-building" while conveying the correct picture of the country to the world.

Warning the world about the dangers of religious phobias, India has again raised the issue of ‘Hinduphobia’, and also anti-Sikh and anti-Buddhist phobias, calling upon the United Nations to address this threat to ensure “greater balance” into discussions on such topics. India’s permanent representative to UN, T S Tirumurti said on Thursday that while the UN had highlighted other forms of religious phobias, it had not yet fully acknowledged anti-Hindu, anti-Sikh and anti-Semitism threats.

Amazon has written to Big Bazaar parent Future Retail (FRL) in an effort to block the probable sale of the latter’s small-format chain of stores that operate under the Easyday and Heritage Fresh brands. The US e-tailer has offered financial help to the cash-strapped retailer. The development comes against the backdrop of an ongoing legal battle between the two retail heavyweights on the one hand and FRL’s lenders looking to sell the stores to recover Rs 3,500 crore in dues on the other.

Distress among farmers in the state pushed 2,498 of them to end their lives in the 11-month period from January to November 2021. In 2020, 2,547 debt-ridden farmers had committed suicide. Data from the state revenue department shows that despite loan waiver schemes of the government, farmers continue to commit suicide for inability to repay loans. Region-wise Aurangabad saw 804 suicides in the 11-month period in 2021 and Nagpur division reported 309 cases.

Settling the perennial merit vs quota debate while upholding reservation for OBC in all-India quota medical seats, the Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that scores in entrance tests do not reflect the social, economic and cultural advantage that accrues to certain classes and contributes to their success in such examinations. “Merit can’t be reduced to narrow definitions of performance in an open competitive exam which only provides formal equality of opportunity,” SC said.

Former UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav will contest his first-ever assembly election from Karhal seat in Mainpuri district. The decision was taken on Thursday evening after discussions with Samajwadi Party leaders and a formal announcement is likely in the next few days. Karhal is 4km from Saifai – the native village of SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav.

BJP on Thursday announced its first list of 34 candidates for Goa, dropping three sitting MLAs including two ministers but retaining a former minister who had quit over allegations of sex scandal. The party refused to give the Panaji ticket to former CM Manohar Parrikar’s son Utpal. Candidates in the remaining six constituencies would be announced in the second list, expected to be released soon.

At some of the world's most sensitive spots, authorities have installed security screening devices made by a single Chinese company with deep ties to China's military and the highest levels of the ruling Communist Party. The World Economic Forum in Davos. Europe's largest ports. Airports from Amsterdam to Athens. NATO's borders with Russia. All depend on equipment manufactured by Nuctech, which has quickly become the world's leading company, by revenue, for cargo and vehicle scanners.

Almost two-third patients in Mumbai’s Covid intensive care units are those admitted for other reasons but incidentally tested positive during routine screening. Doctors across hospitals said these patients are not suffering from Covid complications but are occupying Covid ICU beds as they have tested positive. That said, demand for Covid ICUs is comparatively less in this wave. Nearly 1,000 Covid ICU beds out of 3,000 reserved for the viral disease in the city are occupied at present.

A stampede at a church gathering in Liberia's capital Monrovia killed 29 people overnight, the deputy information minister told state radio on Thursday.

The uptake of home tests to detect Covid-19 infection has increased significantly during the current surge with 2 lakh home tests used in last 20 days, against 3,000 in the whole of 2021, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) director general Balram Bhargava said even as he asserted that overall testing in the country is being maintained at a level comparable with the second wave.

Amid a raging controversy, the Centre may go ahead with tweaking rules for central deputation of IAS, IPS and forest service officers, arguing the amendments are required due to an acute shortage of personnel to man key posts and also to deal with flagship schemes, national security and disaster management.

Retail giant Walmart on Thursday said it is inviting select Indian sellers to join Walmart Marketplace, a curated sellers community that serves more than 120 million US shoppers each month. India is already one of the top sourcing markets for Walmart and the retail major has set an ambitious goal of exporting $10 billion from India each year by 2027.

Passengers coming from at risk countries and testing positive on arrival in India will be treated as per protocol and not necessarily be admitted to an isolation facility, a health ministry guideline said on Thursday. The Union health ministry's revised the protocol for international arrivals will come into effect from January 22.

The uptake of home tests to detect Covid-19 infection has increased significantly during the current surge with 2 lakh home tests used in last 20 days, against 3000 in the whole of 2021, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Director General Balram Bhargava said on Thursday.

The Amar Jawan Jyoti flame at India Gate will be extinguished after 50 years and merged with the flame at the National War Memorial here on Friday, military officials said on Thursday.

A British-Belgian teenager became the youngest woman to fly solo around the globe on Thursday and the first person to do so in a microlight plane after a five-month, five-continent odyssey in her Shark ultralight.

Future, the country's second-largest retailer, has since 2020 failed to complete its $3.4 billion retail asset sale to a rival due to successful legal challenges by Amazon, which argues the Indian group violated certain non-compete contractual terms the two sides had. Future denies any wrongdoing.

Responding to a question, Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan said about 22.66 lakh out of 35 lakh healthcare workers have received their precaution dose, accounting for 63 per cent of such people. He said there are 33 lakh frontline workers who were due for precaution dose and 19,1400 have got precaution dose which is 58 per cent.

In remarks that startled diplomatic and geo-political circles, US President Joe Biden on Wednesday seemed to acknowledge the inevitability of Russia invading Ukraine, while suggesting that Moscow could get away with a minor incursion if NATO allies are divided.

In a major relief to IT firm HCL Technologies, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has stayed the insolvency proceedings initiated against it on a plea filed by a creditor.

US President Joe Biden has affirmed that he will run for a second White House term, with vice-president Kamala Harris as his running mate, setting at rest for now raging speculation in the media and political circles of changes at the top, including among some Democrats.

Apart from crowded places and family gatherings, researchers in the US have stumbled upon an unlikely source of Omicron surge - sewage -- as Covid infections surge in the country.

Hindustan Unilever (HUL) has reported a 17 per cent growth in standalone profit after tax at Rs 2,243 crore during the third quarter ended December 31, 2021, while the domestic consumer growth was at 11 per cent. The growth is mainly driven by price increases taken during the quarter to combat inflationary pressures.

The flamboyant Rohit Sharma featured as opener, Rishabh Pant as wicketkeeper and R Ashwin as the lone specialist spinner in the ICC men's 'Test Team of the Year' but no Indian player was included in the global body's ODI XI for 2021.

Equity indices plunged for the third straight session on Thursday with the benchmark BSE sensex falling over 600 points dragged by losses in IT and pharma stocks. The 30-share fell 634 points or 1.06 per cent to close at 59,465; while the broader NSE Nifty settled 181 points or 1.01 per cent lower at 17,800.

Aam Aadmi Party's chief ministerial face Bhagwant Mann will contest from the Dhuri assembly seat in Sangrur district for the next month's assembly polls in Punjab. The announcement in this regard was made by party's senior leader Raghav Chadha in Mohali on Thursday.

Diginoor.io, a NFT marketplace founded by Chennai teenagers Shaamil Karim & Yash Rathod, has raised $1 million funding from Contrary Capital, Polygon Fund, Sandeep Nailwal, CRED's Kunal Shah, Abdul Wahab Al-Halabi (MD at Embassy Capital), and others.

Veteran India players Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami featured in the ICC 'ODI Team of the Year' for women after they extended their consistent run in international cricket.

After going unrepresented in the ICC's men's 'T20 Team of the Year' due to a disastrous World Cup campaign in the UAE, no Indian player featured in the global body's 'ODI Team of the Year' which features two players from minnows Ireland.

India on Thursday successfully test-fired a new version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile off the coast of Odisha in Balasore, informed the defence sources. According to Defence sources, the missile was equipped with new technological developments which were successfully proven.

India on Thursday reported 3,17,532 new coronavirus infections, the highest in 249 days, taking the total tally of Covid-19 cases to 3,82,18,773, which includes 9,287 cases of the Omicron variant, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday.

Talks between India and Tesla over potential tax benefits are deadlocked as the government is not keen to give the company any breaks without a commitment to manufacture locally, people familiar with the discussions told Reuters.

In a huge relief to over a thousand Air India US-bound passengers stranded for the last two days, the airline on Thursday said that it has received a go-ahead from Boeing to operate its Boeing 777 aircraft to the US.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday slammed the Central government for not reacting to the alleged abduction of Indian youth by China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) and said that the silence is a statement of the Centre as they do not care.

With five consecutive WTT titles in 2021, paddler Dhaani Jain is chalking out a career of note in table tennis. The sad part is that her consistent show hasn't made much news, whereas what she needs now is next-level support.

Kashmiri Hindus on Wednesday observed a 'Black Day' and staged a protest to mark 32 years of their mass exodus following a genocidal campaign initiated by terrorists. The protesters held several placards, which read 'Hang our killers'. They demanded justice for the victims who sacrificed their lives and severe punishment for those responsible for the exodus.

Wednesday saw a new high for the third wave as the count of daily Covid cases crossed 3 lakh. After a brief respite for three days — Saturday, Sunday and Monday — when there was a decline in cases, the count is climbing rapidly again for the past two days. With data from some states still awaited, the national tally stood at 3,04,416 as of 11pm.

With Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav set to contest from party pocket borough, Karhal in Mainpuri, the upcoming UP elections is witnessing a marked trend of heavyweights heading back to their political backyards not just to win a seat, but also use it as a vantage point to influence a

​​The government sources clarified that the flame of the Amar Jawan Jyoti is not being extinguished. It is being merged with the flame at the National War Memorial, the sources said.

Union Home minister Amit Shah on Friday greeted the people of Manipur, Meghalaya, and Tripura on the occasion of their Statehood Day and said the Narendra Modi government is committed for the all-round development of the region and brought peace there. The three states were formed on this day 50 years back in 1972 with the enactment of North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act, 1971.

Covid numbers in Madhya Pradesh shot up to 9,385 daily cases on Thursday - an alarming 25% surge in 24 hours. It's been only 19 days since the daily count had touched 100 in this wave.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that the Somnath Temple is the epitome of faith and culture that is visited by over one crore pilgrims every year. Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the new Circuit House near Somnath Temple in Gujarat, the Prime Minister congratulated the Government of Gujarat and the Somnath Temple Trust for the project.

Shares of Hindustan Unilever Ltd defied the muted broader market trend and surged over 2 per cent in morning trade on Friday after the FMCG major reported strong December quarter earnings. On the BSE, the stock opened at Rs 2,282.00, then jumped 2.42 per cent and touched an early high of Rs 2,316.40 in initial deals.

In a blockbuster T20 World Cup opener for India, the team was on Friday drawn to clash with arch-rivals Pakistan on October 23 at the iconic MCG as the International Cricket Council released the fixtures.

Taking to Twitter, the Congress MP said, "It is a matter of great sadness that the immortal flame that used to burn for our brave soldiers will be extinguished today. Some people cannot understand patriotism and sacrifice - never mind. We will once again light the Amar Jawan Jyoti for our soldiers."

India logged 3.47 lakh new Covid cases, 9% higher than yesterday. The death toll climbed to 4,88,396 with 703 fresh fatalities according to the data updated at 9 am. 9,692 cases of Omicron variant have reported across 28 state and union territories.

The Supreme Court on Thursday conferred daughters with equal right to father’s property even prior to codification of Hindu personal laws and enactment of the Hindu Succession Act in 1956 and said that the law of inheritance would apply to partition of properties even if the father had died intestate before 1956.

Amar Jawan Jyoti or the ‘eternal flame’ at the iconic India Gate will be extinguished after 50 years on Friday and merged with the flame at the adjoining National War Memorial (NWM) in the run-up to this Republic Day. A part of the flame at the Amar Jawan Jyoti will be carried to the NWM during a solemn ceremony to merge the two flames at 3.30 pm,” a defence ministry official said Thursday.

The proportion of Covid deaths in active cases during the current surge is significantly lower, helped by large-scale vaccination coverage, than the previous second wave, the Centre said underlining the role of vaccines in protecting against severe illness and deaths due to Covid-19. "Vaccine online tracker shows the benefit of its ability to reduce deaths considerably among vaccinated compared to unvaccinated,” ICMR director general Balram Bhargava said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday targeted naysayers saying there is a tendency to tarnish India’s image, both within the country and internationally, and exhorted non-state actors to make an effort to change this "perception-building" while conveying the correct picture of the country to the world.

Warning the world about the dangers of religious phobias, India has again raised the issue of ‘Hinduphobia’, and also anti-Sikh and anti-Buddhist phobias, calling upon the United Nations to address this threat to ensure “greater balance” into discussions on such topics. India’s permanent representative to UN, T S Tirumurti said on Thursday that while the UN had highlighted other forms of religious phobias, it had not yet fully acknowledged anti-Hindu, anti-Sikh and anti-Semitism threats.

Amazon has written to Big Bazaar parent Future Retail (FRL) in an effort to block the probable sale of the latter’s small-format chain of stores that operate under the Easyday and Heritage Fresh brands. The US e-tailer has offered financial help to the cash-strapped retailer. The development comes against the backdrop of an ongoing legal battle between the two retail heavyweights on the one hand and FRL’s lenders looking to sell the stores to recover Rs 3,500 crore in dues on the other.

Distress among farmers in the state pushed 2,498 of them to end their lives in the 11-month period from January to November 2021. In 2020, 2,547 debt-ridden farmers had committed suicide. Data from the state revenue department shows that despite loan waiver schemes of the government, farmers continue to commit suicide for inability to repay loans. Region-wise Aurangabad saw 804 suicides in the 11-month period in 2021 and Nagpur division reported 309 cases.

Settling the perennial merit vs quota debate while upholding reservation for OBC in all-India quota medical seats, the Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that scores in entrance tests do not reflect the social, economic and cultural advantage that accrues to certain classes and contributes to their success in such examinations. “Merit can’t be reduced to narrow definitions of performance in an open competitive exam which only provides formal equality of opportunity,” SC said.

Former UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav will contest his first-ever assembly election from Karhal seat in Mainpuri district. The decision was taken on Thursday evening after discussions with Samajwadi Party leaders and a formal announcement is likely in the next few days. Karhal is 4km from Saifai – the native village of SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav.

BJP on Thursday announced its first list of 34 candidates for Goa, dropping three sitting MLAs including two ministers but retaining a former minister who had quit over allegations of sex scandal. The party refused to give the Panaji ticket to former CM Manohar Parrikar’s son Utpal. Candidates in the remaining six constituencies would be announced in the second list, expected to be released soon.

At some of the world's most sensitive spots, authorities have installed security screening devices made by a single Chinese company with deep ties to China's military and the highest levels of the ruling Communist Party. The World Economic Forum in Davos. Europe's largest ports. Airports from Amsterdam to Athens. NATO's borders with Russia. All depend on equipment manufactured by Nuctech, which has quickly become the world's leading company, by revenue, for cargo and vehicle scanners.

Almost two-third patients in Mumbai’s Covid intensive care units are those admitted for other reasons but incidentally tested positive during routine screening. Doctors across hospitals said these patients are not suffering from Covid complications but are occupying Covid ICU beds as they have tested positive. That said, demand for Covid ICUs is comparatively less in this wave. Nearly 1,000 Covid ICU beds out of 3,000 reserved for the viral disease in the city are occupied at present.

A stampede at a church gathering in Liberia's capital Monrovia killed 29 people overnight, the deputy information minister told state radio on Thursday.

The uptake of home tests to detect Covid-19 infection has increased significantly during the current surge with 2 lakh home tests used in last 20 days, against 3,000 in the whole of 2021, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) director general Balram Bhargava said even as he asserted that overall testing in the country is being maintained at a level comparable with the second wave.

Amid a raging controversy, the Centre may go ahead with tweaking rules for central deputation of IAS, IPS and forest service officers, arguing the amendments are required due to an acute shortage of personnel to man key posts and also to deal with flagship schemes, national security and disaster management.

Retail giant Walmart on Thursday said it is inviting select Indian sellers to join Walmart Marketplace, a curated sellers community that serves more than 120 million US shoppers each month. India is already one of the top sourcing markets for Walmart and the retail major has set an ambitious goal of exporting $10 billion from India each year by 2027.

Passengers coming from at risk countries and testing positive on arrival in India will be treated as per protocol and not necessarily be admitted to an isolation facility, a health ministry guideline said on Thursday. The Union health ministry's revised the protocol for international arrivals will come into effect from January 22.

The uptake of home tests to detect Covid-19 infection has increased significantly during the current surge with 2 lakh home tests used in last 20 days, against 3000 in the whole of 2021, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Director General Balram Bhargava said on Thursday.

The Amar Jawan Jyoti flame at India Gate will be extinguished after 50 years and merged with the flame at the National War Memorial here on Friday, military officials said on Thursday.

A British-Belgian teenager became the youngest woman to fly solo around the globe on Thursday and the first person to do so in a microlight plane after a five-month, five-continent odyssey in her Shark ultralight.

Future, the country's second-largest retailer, has since 2020 failed to complete its $3.4 billion retail asset sale to a rival due to successful legal challenges by Amazon, which argues the Indian group violated certain non-compete contractual terms the two sides had. Future denies any wrongdoing.

Responding to a question, Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan said about 22.66 lakh out of 35 lakh healthcare workers have received their precaution dose, accounting for 63 per cent of such people. He said there are 33 lakh frontline workers who were due for precaution dose and 19,1400 have got precaution dose which is 58 per cent.

In remarks that startled diplomatic and geo-political circles, US President Joe Biden on Wednesday seemed to acknowledge the inevitability of Russia invading Ukraine, while suggesting that Moscow could get away with a minor incursion if NATO allies are divided.

In a major relief to IT firm HCL Technologies, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has stayed the insolvency proceedings initiated against it on a plea filed by a creditor.

US President Joe Biden has affirmed that he will run for a second White House term, with vice-president Kamala Harris as his running mate, setting at rest for now raging speculation in the media and political circles of changes at the top, including among some Democrats.

Apart from crowded places and family gatherings, researchers in the US have stumbled upon an unlikely source of Omicron surge - sewage -- as Covid infections surge in the country.

Hindustan Unilever (HUL) has reported a 17 per cent growth in standalone profit after tax at Rs 2,243 crore during the third quarter ended December 31, 2021, while the domestic consumer growth was at 11 per cent. The growth is mainly driven by price increases taken during the quarter to combat inflationary pressures.

The flamboyant Rohit Sharma featured as opener, Rishabh Pant as wicketkeeper and R Ashwin as the lone specialist spinner in the ICC men's 'Test Team of the Year' but no Indian player was included in the global body's ODI XI for 2021.

Equity indices plunged for the third straight session on Thursday with the benchmark BSE sensex falling over 600 points dragged by losses in IT and pharma stocks. The 30-share fell 634 points or 1.06 per cent to close at 59,465; while the broader NSE Nifty settled 181 points or 1.01 per cent lower at 17,800.

Aam Aadmi Party's chief ministerial face Bhagwant Mann will contest from the Dhuri assembly seat in Sangrur district for the next month's assembly polls in Punjab. The announcement in this regard was made by party's senior leader Raghav Chadha in Mohali on Thursday.

Diginoor.io, a NFT marketplace founded by Chennai teenagers Shaamil Karim & Yash Rathod, has raised $1 million funding from Contrary Capital, Polygon Fund, Sandeep Nailwal, CRED's Kunal Shah, Abdul Wahab Al-Halabi (MD at Embassy Capital), and others.

Veteran India players Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami featured in the ICC 'ODI Team of the Year' for women after they extended their consistent run in international cricket.

After going unrepresented in the ICC's men's 'T20 Team of the Year' due to a disastrous World Cup campaign in the UAE, no Indian player featured in the global body's 'ODI Team of the Year' which features two players from minnows Ireland.

India on Thursday successfully test-fired a new version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile off the coast of Odisha in Balasore, informed the defence sources. According to Defence sources, the missile was equipped with new technological developments which were successfully proven.

India on Thursday reported 3,17,532 new coronavirus infections, the highest in 249 days, taking the total tally of Covid-19 cases to 3,82,18,773, which includes 9,287 cases of the Omicron variant, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday.

Talks between India and Tesla over potential tax benefits are deadlocked as the government is not keen to give the company any breaks without a commitment to manufacture locally, people familiar with the discussions told Reuters.

In a huge relief to over a thousand Air India US-bound passengers stranded for the last two days, the airline on Thursday said that it has received a go-ahead from Boeing to operate its Boeing 777 aircraft to the US.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday slammed the Central government for not reacting to the alleged abduction of Indian youth by China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) and said that the silence is a statement of the Centre as they do not care.

With five consecutive WTT titles in 2021, paddler Dhaani Jain is chalking out a career of note in table tennis. The sad part is that her consistent show hasn't made much news, whereas what she needs now is next-level support.

Kashmiri Hindus on Wednesday observed a 'Black Day' and staged a protest to mark 32 years of their mass exodus following a genocidal campaign initiated by terrorists. The protesters held several placards, which read 'Hang our killers'. They demanded justice for the victims who sacrificed their lives and severe punishment for those responsible for the exodus.

Wednesday saw a new high for the third wave as the count of daily Covid cases crossed 3 lakh. After a brief respite for three days — Saturday, Sunday and Monday — when there was a decline in cases, the count is climbing rapidly again for the past two days. With data from some states still awaited, the national tally stood at 3,04,416 as of 11pm.

With Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav set to contest from party pocket borough, Karhal in Mainpuri, the upcoming UP elections is witnessing a marked trend of heavyweights heading back to their political backyards not just to win a seat, but also use it as a vantage point to influence a

​​The government sources clarified that the flame of the Amar Jawan Jyoti is not being extinguished. It is being merged with the flame at the National War Memorial, the sources said.

Union Home minister Amit Shah on Friday greeted the people of Manipur, Meghalaya, and Tripura on the occasion of their Statehood Day and said the Narendra Modi government is committed for the all-round development of the region and brought peace there. The three states were formed on this day 50 years back in 1972 with the enactment of North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act, 1971.

Covid numbers in Madhya Pradesh shot up to 9,385 daily cases on Thursday - an alarming 25% surge in 24 hours. It's been only 19 days since the daily count had touched 100 in this wave.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that the Somnath Temple is the epitome of faith and culture that is visited by over one crore pilgrims every year. Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the new Circuit House near Somnath Temple in Gujarat, the Prime Minister congratulated the Government of Gujarat and the Somnath Temple Trust for the project.

Shares of Hindustan Unilever Ltd defied the muted broader market trend and surged over 2 per cent in morning trade on Friday after the FMCG major reported strong December quarter earnings. On the BSE, the stock opened at Rs 2,282.00, then jumped 2.42 per cent and touched an early high of Rs 2,316.40 in initial deals.

In a blockbuster T20 World Cup opener for India, the team was on Friday drawn to clash with arch-rivals Pakistan on October 23 at the iconic MCG as the International Cricket Council released the fixtures.

Taking to Twitter, the Congress MP said, "It is a matter of great sadness that the immortal flame that used to burn for our brave soldiers will be extinguished today. Some people cannot understand patriotism and sacrifice - never mind. We will once again light the Amar Jawan Jyoti for our soldiers."

India logged 3.47 lakh new Covid cases, 9% higher than yesterday. The death toll climbed to 4,88,396 with 703 fresh fatalities according to the data updated at 9 am. 9,692 cases of Omicron variant have reported across 28 state and union territories.

The Supreme Court on Thursday conferred daughters with equal right to father’s property even prior to codification of Hindu personal laws and enactment of the Hindu Succession Act in 1956 and said that the law of inheritance would apply to partition of properties even if the father had died intestate before 1956.

Amar Jawan Jyoti or the ‘eternal flame’ at the iconic India Gate will be extinguished after 50 years on Friday and merged with the flame at the adjoining National War Memorial (NWM) in the run-up to this Republic Day. A part of the flame at the Amar Jawan Jyoti will be carried to the NWM during a solemn ceremony to merge the two flames at 3.30 pm,” a defence ministry official said Thursday.

The proportion of Covid deaths in active cases during the current surge is significantly lower, helped by large-scale vaccination coverage, than the previous second wave, the Centre said underlining the role of vaccines in protecting against severe illness and deaths due to Covid-19. "Vaccine online tracker shows the benefit of its ability to reduce deaths considerably among vaccinated compared to unvaccinated,” ICMR director general Balram Bhargava said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday targeted naysayers saying there is a tendency to tarnish India’s image, both within the country and internationally, and exhorted non-state actors to make an effort to change this "perception-building" while conveying the correct picture of the country to the world.

Warning the world about the dangers of religious phobias, India has again raised the issue of ‘Hinduphobia’, and also anti-Sikh and anti-Buddhist phobias, calling upon the United Nations to address this threat to ensure “greater balance” into discussions on such topics. India’s permanent representative to UN, T S Tirumurti said on Thursday that while the UN had highlighted other forms of religious phobias, it had not yet fully acknowledged anti-Hindu, anti-Sikh and anti-Semitism threats.

Amazon has written to Big Bazaar parent Future Retail (FRL) in an effort to block the probable sale of the latter’s small-format chain of stores that operate under the Easyday and Heritage Fresh brands. The US e-tailer has offered financial help to the cash-strapped retailer. The development comes against the backdrop of an ongoing legal battle between the two retail heavyweights on the one hand and FRL’s lenders looking to sell the stores to recover Rs 3,500 crore in dues on the other.

Distress among farmers in the state pushed 2,498 of them to end their lives in the 11-month period from January to November 2021. In 2020, 2,547 debt-ridden farmers had committed suicide. Data from the state revenue department shows that despite loan waiver schemes of the government, farmers continue to commit suicide for inability to repay loans. Region-wise Aurangabad saw 804 suicides in the 11-month period in 2021 and Nagpur division reported 309 cases.

Settling the perennial merit vs quota debate while upholding reservation for OBC in all-India quota medical seats, the Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that scores in entrance tests do not reflect the social, economic and cultural advantage that accrues to certain classes and contributes to their success in such examinations. “Merit can’t be reduced to narrow definitions of performance in an open competitive exam which only provides formal equality of opportunity,” SC said.

Former UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav will contest his first-ever assembly election from Karhal seat in Mainpuri district. The decision was taken on Thursday evening after discussions with Samajwadi Party leaders and a formal announcement is likely in the next few days. Karhal is 4km from Saifai – the native village of SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav.

BJP on Thursday announced its first list of 34 candidates for Goa, dropping three sitting MLAs including two ministers but retaining a former minister who had quit over allegations of sex scandal. The party refused to give the Panaji ticket to former CM Manohar Parrikar’s son Utpal. Candidates in the remaining six constituencies would be announced in the second list, expected to be released soon.

At some of the world's most sensitive spots, authorities have installed security screening devices made by a single Chinese company with deep ties to China's military and the highest levels of the ruling Communist Party. The World Economic Forum in Davos. Europe's largest ports. Airports from Amsterdam to Athens. NATO's borders with Russia. All depend on equipment manufactured by Nuctech, which has quickly become the world's leading company, by revenue, for cargo and vehicle scanners.

Almost two-third patients in Mumbai’s Covid intensive care units are those admitted for other reasons but incidentally tested positive during routine screening. Doctors across hospitals said these patients are not suffering from Covid complications but are occupying Covid ICU beds as they have tested positive. That said, demand for Covid ICUs is comparatively less in this wave. Nearly 1,000 Covid ICU beds out of 3,000 reserved for the viral disease in the city are occupied at present.

A stampede at a church gathering in Liberia's capital Monrovia killed 29 people overnight, the deputy information minister told state radio on Thursday.

The uptake of home tests to detect Covid-19 infection has increased significantly during the current surge with 2 lakh home tests used in last 20 days, against 3,000 in the whole of 2021, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) director general Balram Bhargava said even as he asserted that overall testing in the country is being maintained at a level comparable with the second wave.

Amid a raging controversy, the Centre may go ahead with tweaking rules for central deputation of IAS, IPS and forest service officers, arguing the amendments are required due to an acute shortage of personnel to man key posts and also to deal with flagship schemes, national security and disaster management.

Retail giant Walmart on Thursday said it is inviting select Indian sellers to join Walmart Marketplace, a curated sellers community that serves more than 120 million US shoppers each month. India is already one of the top sourcing markets for Walmart and the retail major has set an ambitious goal of exporting $10 billion from India each year by 2027.

Passengers coming from at risk countries and testing positive on arrival in India will be treated as per protocol and not necessarily be admitted to an isolation facility, a health ministry guideline said on Thursday. The Union health ministry's revised the protocol for international arrivals will come into effect from January 22.

The uptake of home tests to detect Covid-19 infection has increased significantly during the current surge with 2 lakh home tests used in last 20 days, against 3000 in the whole of 2021, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Director General Balram Bhargava said on Thursday.

The Amar Jawan Jyoti flame at India Gate will be extinguished after 50 years and merged with the flame at the National War Memorial here on Friday, military officials said on Thursday.

A British-Belgian teenager became the youngest woman to fly solo around the globe on Thursday and the first person to do so in a microlight plane after a five-month, five-continent odyssey in her Shark ultralight.

Future, the country's second-largest retailer, has since 2020 failed to complete its $3.4 billion retail asset sale to a rival due to successful legal challenges by Amazon, which argues the Indian group violated certain non-compete contractual terms the two sides had. Future denies any wrongdoing.

Responding to a question, Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan said about 22.66 lakh out of 35 lakh healthcare workers have received their precaution dose, accounting for 63 per cent of such people. He said there are 33 lakh frontline workers who were due for precaution dose and 19,1400 have got precaution dose which is 58 per cent.

In remarks that startled diplomatic and geo-political circles, US President Joe Biden on Wednesday seemed to acknowledge the inevitability of Russia invading Ukraine, while suggesting that Moscow could get away with a minor incursion if NATO allies are divided.

In a major relief to IT firm HCL Technologies, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has stayed the insolvency proceedings initiated against it on a plea filed by a creditor.

US President Joe Biden has affirmed that he will run for a second White House term, with vice-president Kamala Harris as his running mate, setting at rest for now raging speculation in the media and political circles of changes at the top, including among some Democrats.

Apart from crowded places and family gatherings, researchers in the US have stumbled upon an unlikely source of Omicron surge - sewage -- as Covid infections surge in the country.

Hindustan Unilever (HUL) has reported a 17 per cent growth in standalone profit after tax at Rs 2,243 crore during the third quarter ended December 31, 2021, while the domestic consumer growth was at 11 per cent. The growth is mainly driven by price increases taken during the quarter to combat inflationary pressures.

The flamboyant Rohit Sharma featured as opener, Rishabh Pant as wicketkeeper and R Ashwin as the lone specialist spinner in the ICC men's 'Test Team of the Year' but no Indian player was included in the global body's ODI XI for 2021.

Equity indices plunged for the third straight session on Thursday with the benchmark BSE sensex falling over 600 points dragged by losses in IT and pharma stocks. The 30-share fell 634 points or 1.06 per cent to close at 59,465; while the broader NSE Nifty settled 181 points or 1.01 per cent lower at 17,800.

Aam Aadmi Party's chief ministerial face Bhagwant Mann will contest from the Dhuri assembly seat in Sangrur district for the next month's assembly polls in Punjab. The announcement in this regard was made by party's senior leader Raghav Chadha in Mohali on Thursday.

Diginoor.io, a NFT marketplace founded by Chennai teenagers Shaamil Karim & Yash Rathod, has raised $1 million funding from Contrary Capital, Polygon Fund, Sandeep Nailwal, CRED's Kunal Shah, Abdul Wahab Al-Halabi (MD at Embassy Capital), and others.

Veteran India players Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami featured in the ICC 'ODI Team of the Year' for women after they extended their consistent run in international cricket.

After going unrepresented in the ICC's men's 'T20 Team of the Year' due to a disastrous World Cup campaign in the UAE, no Indian player featured in the global body's 'ODI Team of the Year' which features two players from minnows Ireland.

India on Thursday successfully test-fired a new version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile off the coast of Odisha in Balasore, informed the defence sources. According to Defence sources, the missile was equipped with new technological developments which were successfully proven.

India on Thursday reported 3,17,532 new coronavirus infections, the highest in 249 days, taking the total tally of Covid-19 cases to 3,82,18,773, which includes 9,287 cases of the Omicron variant, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday.

Talks between India and Tesla over potential tax benefits are deadlocked as the government is not keen to give the company any breaks without a commitment to manufacture locally, people familiar with the discussions told Reuters.

In a huge relief to over a thousand Air India US-bound passengers stranded for the last two days, the airline on Thursday said that it has received a go-ahead from Boeing to operate its Boeing 777 aircraft to the US.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday slammed the Central government for not reacting to the alleged abduction of Indian youth by China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) and said that the silence is a statement of the Centre as they do not care.

With five consecutive WTT titles in 2021, paddler Dhaani Jain is chalking out a career of note in table tennis. The sad part is that her consistent show hasn't made much news, whereas what she needs now is next-level support.

Kashmiri Hindus on Wednesday observed a 'Black Day' and staged a protest to mark 32 years of their mass exodus following a genocidal campaign initiated by terrorists. The protesters held several placards, which read 'Hang our killers'. They demanded justice for the victims who sacrificed their lives and severe punishment for those responsible for the exodus.

Wednesday saw a new high for the third wave as the count of daily Covid cases crossed 3 lakh. After a brief respite for three days — Saturday, Sunday and Monday — when there was a decline in cases, the count is climbing rapidly again for the past two days. With data from some states still awaited, the national tally stood at 3,04,416 as of 11pm.

With Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav set to contest from party pocket borough, Karhal in Mainpuri, the upcoming UP elections is witnessing a marked trend of heavyweights heading back to their political backyards not just to win a seat, but also use it as a vantage point to influence a

​​The government sources clarified that the flame of the Amar Jawan Jyoti is not being extinguished. It is being merged with the flame at the National War Memorial, the sources said.

Union Home minister Amit Shah on Friday greeted the people of Manipur, Meghalaya, and Tripura on the occasion of their Statehood Day and said the Narendra Modi government is committed for the all-round development of the region and brought peace there. The three states were formed on this day 50 years back in 1972 with the enactment of North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act, 1971.

Covid numbers in Madhya Pradesh shot up to 9,385 daily cases on Thursday - an alarming 25% surge in 24 hours. It's been only 19 days since the daily count had touched 100 in this wave.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that the Somnath Temple is the epitome of faith and culture that is visited by over one crore pilgrims every year. Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the new Circuit House near Somnath Temple in Gujarat, the Prime Minister congratulated the Government of Gujarat and the Somnath Temple Trust for the project.

Shares of Hindustan Unilever Ltd defied the muted broader market trend and surged over 2 per cent in morning trade on Friday after the FMCG major reported strong December quarter earnings. On the BSE, the stock opened at Rs 2,282.00, then jumped 2.42 per cent and touched an early high of Rs 2,316.40 in initial deals.

In a blockbuster T20 World Cup opener for India, the team was on Friday drawn to clash with arch-rivals Pakistan on October 23 at the iconic MCG as the International Cricket Council released the fixtures.

Taking to Twitter, the Congress MP said, "It is a matter of great sadness that the immortal flame that used to burn for our brave soldiers will be extinguished today. Some people cannot understand patriotism and sacrifice - never mind. We will once again light the Amar Jawan Jyoti for our soldiers."

India logged 3.47 lakh new Covid cases, 9% higher than yesterday. The death toll climbed to 4,88,396 with 703 fresh fatalities according to the data updated at 9 am. 9,692 cases of Omicron variant have reported across 28 state and union territories.

The Supreme Court on Thursday conferred daughters with equal right to father’s property even prior to codification of Hindu personal laws and enactment of the Hindu Succession Act in 1956 and said that the law of inheritance would apply to partition of properties even if the father had died intestate before 1956.

Amar Jawan Jyoti or the ‘eternal flame’ at the iconic India Gate will be extinguished after 50 years on Friday and merged with the flame at the adjoining National War Memorial (NWM) in the run-up to this Republic Day. A part of the flame at the Amar Jawan Jyoti will be carried to the NWM during a solemn ceremony to merge the two flames at 3.30 pm,” a defence ministry official said Thursday.

The proportion of Covid deaths in active cases during the current surge is significantly lower, helped by large-scale vaccination coverage, than the previous second wave, the Centre said underlining the role of vaccines in protecting against severe illness and deaths due to Covid-19. "Vaccine online tracker shows the benefit of its ability to reduce deaths considerably among vaccinated compared to unvaccinated,” ICMR director general Balram Bhargava said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday targeted naysayers saying there is a tendency to tarnish India’s image, both within the country and internationally, and exhorted non-state actors to make an effort to change this "perception-building" while conveying the correct picture of the country to the world.

Warning the world about the dangers of religious phobias, India has again raised the issue of ‘Hinduphobia’, and also anti-Sikh and anti-Buddhist phobias, calling upon the United Nations to address this threat to ensure “greater balance” into discussions on such topics. India’s permanent representative to UN, T S Tirumurti said on Thursday that while the UN had highlighted other forms of religious phobias, it had not yet fully acknowledged anti-Hindu, anti-Sikh and anti-Semitism threats.

Amazon has written to Big Bazaar parent Future Retail (FRL) in an effort to block the probable sale of the latter’s small-format chain of stores that operate under the Easyday and Heritage Fresh brands. The US e-tailer has offered financial help to the cash-strapped retailer. The development comes against the backdrop of an ongoing legal battle between the two retail heavyweights on the one hand and FRL’s lenders looking to sell the stores to recover Rs 3,500 crore in dues on the other.

Distress among farmers in the state pushed 2,498 of them to end their lives in the 11-month period from January to November 2021. In 2020, 2,547 debt-ridden farmers had committed suicide. Data from the state revenue department shows that despite loan waiver schemes of the government, farmers continue to commit suicide for inability to repay loans. Region-wise Aurangabad saw 804 suicides in the 11-month period in 2021 and Nagpur division reported 309 cases.

Settling the perennial merit vs quota debate while upholding reservation for OBC in all-India quota medical seats, the Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that scores in entrance tests do not reflect the social, economic and cultural advantage that accrues to certain classes and contributes to their success in such examinations. “Merit can’t be reduced to narrow definitions of performance in an open competitive exam which only provides formal equality of opportunity,” SC said.

Former UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav will contest his first-ever assembly election from Karhal seat in Mainpuri district. The decision was taken on Thursday evening after discussions with Samajwadi Party leaders and a formal announcement is likely in the next few days. Karhal is 4km from Saifai – the native village of SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav.

BJP on Thursday announced its first list of 34 candidates for Goa, dropping three sitting MLAs including two ministers but retaining a former minister who had quit over allegations of sex scandal. The party refused to give the Panaji ticket to former CM Manohar Parrikar’s son Utpal. Candidates in the remaining six constituencies would be announced in the second list, expected to be released soon.

At some of the world's most sensitive spots, authorities have installed security screening devices made by a single Chinese company with deep ties to China's military and the highest levels of the ruling Communist Party. The World Economic Forum in Davos. Europe's largest ports. Airports from Amsterdam to Athens. NATO's borders with Russia. All depend on equipment manufactured by Nuctech, which has quickly become the world's leading company, by revenue, for cargo and vehicle scanners.

Almost two-third patients in Mumbai’s Covid intensive care units are those admitted for other reasons but incidentally tested positive during routine screening. Doctors across hospitals said these patients are not suffering from Covid complications but are occupying Covid ICU beds as they have tested positive. That said, demand for Covid ICUs is comparatively less in this wave. Nearly 1,000 Covid ICU beds out of 3,000 reserved for the viral disease in the city are occupied at present.

A stampede at a church gathering in Liberia's capital Monrovia killed 29 people overnight, the deputy information minister told state radio on Thursday.

The uptake of home tests to detect Covid-19 infection has increased significantly during the current surge with 2 lakh home tests used in last 20 days, against 3,000 in the whole of 2021, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) director general Balram Bhargava said even as he asserted that overall testing in the country is being maintained at a level comparable with the second wave.

Amid a raging controversy, the Centre may go ahead with tweaking rules for central deputation of IAS, IPS and forest service officers, arguing the amendments are required due to an acute shortage of personnel to man key posts and also to deal with flagship schemes, national security and disaster management.

Retail giant Walmart on Thursday said it is inviting select Indian sellers to join Walmart Marketplace, a curated sellers community that serves more than 120 million US shoppers each month. India is already one of the top sourcing markets for Walmart and the retail major has set an ambitious goal of exporting $10 billion from India each year by 2027.

Passengers coming from at risk countries and testing positive on arrival in India will be treated as per protocol and not necessarily be admitted to an isolation facility, a health ministry guideline said on Thursday. The Union health ministry's revised the protocol for international arrivals will come into effect from January 22.

The uptake of home tests to detect Covid-19 infection has increased significantly during the current surge with 2 lakh home tests used in last 20 days, against 3000 in the whole of 2021, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Director General Balram Bhargava said on Thursday.

The Amar Jawan Jyoti flame at India Gate will be extinguished after 50 years and merged with the flame at the National War Memorial here on Friday, military officials said on Thursday.

A British-Belgian teenager became the youngest woman to fly solo around the globe on Thursday and the first person to do so in a microlight plane after a five-month, five-continent odyssey in her Shark ultralight.

Future, the country's second-largest retailer, has since 2020 failed to complete its $3.4 billion retail asset sale to a rival due to successful legal challenges by Amazon, which argues the Indian group violated certain non-compete contractual terms the two sides had. Future denies any wrongdoing.

Responding to a question, Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan said about 22.66 lakh out of 35 lakh healthcare workers have received their precaution dose, accounting for 63 per cent of such people. He said there are 33 lakh frontline workers who were due for precaution dose and 19,1400 have got precaution dose which is 58 per cent.

In remarks that startled diplomatic and geo-political circles, US President Joe Biden on Wednesday seemed to acknowledge the inevitability of Russia invading Ukraine, while suggesting that Moscow could get away with a minor incursion if NATO allies are divided.

In a major relief to IT firm HCL Technologies, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has stayed the insolvency proceedings initiated against it on a plea filed by a creditor.

US President Joe Biden has affirmed that he will run for a second White House term, with vice-president Kamala Harris as his running mate, setting at rest for now raging speculation in the media and political circles of changes at the top, including among some Democrats.

Apart from crowded places and family gatherings, researchers in the US have stumbled upon an unlikely source of Omicron surge - sewage -- as Covid infections surge in the country.

Hindustan Unilever (HUL) has reported a 17 per cent growth in standalone profit after tax at Rs 2,243 crore during the third quarter ended December 31, 2021, while the domestic consumer growth was at 11 per cent. The growth is mainly driven by price increases taken during the quarter to combat inflationary pressures.

The flamboyant Rohit Sharma featured as opener, Rishabh Pant as wicketkeeper and R Ashwin as the lone specialist spinner in the ICC men's 'Test Team of the Year' but no Indian player was included in the global body's ODI XI for 2021.

Equity indices plunged for the third straight session on Thursday with the benchmark BSE sensex falling over 600 points dragged by losses in IT and pharma stocks. The 30-share fell 634 points or 1.06 per cent to close at 59,465; while the broader NSE Nifty settled 181 points or 1.01 per cent lower at 17,800.

Aam Aadmi Party's chief ministerial face Bhagwant Mann will contest from the Dhuri assembly seat in Sangrur district for the next month's assembly polls in Punjab. The announcement in this regard was made by party's senior leader Raghav Chadha in Mohali on Thursday.

Diginoor.io, a NFT marketplace founded by Chennai teenagers Shaamil Karim & Yash Rathod, has raised $1 million funding from Contrary Capital, Polygon Fund, Sandeep Nailwal, CRED's Kunal Shah, Abdul Wahab Al-Halabi (MD at Embassy Capital), and others.

Veteran India players Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami featured in the ICC 'ODI Team of the Year' for women after they extended their consistent run in international cricket.

After going unrepresented in the ICC's men's 'T20 Team of the Year' due to a disastrous World Cup campaign in the UAE, no Indian player featured in the global body's 'ODI Team of the Year' which features two players from minnows Ireland.

India on Thursday successfully test-fired a new version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile off the coast of Odisha in Balasore, informed the defence sources. According to Defence sources, the missile was equipped with new technological developments which were successfully proven.

India on Thursday reported 3,17,532 new coronavirus infections, the highest in 249 days, taking the total tally of Covid-19 cases to 3,82,18,773, which includes 9,287 cases of the Omicron variant, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday.

Talks between India and Tesla over potential tax benefits are deadlocked as the government is not keen to give the company any breaks without a commitment to manufacture locally, people familiar with the discussions told Reuters.

In a huge relief to over a thousand Air India US-bound passengers stranded for the last two days, the airline on Thursday said that it has received a go-ahead from Boeing to operate its Boeing 777 aircraft to the US.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday slammed the Central government for not reacting to the alleged abduction of Indian youth by China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) and said that the silence is a statement of the Centre as they do not care.

With five consecutive WTT titles in 2021, paddler Dhaani Jain is chalking out a career of note in table tennis. The sad part is that her consistent show hasn't made much news, whereas what she needs now is next-level support.

Kashmiri Hindus on Wednesday observed a 'Black Day' and staged a protest to mark 32 years of their mass exodus following a genocidal campaign initiated by terrorists. The protesters held several placards, which read 'Hang our killers'. They demanded justice for the victims who sacrificed their lives and severe punishment for those responsible for the exodus.

Wednesday saw a new high for the third wave as the count of daily Covid cases crossed 3 lakh. After a brief respite for three days — Saturday, Sunday and Monday — when there was a decline in cases, the count is climbing rapidly again for the past two days. With data from some states still awaited, the national tally stood at 3,04,416 as of 11pm.

The Election Commission of India on Saturday extended a ban on physical rallies and road shows till January 31 amid rise in Covid-19 cases om the country. However, the EC allowed a small window for in-person campaigning in indoor spaces. Parties and candidates can hold physical meetings with maximum 500 persons in open spaces from January 28 for first phase and from February 1 for second phase.

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania will send US-made anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine in a move that Washington says it is fully endorsing amid Kyiv's escalating tensions with Russia. Estonia would provide Ukraine with Javelin anti-tank weapons while Latvia and Lithuania were sending Stinger anti-aircraft missiles and other related equipment to bolster Kyiv's defensive military capabilities.

One of Mahatma Gandhi's favourite Christian hymns "Abide With Me" has been dropped from this year's Beating Retreat ceremony on January 29, according to a brochure released by the Indian Army on Saturday. "Abide With Me", written by Scottish Anglican poet and hymnologist Henry Francis Lyte in 1847, has been part of the Beating Retreat ceremony since 1950.

At least six people died and 15 others were injured after a major fire broke out in 20 storey building in South Mumbai on Saturday. The incident took place around 7.30am on the 18th floor of the Kamala building located in the Tardeo's Nana Chowk. The fire was designated as a level 3 fire.

The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 season will be held in India itself, top sources in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) confirmed. Sources in the know of developments confirmed to ANI that if the COVID-19 subsides in the country, then the board will go ahead with hosting the IPL 2022 in India.

The Union health and family welfare ministry has directed the states and Union territories to defer administering the Covid-19 vaccine including precaution dose to beneficiaries by three months after recovery. Additional secretary (health and family welfare) and National health mission director Vikas Sheel issued a direction in this regard on Friday.

Sources said the strategy behind opting for Karhal was to make the best of the influence that Akhilesh Yadav’s candidature from the seat will have on the region. “It will not only impact the entire Agra division, of which Mainpuri is a part, but also Kanpur and Aligarh divisions,” said a senior Samajwadi Party leader.

The Army will be represented by a mounted column of cavalry, 14 mechanised columns, six marching contingents and a flypast by advanced light helicopters of its aviation wing at the Republic Day parade-2022. The six marching contingents of the Indian Army will be of Rajput Regiment, Assam Regiment, Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry, Sikh Light Infantry, Army Ordnance Corps Regiment and Parachute Regiment.

Taiwan's government ordered a tightening of controls on Saturday after a rare spike in domestic transmission of the Omicron variant of Covid-19, saying it needed to act now to prevent being overwhelmed even though overall numbers remain quite low. There have been no deaths and most of the cases have had only mild or no symptoms.

India on Saturday reported 3,37,704 new Covid-19 infections over the past 24 hours, which includes 10,050 cases of the Omicron variant, according to updated Union health ministry data. There has been a 3.69 per cent increase in Omicron cases since Friday, the ministry said.

Rishabh Pant was out to an atrocious shot during the second Test in Wanderers, which led to lot of criticism from all quarters and former skipper Virat Kohli stating that they have had a word with the talented southpaw. "There are always positive talks that as an individual what I can do. All the strokes are there but how can I play with patience and according to the situation. So a lot of discussions happen," Pant said.

At least 13 people were killed and scores injured when a truck carrying explosives to a gold mine in western Ghana detonated, flattening a rural community, the police said on Friday. Smouldering timber and torn-up sheet metal marked where hundreds of houses had stood in Apiate, a settlement about 200 km (130 miles) west of the capital Accra.

The request by chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on home affairs Anand Sharma to home minister Amit Shah for suitable amendments to the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) to tackle hate speech only echoes the recommendation made by the Law Commission of India way back in 2017.

India batter Shreyas Iyer and spinner Yuzvendra Chahal along with Australian dasher David Warner are expected to be the top draws as over 1,200 players registered themselves for the Indian Premier League mega auction scheduled for next month.

Top health experts have not ruled out the possibility of Omicron reinfection, which brings back the focus on Covid-appropriate behaviour and vaccination to check its spread and fatalities. A Maharashtra Covid-19 task force member said, “Reinfection is something that we cannot ignore in Covid, irrespective of the variant. Even if people have recently recovered from Omicron, they cannot take the risk of improper masking or no masking, because reinfection with the variant has not been ruled out.”

A week after threatening to send the directors of Supertech to jail for non-refund of monies of flat buyers in the to-be-demolished twin towers on Noida Expressway, the Supreme Court on Friday set a deadline for the realtor to complete the refund process by the end of next month.

Booster shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are not just preventing infections with the contagious omicron variant — they are also keeping infected Americans from ending up in the hospital, according to data published Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The defeat which made the scoreline 2-0 in the favour of the Proteas, saw them lose the ODI series with the final game still left to be played in Cape Town on Sunday. Coming on the back of the 2-1 loss in the Test series to the hosts, this hugely disappointing result marks another low for new India coach Rahul Dravid in his first overseas assignment.

Running in fast but bowling nothing more than friendly medium pace, Bhuvneshwar Kumar - in another listless display by a bowler once known for his magic with swing - went wicketless for 67 in eight overs of sheer mediocrity.

The I&B ministry on Friday said it has issued orders to block 35 more YouTube channels, two websites, Twitter and Instagram accounts each, and one Facebook account, all originating in Pakistan, for spreading anti-India content over digital media. The fake content contained references to Indian Army, Jammu and Kashmir, India’s foreign relations with other countries, including fake information about the demise of former CDS Gen Bipin Rawat and content seeking to undermine the Assembly polls.

Congress national general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said on Friday that she might make her electoral debut by contesting in the UP assembly elections, but she shouldn’t be seen as the party’s candidate for the CM’s post. She said that contesting the UP elections has been under consideration and internal discussions are on. “When there is a consensus, we will let you know,” said Priyanka, the Congress’s in-charge for UP since 2019.

The fourth list of the Bharatiya Janata Party once again reflected the party’s focus on Dalits and other backward classes (OBCs) as together they accounted for 49 seats out of the 85 for which candidates were announced on Friday evening. The OBCs alone got 30 seats while 19 tickets went to Dalits, mostly from the Kori community.

Reliance Industries (RIL), India’s largest listed company, reported a 38% rise in quarterly profit on Friday on the back of a one-off gain from the sale of its US shale business and strong performance by its oil-to-chemicals (O2C) and consumer (Jio & retail) units. Profit grew to Rs 20,539 crore in Q3FY22. It made a gain of Rs 2,872 crore from the US shale asset divestment.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi remained the most popular global leader with an approval rating of 71%, according to a survey undertaken by US consulting firm Morning Consult. He was followed by Mexico's Andrés Manuel López Obrador (66%), Italy's Mario Draghi (60%) and Japan's Fumio Kishida (48% ), according to global consulting firm Morning Consult. Modi had the lowest disapproval ratings among all the leaders tracked at 21%.

Aircraft flying over India will not face any safety issue due to 5G mobile services, telecom regulator Trai has said, emphasising that the new age technology is “prima facie safe” for planes. ​This comes amid concerns over the safety of aircraft flying in the US over fears of interference with navigation systems as a 5G network starts rolling out across the country. Several flights to US have been cancelled or rescheduled as airlines fear that 5G phone service could pose a risk to aircraft.

The Texas synagogue attack has again exposed Pakistan’s links with international terrorism, the government said while calling for an unambiguous, undivided, effective and collective response to the global threat from international terrorism network. Without naming Pakistan, foreign secretary Harsh Shringla said the recent incident in Texas again demonstrated that “the international network of terror, with its epicenter in India’s neighbourhood, was very much active”.

In its second chargesheet in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case, a special investigation team (SIT) has named four farmers for the alleged lynching of three BJP workers who were attacked by an angry mob after a convoy that belonged to Ashish Mishra, the son of Union minister Ajay Mishra Teni, mowed down five men — four farmers and a local journalist — in Tikunia on October 3 last year.

While releasing its first list of 34 candidates for the Punjab assembly elections, BJP once again attacked chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi pointing at the sand mining scam in his constituency and accusing him of promoting people accused of drug trafficking. Raising the issue of deteriorating security situation in the state, BJP said even the PM is not safe there, referring to the January 5 security lapse incident when the PM was blocked on a flyover while travelling by road.

Would the Centre create a dedicated all India environment management services (AIEMS) as per recommendations of a high level committee led by ex-cabinet secretary TSR Subramanian, the Supreme Court asked on Friday, despite harbouring lurking doubts about its jurisdiction to enter into a highly opinionated thicket. A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and MM Sundresh sent notice to the Centre on a PIL.

The fourth list of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) once again reflected its focus on Dalits and other backward classes (OBCs) as together they accounted for 49 seats out of the 85, for which candidates were announced on Friday evening. The OBCs alone got 30 seats while 19 tickets went to Dalits, mostly from the Kori community.

Five more sites are expected to be formally declared tiger reserves by 2022-end, taking the total number to 56. The Centre has given approval of granting the status to three new sites and agreed in-principle to give its nod to two more. The three sites which got approval are MM Hills in Karnataka, Guru Ghasidas National Park in Chhattisgarh and Ramgarh Vishdhari in Rajasthan. The two which got in-principle nod are Dibang Wildlife Sanctuary in Arunachal and Kaimur Wildlife Sanctuary in Bihar.

The health ministry on Friday clarified that no data has leaked from the CoWin portal and the entire data of residents is safe and secure on this digital platform. It also added two new features to the online platform that played a significant role in implementation of the countrywide Covid vaccination programme. Now six members, instead of four, can be registered for vaccination using one mobile number. Besides, beneficiaries can also correct their vaccination status on CoWin.

There is a “qualitative difference” in sexual equation between people who are married to each other and between those who are not, the Delhi high court observed on Friday, adding one can’t “equate chalk and cheese”. The court reminded Rebecca John, appointed as amicus curiae to assist the court on the petitions seeking to criminalise marital rape, that while “there is a right to expect sexual relations from both sides in a marriage, there is no such right when the parties are not married”.

A statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose will be installed at India Gate in what marks a fitting recognition of the legendary freedom fighter who had captivated the country with his determination to liberate it from British occupation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday announced that he will unveil a hologram statue of Bose, Netaji to legions of his admirers, at the same place on his birthday on January 23 evening.

A day after the Canadian authorities said that bodies of four Indian nationals, including a baby and a teen, were found in Canada near the United States border, India's external affairs minister Dr S Jaishankar has expressed shock at the report and asked the concerned ambassadors "to urgently respond to the situation".

President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Friday used their first formal meeting to discuss concerns about China's growing military assertiveness that's spurring increasing disquiet in the Pacific.

The Indian Premier League's two new teams -- Ahmedabad and Lucknow -- have officially named their draft picks ahead of the upcoming mega auction for the 2022 season. Team Ahmedabad has chosen Hardik Pandya (Rs 15 cr), Rashid Khan (Rs 15 cr) and Shubman Gill (Rs 8 cr). While Team Lucknow has opted to go with KL Rahul (Rs 17 cr), Marcus Stoinis (Rs 9.2 cr) and Ravi Bishnoi (Rs 4 cr).

A young South Africa punished a jaded Indian team for its outdated approach, handing it one of the most comprehensive series defeats in recent times with an easy seven-wicket victory in the second ODI. A target of 288 was below-par on a flat track and the seasoned Quinton de Kock (78) in the company of rising sensation Janneman Malan (91) added 132 for a match-deciding opening stand.

Alphabet Inc's Google asked a judge on Friday to dismiss the majority of an antitrust lawsuit filed by Texas and other states that accused the search giant of abusing its dominance of the online advertising market.

Debt-ridden telecom operator Vodafone Idea on Friday reported widening of its consolidated loss to Rs 7,230.9 crore for the third quarter ended December 2021. The company had posted a loss of Rs 4,532.1 crore in the same period a year ago.

Apart from the 35 YouTube channels, 2 Twitter accounts, 2 Instagram Accounts, 2 websites and a Facebook account have also been blocked. The common factor amongst all these accounts have been that they operate from Pakistan and spread fake anti-India news and other content, said the joint secretary.

Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) on Friday posted a 41.58 per cent jump in its consolidated net profit for the third quarter (Q3) ending December 31, 2021. The company's net profit came in at Rs 18,549 crore as compared to a profit of Rs 13,101 crore posted in same period last year.

Net profit of MFI-turned-private lender Bandhan Bank increased 35.8 per cent at Rs 858.9 crore during the third quarter of current fiscal, registering a rise from Rs 632.6 crore in the similar previous period.

Utpal Parrikar, son of former Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar will contest the state assembly election from Panaji as an Independent candidate. This comes a day after the BJP denied him a ticket from the Panaji seat that he was keen to contest, fielding Atanasio Monserrate instead.

Investors have become poorer by over Rs 10.36 lakh crore in the last four trading sessions as the domestic equity benchmarks extended their losses amid weak global trends. The sensex and Nifty closed in the red for the fourth straight session on Friday amid continued selling by foreign institutional investors.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday released its first list of 34 candidates for the Punjab assembly election. BJP national general secretary, Tarun Chugh while announcing the list said that the list has doctors, lawyers, sportspersons, farmers, youth, women, and former IAS officer.

Cargo has proven to be aviation's lifeline during the pandemic when passenger numbers have seen a sharp dip. Delhi Airport last year saw cargo movement return to almost pre-Covid levels thanks to its strong international connectivity and being the nodal hub for sending pandemic relief material across the country.

Singer-artist Britney Spears made it to the headlines for her dramatic personal life last year. More recently, Britney took to Instagram where she hinted at writing her memoir!

South Africa-based researchers found that those who previously caught the Delta variant could contract Omicron, while those who get the Omicron strain couldn't be infected with Delta, particularly if they have been vaccinated.

The research, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, also found those who received the Moderna vaccine were less likely to be hospitalised, compared to recipients of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notices to the Centre and the Election Commission of India on a PIL seeking curb on mindless freebies announced by political parties on the eve of elections which potentially could cast a huge financial burden on the exchequer of states, most of which are already under severe debt burden.

After being over three lakh for five consecutive days, the single day rise in Covid-19 infections was recorded at 2,55,874, taking India's total tally of cases to 3,97,99,202, according to Union health ministry data updated on Tuesday. The death toll has climbed to 4,90,462 with 614 daily fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated.

Former India head coach Ravi Shastri does not see any reason to press the panic button after the team's shocking Test and ODI series loss to an under-strength South Africa as he believes it is a "temporary phase" and the side will tide over it soon.

Rafael Nadal moved to within two matches of a record 21st Grand Slam title with a dogfight five-set quarter-final win over Canadian Denis Shapovalov at the Australian Open on Tuesday. The Spanish fifth seed edged 14th seed Shapovalov 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3 in 4hr 8min on Rod Laver Arena to advance to his seventh semi-final in Melbourne.

"Pained by the loss of lives due to an accident near Selsura in Maharashtra. In this hour of sadness, my thoughts are with those who have lost their loved ones. I pray that those injured are able to recover soon," the PM said.

As the nation inches closer to celebrating its 73rd Republic Day on Wednesday, Border Security Force IG DK Boora said that the forces have received some input and are on high alert and further assured the population that they should have nothing to fear.

"The suspension of flight operations has been extended until 1000 GMT on January 25 due to adverse weather conditions," the Istanbul airport said on its website. Turkish authorities declared administrative leave for all public institution personnel on Tuesday to decrease mobility.

Covid-19 cases in the third wave of the pandemic have started to fall in seven states and Union territories, while several others were witnessing a slowdown in the surge, weekly numbers reveal. However, deaths from the virus rose in all major states of the country in the week ending Sunday (January 17-23), as compared to the preceding seven days.

he World Health Organization's director-general on Monday warned that conditions remain ideal for more coronavirus variants to emerge and it's dangerous to assume Omicron is the last one or that "we are in the endgame." But Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the acute phase of the pandemic could still end this year if some key targets are met.

Pakistan swore in Ayesha Malik as its first female supreme court judge on Monday, a landmark occasion in a nation where activists say the law is often wielded against women. Malik, 55, was administered the oath by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed at the the top court’s ceremonial hall in the capital Islamabad, where she now sits on the bench alongside 16 male colleagues.

For someone still growing into his captaincy shoes, KL Rahul is impressively clear-headed about his leadership philosophies. As skipper of the newly-named Lucknow Super Giants franchise, Rahul knows his responsibilities as captain will only grow and as he says, a steep learning curve lies ahead.

Giving emphasis to "bail, not jail" judicial philosophy, the Supreme Court on Monday said no person can be indefinitely kept in jail with an open-ended investigation by probe agencies on a conjectural apprehension that activities of an accused could involve a larger conspiracy which may prove detrimental to national security.

The number of female electors in the country has witnessed a sharper rise of 5.1% over the past three years, from 43.8 crore in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections to 46.1 crore now, as compared to the 3.6% increase in male voters from 47.3 crore to 49 crore during the same period. CEC Sushil Chandra, in a televised address on the eve of National Voters Day celebrated each year on January 25, said the strength of the total electorate in the country, as of today, stood at 95.1 crore.

India has made extraordinary progress on Covid-19 vaccination in a short period of time but vaccinating the next billion will require reaching a poorer segment of the population, for whom the main barriers to vaccine access may include knowledge, awareness, proximity and convenience, the World Bank has said.

The northwest and central India may not face any more wet days this week after Tuesday but the region, including Delhi-NCR, will continue to face chilly weather as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Monday predicted “gradual fall in minimum temperatures by 3-5 degree Celsius” over most parts of these areas during the next five days.

BJP has worked out a seat-sharing deal with its Punjab allies, keeping the lion’s share of the seats for itself. It will contest from 65 constituencies, while its allies — former CM Captain Amarinder Singh’s Punjab Lok Congress and S S Dhindsa’s faction of Akali Dal, SAD (Sanyukt), will contest from 37 and 17 respectively, BJP chief J P Nadda said on Monday.

Washington's Cold War with Moscow that was thought to have ended 30+ years ago has heated up dramatically. The United States and its Nato allies are rushing armaments to Ukraine and other countries bordering Russia and considering deploying from 5000 troops initially to 50000 eventually in the region.

India's counter-attack on China and Vietnam in manufacturing of electronics is set to get additional fire-power. On target is $300 billion in output over the next four years, including $120 billion reserved for exports; broadening of product-basket for incentives; and specially crafted large industrial zones with modern facilities.

The Lucknow franchise of the Indian Premier League will be called Lucknow Super Giants after its owners announced the name chosen by its fans. The name was shared by owner Sanjiv Goenka in a video message on Monday. KL Rahul will lead the Lucknow franchise in the upcoming IPL.

Virat Kohli was an "inspirational leader" in his own right and without his passion for the game's traditional format, Test cricket's popularity would have dwindled in some of the other countries, legendary Shane Warne said.

Patron-in-chief of the Pakistan Hindu Council and Member of National Assembly Dr. Ramesh Kumar Vankwani said that the delegation would go to India on January 29 on a special chartered flight of the Pakistan Airlines International and would stay there for three days.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will contest 65 seats, Captain Amarinder Singh-led Punjab Lok Congress will put up candidates on 37 seats while the Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa's SAD (Sanyukt) will fight from 15 assembly constituencies in the upcoming Punjab elections.

Former Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Monday claimed that he had got a message on behalf of Pakistan PM Imran Khan to reinstate Navjot Singh Sidhu as a minister in his cabinet.

Axis Bank on Monday reported an over three-fold jump in its net profit to Rs 3,614 crore in the quarter ended December 2021 on strong growth in loans and improvement in asset quality.

The BJP on Monday hit back at its former ally, the Shiv Sena, a day after Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray accused the saffron party of using "Hindutva for political convenience and power."

A stand-in captain, who seemed stunningly short of ideas, few seniors at the business end of their careers and a dated approach in white-ball cricket -- India's woes during the tour of South Africa were many, turning what started memorably into an eminently forgettable outing.

Equity indices crashed for the fifth straight session on Monday with the benchmark BSE sensex falling over 1,500 points amid heavy sell off across sectors, while the broader NSE Nifty settled 468 points or 2.66 per cent lower at 17,149.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Monday was given the chance to challenge a decision allowing him to be extradited to the United States to face 18 criminal charges including breaking a spying law to Britain's Supreme Court. "The respondent's application to certify a point of law is granted," the court said.

Daily Covid-19 cases in India will start to decline after February 15, said official government sources on Monday. Stressing that Covid-19 vaccination has reduced the impact of the third wave, the government sources further added, "Union health ministry is coordinating with states and Union territories. 74 per cent of the adult population is fully vaccinated."

Communication from a foreign intelligence agency to the Indian intelligence flagging crypto wallets being operated by al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, led Delhi Police to crack a one-of-its-kind crypto hacking case. Hamas is known to be using cryptocurrencies, which are comparatively difficult to trace, to raise funds and transfer them using a series of digital wallets.

The number of children under the age of 10 contracting Covid-19 has increased sharply this month with just more than 12,800 cases reported so far compared to 376 cases in the whole of December. At 332, it was even lower in November. The last time monthly cases in this category were more than 10,000 was in May last year, during which more than 20,000 cases were recorded.

India's swashbuckling opener Smriti Mandhana was on Monday named the ICC Women's Cricketer of the Year for her incredible run of form across all formats in 2021. In the limited-overs series against South Africa where India won just two of the eight matches at home, Mandhana played a major role in both of the wins.

BJP ally Apna Dal (S) on Sunday named Congress veteran Noor Bano’s UK-educated grandson Haider Ali Khan as its candidate for the Suar assembly seat in UP, making him the first Muslim to be fielded by any constituent of the saffron camp in the state since 2014. Congress had declared Haider as its candidate for the seat on January 13. However, he spurned the offer and crossed over to Apna Dal (S).

India logged 3.47 lakh new Covid cases, while the active cases rose to 22,49,335 according to the Union health ministry data updated on Monday. The death toll climbed to 48,98,48 with 439 fresh fatalities according to the data updated at 9am. With a tally of 3.95 crore cases, India is the second worst-hit country after the US.

China flew 39 warplanes toward Taiwan in its largest such sortie of the new year, continuing a pattern that the island has answered by scrambling its own jets in response. The formation Sunday night included 24 J-16 fighter jets and 10 J-10 jets, among other support aircraft and electronic warfare aircraft, according to Taiwan's defense ministry.

Ola Electric on Monday said it has raised over $200 million (about Rs 1,490.5 crore) from Tekne Private Ventures, Alpine Opportunity Fund, Edelweiss and others, valuing the electric vehicle maker at $5 billion. In September last year, Ola Electric had announced raising a similar amount in funding from Falcon Edge, Softbank and others that had valued the company at $3 billion (about Rs 22,272 crore).

People attending the Republic Day parade must be fully vaccinated against Covid and children below 15 years of age will not be allowed to attend the function, a set of guidelines issued by the Delhi Police stated. Listing the guidelines, the Delhi Police tweeted that the seating blocks will open for visitors at 7am and requested them to arrive accordingly.

Is BJP rewinding its 2017 election script to pin down SP in the same political frame? The question assumed pertinence with BJP amplifying the Kairana exodus issue, stoking the narrative of another rift in the Yadav first family and cornering SP on criminalisation of politics. A senior BJP leader affirmed the ‘Kairana exodus’ issue continues to touch a raw nerve among people.

Star India batter Virat Kohli on Monday requested the media to abstain from publishing his daughter Vamika's pictures, saying images of the infant shown by broadcasters during the third ODI against South Africa here was a case of being "caught off guard".

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China has told the Indian Army that a teenager has been found on its side of the Line of Actual Control, but it is yet to be confirmed whether he is the same youth who went missing from the Upper Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh on January 18. “The PLA has confirmed to their counterparts here that they have found a boy, who is from the Indian side,” the defence PRO based in Tezpur, Lt Col Harshvardhan Pandey, said on Sunday.

The Omicron variant has moved the Covid-19 pandemic into a new phase and could bring it to an end in Europe, the WHO Europe director said Sunday. "It's plausible that the region is moving towards a kind of pandemic endgame," Hans Kluge told AFP in an interview, adding that Omicron could infect 60 per cent of Europeans by March.

Microsoft has confirmed that it will support Windows 10 until at least 2025, but the company won’t add any new features to the operating system. Now, the tech giant has updated a page on its Windows Health Dashboard to announce that it will automatically upgrade Windows 10 version 20H2 with the most recent version 21H2.

Authorities have lifted a month-long pandemic lockdown on the northern Chinese city of Xi'an and its 13 million residents. Xi'an has been a cornerstone of the ruling Communist Party's 'zero tolerance' strategy toward Covid-19 that mandates lockdowns, travel restrictions and mass testing whenever a case is discovered.

According to the National Command and Operation Centre's most recent statistics, 7,195 coronavirus cases were recorded in the previous 24 hours, after 57,401 tests completed across the country, with a positive percentage of 12.53 per cent, reported The News International. Pakistan is currently facing its fifth deadly wave of coronavirus and the total number of cases reached 1.37 million.

India's head coach Rahul Dravid had no hesitation in admitting that the ODI squad lacked balance with the likes of Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja unavailable to execute their all-round skills at numbers six and seven respectively. "Hopefully, when they come back, it will give us a lot more depth, it allows us then to probably play in a slightly different style," Dravid said.

Three days back, Congress primo uomo leader Rahul Gandhi, continuing with his attack on Hindutvavadis perceiving them as communal, tweeted “‘Hindutvavadis’ have been spreading hatred in the cyber world because cowards only attack while hiding. Had they mustered enough courage, they would have come forward. We need to be strong and keep tackling this hatred — the country needs to be saved!”

HDFC Capital has mobilised $1.9 billion for investment in real estate sector through the close of its third fund focused on affordable housing — the largest in the segment globally. The HDFC Capital Affordable Real Estate Fund – 3 (H-CARE-3) on Sunday announced its first close with investors, committing over $1.2 billion. Given that this is a long-term fund with potential reinvestments the fund corpus available for investment is expected to be in the region of $1.9 billion.

Omicron is now at the ‘community transmission’ stage in India with hospitalisation and ICU admissions rising, though most cases of the new Covid-19 infections have been mild or asymptomatic, according to genomics consortium Insacog. “Omicron has become dominant in multiple metros where new cases have been rising exponentially,” Insacog noted.

Shares of Reliance Industries Ltd gained 1 per cent in early trade on Monday after the company reported its best-ever quarterly performance in October-December 2021. The stock of the country's most valued firm by market valuation jumped 1.04 per cent to Rs 2,504.10 in early trade on the BSE.

Describing it as an open violation of the Model Code of Conduct for elections, Samajwadi Party has filed a complaint with ECI demanding immediate and complete restriction on opinion polls being aired by news channels. Besides, the party has also lodged a complaint with the EC accusing BJP leaders and workers of violating the model code of conduct to campaign for the party in Kairana assembly constituency and other areas. SP has sought strictures against such events.

Recorded infections of Covid-19 in India crossed 4 crore on Tuesday, with 50 lakh fresh cases added in the last three weeks alone during the Omicron-driven third wave of the pandemic in the country. India's Covid case count continues to be the second-highest in the world after the US, where nearly 7.3 crore cases have been logged till date

General Bipin Rawat, the country’s first Chief of Defence Staff who died in a helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu last month, and late BJP leader Kalyan Singh who served as UP chief minister at the time of the Babri Masjid demolition, have been awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second-highest civilian honour.

The 13-lakh Army is now cranking up its focus on longer-range weapons and night-fighting capabilities, multi-capacity drones, ‘disruptive technologies’ and early-detection and targeting systems in its ongoing modernisation drive amid the 20-month-long military confrontation with China in eastern Ladakh.

Google on Wednesday featured an animated doodle as India celebrates Republic Day, commemorating 72 years since the Indian Constitution took effect and the nation completed its transition to an independent republic.

Rescue crews searched waters off Florida's Atlantic shore on Tuesday for 39 people reported missing by a survivor found clinging to a boat that capsized in what the US Coast Guard called a suspected human smuggling attempt gone awry. The survivor told authorities after his rescue that he had left the Bahamas' Bimini islands, about 50 miles east of Miami, in a boat with 39 others on Saturday night.

The nation’s third-highest gallantry medal Shaurya Chakra has been awarded to five Army soldiers, an Assam Rifles jawan and six CRPF personnel — nine of them posthumously — in the Republic Day awards this year. Though the highest medal Ashoka Chakra and the second Kirti Chakra have not been awarded this year, three have been conferred with the Sena Medal for gallantry the second time.

The partnership between India and the United States is rooted in their shared responsibility to uphold democratic values, the White House said on Tuesday as it greeted the people of India on the occasion of the country's 73rd Republic Day.

Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) under its newly-appointed chairman S Somanath is gearing up to accelerate space activities, which were till now paralysed for several months due to Covid-triggered restrictions.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday said political parties competing with each other to announce freebies and doles during electioneering has the potential to upset states’ finances and vitiate free and fair polls and asked the Centre and the Election Commission to respond to a PIL seeking measures to curb this infectious poll-eve tendency.

The Pinarayi Vijayan government in Kerala is set to amend the state Lokayukta Act through an ordinance amid stirrings of protest by the opposition over what legal experts see as an attempt to prevent any verdict of the anti-corruption agency being binding on the administration.

The redesigned SAT will be shorter, cover a more diverse range of topics and calculators will now be allowed for the entire math section. The College Board on Tuesday also announced that its SAT Suite of Assessments will be offered digitally. International students will now be allowed seven opportunities instead of five.

Former Bengal CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Tuesday declined the Padma Bhushan soon after the Centre named him among the recipients of the honour. Bengal singer Sandhya Mukhopadhyay and tabla maestro Pt Anindo Chattopadhyay refused the Padma Shri, citing different reasons.

In a setback to 6,000 NGOs whose FCRA licences could not be renewed because of their failure to apply within the stipulated time period, the Supreme Court declined their pleas for the continuation of their licences and asked them to make representation to the government.

Former UP CM late Kalyan Singh, India's first Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad and former West Bengal CM and CPM leader Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee were selected for this year's Padma awards. Cyrus Poonawalla of the Serum Institute of India, which manufactured Covid vaccine Covishield, and Krishna Ella and Suchitra Ella of Bharat Biotech, which produced India's indigenous coronavirus vaccine Covaxin, were also given Padma Bhushan.

The 2021 Corruption Perception Index by Transparency International places India 85th on a list of 180 countries, one position above last year. The latest Transparency International Corruption Perception Index for 2021, released Tuesday, said India was among 86% of the 180 countries the index covers that have made little to no progress since 2012. Pakistan meanwhile dropped 16 places to rank 140.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday slashed India's economic growth forecast for financial year 2021-22 to 9 per cent on concerns over impact of new Covid variant.

Hotel aggregator Oyo has received in-principle approvals from the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) to list on the bourses, as per documents reviewed by TOI.

Microsoft chief executive officer (CEO) Satya Nadella and Alphabet chief Sundar Pichai will be conferred with the prestigious Padma Bhushan award. The government on Tuesday announced the full list of awardees who will be conferred with Padma awards.

Indian American professor Tejal Desai has been named the next dean of the school of engineering at Brown University, an Ivy League university, in Providence, Rhode Island.

India's white-ball captain Rohit Sharma is "fit" and ready to lead the side against the West Indies in a six-match white-ball series starting February 6 with the three ODIs in Ahmedabad.

General Officer Commanding (GoC) of the Army's 15 Corps or the Chinar Corps, Lt Gen D P Pandey said while Pakistan is holding onto the “compulsions” for which it went for the reiteration of the ceasefire agreement in February last year, "we have to see" what its "aim and intent is in the times to come”.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to pass interim order to protect around 6000 NGOs whose FCRA registration did not get renewed. The court asked them to make representation to the Centre which would take a decision as per law.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notices to the Centre and the Election Commission of India on a PIL seeking curb on mindless freebies announced by political parties on the eve of elections which potentially could cast a huge financial burden on the exchequer of states, most of which are already under severe debt burden.

After being over three lakh for five consecutive days, the single day rise in Covid-19 infections was recorded at 2,55,874, taking India's total tally of cases to 3,97,99,202, according to Union health ministry data updated on Tuesday. The death toll has climbed to 4,90,462 with 614 daily fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated.

Former India head coach Ravi Shastri does not see any reason to press the panic button after the team's shocking Test and ODI series loss to an under-strength South Africa as he believes it is a "temporary phase" and the side will tide over it soon.

Rafael Nadal moved to within two matches of a record 21st Grand Slam title with a dogfight five-set quarter-final win over Canadian Denis Shapovalov at the Australian Open on Tuesday. The Spanish fifth seed edged 14th seed Shapovalov 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3 in 4hr 8min on Rod Laver Arena to advance to his seventh semi-final in Melbourne.

"Pained by the loss of lives due to an accident near Selsura in Maharashtra. In this hour of sadness, my thoughts are with those who have lost their loved ones. I pray that those injured are able to recover soon," the PM said.

As the nation inches closer to celebrating its 73rd Republic Day on Wednesday, Border Security Force IG DK Boora said that the forces have received some input and are on high alert and further assured the population that they should have nothing to fear.

"The suspension of flight operations has been extended until 1000 GMT on January 25 due to adverse weather conditions," the Istanbul airport said on its website. Turkish authorities declared administrative leave for all public institution personnel on Tuesday to decrease mobility.

Covid-19 cases in the third wave of the pandemic have started to fall in seven states and Union territories, while several others were witnessing a slowdown in the surge, weekly numbers reveal. However, deaths from the virus rose in all major states of the country in the week ending Sunday (January 17-23), as compared to the preceding seven days.

he World Health Organization's director-general on Monday warned that conditions remain ideal for more coronavirus variants to emerge and it's dangerous to assume Omicron is the last one or that "we are in the endgame." But Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the acute phase of the pandemic could still end this year if some key targets are met.

Pakistan swore in Ayesha Malik as its first female supreme court judge on Monday, a landmark occasion in a nation where activists say the law is often wielded against women. Malik, 55, was administered the oath by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed at the the top court’s ceremonial hall in the capital Islamabad, where she now sits on the bench alongside 16 male colleagues.

For someone still growing into his captaincy shoes, KL Rahul is impressively clear-headed about his leadership philosophies. As skipper of the newly-named Lucknow Super Giants franchise, Rahul knows his responsibilities as captain will only grow and as he says, a steep learning curve lies ahead.

Giving emphasis to "bail, not jail" judicial philosophy, the Supreme Court on Monday said no person can be indefinitely kept in jail with an open-ended investigation by probe agencies on a conjectural apprehension that activities of an accused could involve a larger conspiracy which may prove detrimental to national security.

The number of female electors in the country has witnessed a sharper rise of 5.1% over the past three years, from 43.8 crore in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections to 46.1 crore now, as compared to the 3.6% increase in male voters from 47.3 crore to 49 crore during the same period. CEC Sushil Chandra, in a televised address on the eve of National Voters Day celebrated each year on January 25, said the strength of the total electorate in the country, as of today, stood at 95.1 crore.

India has made extraordinary progress on Covid-19 vaccination in a short period of time but vaccinating the next billion will require reaching a poorer segment of the population, for whom the main barriers to vaccine access may include knowledge, awareness, proximity and convenience, the World Bank has said.

The northwest and central India may not face any more wet days this week after Tuesday but the region, including Delhi-NCR, will continue to face chilly weather as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Monday predicted “gradual fall in minimum temperatures by 3-5 degree Celsius” over most parts of these areas during the next five days.

BJP has worked out a seat-sharing deal with its Punjab allies, keeping the lion’s share of the seats for itself. It will contest from 65 constituencies, while its allies — former CM Captain Amarinder Singh’s Punjab Lok Congress and S S Dhindsa’s faction of Akali Dal, SAD (Sanyukt), will contest from 37 and 17 respectively, BJP chief J P Nadda said on Monday.

Washington's Cold War with Moscow that was thought to have ended 30+ years ago has heated up dramatically. The United States and its Nato allies are rushing armaments to Ukraine and other countries bordering Russia and considering deploying from 5000 troops initially to 50000 eventually in the region.

India's counter-attack on China and Vietnam in manufacturing of electronics is set to get additional fire-power. On target is $300 billion in output over the next four years, including $120 billion reserved for exports; broadening of product-basket for incentives; and specially crafted large industrial zones with modern facilities.

The Lucknow franchise of the Indian Premier League will be called Lucknow Super Giants after its owners announced the name chosen by its fans. The name was shared by owner Sanjiv Goenka in a video message on Monday. KL Rahul will lead the Lucknow franchise in the upcoming IPL.

Virat Kohli was an "inspirational leader" in his own right and without his passion for the game's traditional format, Test cricket's popularity would have dwindled in some of the other countries, legendary Shane Warne said.

Patron-in-chief of the Pakistan Hindu Council and Member of National Assembly Dr. Ramesh Kumar Vankwani said that the delegation would go to India on January 29 on a special chartered flight of the Pakistan Airlines International and would stay there for three days.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will contest 65 seats, Captain Amarinder Singh-led Punjab Lok Congress will put up candidates on 37 seats while the Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa's SAD (Sanyukt) will fight from 15 assembly constituencies in the upcoming Punjab elections.

Former Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Monday claimed that he had got a message on behalf of Pakistan PM Imran Khan to reinstate Navjot Singh Sidhu as a minister in his cabinet.

Axis Bank on Monday reported an over three-fold jump in its net profit to Rs 3,614 crore in the quarter ended December 2021 on strong growth in loans and improvement in asset quality.

The BJP on Monday hit back at its former ally, the Shiv Sena, a day after Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray accused the saffron party of using "Hindutva for political convenience and power."

A stand-in captain, who seemed stunningly short of ideas, few seniors at the business end of their careers and a dated approach in white-ball cricket -- India's woes during the tour of South Africa were many, turning what started memorably into an eminently forgettable outing.

Equity indices crashed for the fifth straight session on Monday with the benchmark BSE sensex falling over 1,500 points amid heavy sell off across sectors, while the broader NSE Nifty settled 468 points or 2.66 per cent lower at 17,149.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Monday was given the chance to challenge a decision allowing him to be extradited to the United States to face 18 criminal charges including breaking a spying law to Britain's Supreme Court. "The respondent's application to certify a point of law is granted," the court said.

The Tatas have hit the ground running to restore the Maharaja’s lost sheen. The focus is on improving on time performance (OTP) — not exactly the Maharaja’s strong point — with aircraft door closing 10 minutes before departure time. Inflight announcements will address passengers as guests and there could be a special recorded message from group chairman emeritus Ratan Tata.

India reported 2.86 lakh new Covid cases, marginal increase of 0.1 per cent, while the active cases climbed to 22,02,472, according to the Union health ministry data updated on Monday. The death toll climbed to 49,17,00 with 573 fresh fatalities according to the data updated at 9am. Active cases now comprise 5.46 per cent of the total infections.

Anxious to assuage the sullenness of sections of the Jat community in Western UP, Union home minister Amit Shah on Wednesday wooed a group of community influencers by stressing similarity of “nationalist” outlook, recalling communal riots of 2013 and promising resolution of their grievances and consideration of demands.

Equity benchmark sensex tanked over 1,100 points or 2 per cent in opening trade on Thursday, tracking losses in index-majors Titan, Wipro and HDFC twins amid a weak trend in the Asian markets. The US Federal Reserve's indication to raise interest rates soon and persistent foreign fund outflows weighed on market sentiment, traders said.

Karnataka has reported 370 Covid-19 deaths so far in January, and official data shows 28, or nearly 8% of these victims died at home, despite hundreds of beds going spare in hospitals. An analysis of state health and family welfare department data as on Wednesday (January 26) shows 22 of the 28 died at home, while six others were declared dead on arrival at hospitals.

As per the details provided to Twitter, Rahul Gandhi pointed out that he was gaining new followers at the rate of over 2.3 lakh per month, which even went up to 6.5 lakh on certain months. However, since August 2021, his new follower account had come down to roughly 2,500 per month and his total following of 19.5 million has remained virtually frozen during this period.

The electric carmaker, which scored an 87 per cent jump in auto deliveries last year in spite of the global semiconductor shortage, reported a 71 per cent rise in revenues to $53.8 billion. Tesla has been ramping up production at factories in California and Shanghai, while also building new facilities in Germany and Texas.

Chinese medical experts believed last year that higher vaccination rates would eventually allow China to relax tough rules on movement and testing as infection rates slow elsewhere. The emergence of the highly transmissible Omicron variant dashed those hopes. Many health experts say the country has no choice but to continue given its less developed health system.

The flypast of the Indian Air Force on Wednesday was the grandest ever in the history of the Republic Day parade as the largest-ever fleet of 75 aircraft, including newly-acquired Rafale fighters, participated in the air show of the country’s aerial assets over Rajpath.

India’s covid tally remained below 3 lakh for the third consecutive day. Deaths, however, crossed the 500 mark for the second day in a row. With data from Tripura yet to come at the time of filing this story, Wednesday’s case count stood at 286,994 cases and 501 deaths.

The government may soon revisit its policy on booster doses of Covid vaccines as its scientific experts are of the view that benefits of a third shot may not merit expansion of the coverage to other age groups, official sources said.

An ICMR study has found that individuals infected with the Omicron variant have significant immune response that could neutralise not only this strain but also others, including the most prevalent Delta variant, making re-infection with the latter less likely, thereby displacing it as the dominant strain.

PM Narendra Modi will host the first ever India-Central Asia summit virtually on Thursday with focus on improving trade and connectivity with the resource-rich region while also looking to address the security situation in Afghanistan.

As the surging third wave puts the focus back on the pandemic’s impact on children’s education, the findings of a parliamentary committee highlights how the Covid crisis has disproportionately affected girls, especially their education.

The world's biggest smartphone maker said its operating profit rose to 13.87 trillion won ($11.55 billion) for the October-December period in 2021, up from nine trillion won in the same quarter the previous year. Samsung achieved "record sales thanks to competitive products, despite continuing uncertainty," the tech giant said in a statement.

After a marathon meeting on Wednesday, the Chetan Sharma-led national selection committee has decided to bring back Kuldeep Yadav in India’s white-ball scheme of things. The selectors have also decided to try out up and coming right-arm wrist-spinner Ravi Bishnoi for the home series against West Indies beginning from Feb 6 in Ahmedabad.

In pictures evocative of the American intervention in Afghanistan more than 40 years ago, the United States has rushed to Stinger missiles and Javelin anti-tank weapons — each said to be imprinted with Russian leader Vladimir Putin's name — to Ukraine as both sides embark on a slippery slope to a war that US President Joe Biden said would have enormous consequences worldwide.

The Padma Bhushan award for Ghulam Nabi Azad has once again triggered a Congress vs Congress spat in the grand old party.While the G-23 leaders congratulated Azad, senior leader Jairam Ramesh took a veiled dig at the party veteran over the award. Responding to a tweet on ex-Bengal CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharya's refusal to accept the award, Jairam Ramesh said: "Right thing to do. He wants to be Azad not Ghulam."

Embattled British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday said he won't resign amidst growing pressure on him to quit after the so-called “partygate” scandal of alleged lockdown breaches at 10 Downing Street and other government offices during 2020-2021.

The candidates, who went on a rampage in Bihar's Gaya, are opposing the railways' decision to hold the exam in two stages, claiming the second stage for final selection is tantamount to "cheating" those who appeared and cleared the first stage of the RRB-NTPC for a computer-based test which was released on January 15. Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has urged job aspirants not to destroy public property and assured them that their grievances would be resolved.

Akali leader Bikram Singh Majithia, who was booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act last month, will be the Shiromani Akali Dal candidate from Amritsar East against state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu."Majithia will destroy Sidhu's arrogance and ensure that he forfeits his security deposit," Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal said on Wednesday announcing the high-profile contest.

Australian great Greg Chappell has rated former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni as "one of the sharpest cricket minds", saying his decision-making skills set him apart from his great contemporaries.

Amid the ongoing military buildup at the Russian-Ukrainian border, the Indian embassy in Kyiv has asked its citizens residing in Ukraine to register themselves in a bid to disseminate information in a swift manner. The embassy said it is closely monitoring the situation and asked Indian citizens to continuously follow its website for updates.

At the heart of the standoff are questions about Ukraine's future: Russia has demanded guarantees that NATO will never admit the country and other ex-Soviet nations as members and that the alliance will roll back troop deployments in other former Soviet bloc countries. Some of these, like the membership pledge, are nonstarters for NATO, creating a seemingly intractable stalemate that many fear can only end in a war.

Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Wednesday said the Bahujan Samaj Party has sold out interests of the Dalits to the Shiromani Akali Dal, with which it has forged an alliance for next month's Assembly polls. The Punjab CM also said the party has no existence in the state and the BSP pawned off itself to the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD).

The Union Budget will go green this year too, cutting down on the vast printing of documents that was associated with the presentation of tax proposals and financial statement of Asia's third largest economy.

All those leaders who are leaving or joining the Congress are welcome and there should not be much discussion on this, he said while interacting with reporters on the occasion of 73rd Republic Day. He also alleged that there is an atmosphere of unrest, tension and mistrust in the country and all the central government agencies are working "under pressure."

The Indian Navy's tableau at the Republic Day parade on Wednesday depicted the 1946 naval uprising, which contributed to the country's Independence movement. The naval contingent was led by Lieutenant Commander Aanchal Sharma, who is an observer officer posted at the Indian Naval Air Squadron (INAS) 314. The tableau showed the Navy's theme of 'Combat Ready, Credible and Cohesive'.

India on Wednesday reported 2,85,914 new coronavirus infections, taking the total tally of Covid-19 cases to 4,00,85,116, according to the Union health ministry data updated on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the death toll has climbed to 4,91,127 today with 665 fresh fatalities.

A day after India shared details of a missing Arunachal Pradesh teenager with the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), Union law minister Kiren Rijiju on Wednesday said that a hotline was exchanged between the Indian Army and PLA on Republic Day regarding the teenager who was reportedly kidnapped by the PLA a week ago from Indian territory.

The latest study conducted by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) shows that antibodies generated by Omicron, a Covid-19 strain, are not only effective against it but also other variants of concern including Delta. "This suggests that the immune response induced by the Omicron could effectively neutralize the Delta variant making the re-infection with Delta less likely," it said.

The Indian Army on Wednesday showcased at the Republic Day parade the Centurion tank, PT-76 tank, 75/24 Pack howitzer and OT-62 TOPAZ armoured personnel carrier that played a major role in defeating Pakistan in the 1971 war. Centurion was the main stay of the Indian Army in the 1971 Indo-Pak war.

Three marching contingents of the Indian Army wore uniforms and carried rifles from previous decades, while one contingent wore the new combat uniform and carried the latest Tavor rifles at Republic Day Parade-2022 as a part of 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav' celebrating the 75th year of India's independence. There were a total of six marching contingents of the Army at the parade this year.

Google has started to roll out a new helpful Google Assistant feature. As announced by the tech giant in a Twitter post, you now tell Google Assistant to stop talking without saying the trigger word ‘Hey Google’ to activate the assistant.

Blaming foreigners for the coronavirus is beneficial for China's Communist Party. The strategy suggests that Xi’s government has everything under control and provides a ready excuse for any cases that break through China’s defenses.

Over 21 million new coronavirus cases were reported around the world last week, representing the highest number of weekly cases recorded since the beginning of the pandemic, according to the World Health Organisation. The global health body also emphasised that the Omicron variant is becoming dominant due to its significant growth advantage, higher secondary attack rate and observed reproduction number as compared to the Delta.

Already rocked by the Djokovic fiasco days before it began, the Australian Open organisers would have hoped that the tournament would go on smoothly till some fans turned up at the stadiums wearing "Where is Peng Shuai?" shirts. Peng Shuai made headlines late last year when she levelled sexual assualt allegations against Zhang Gaoli, a former vice premier of China.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was "very grateful for the renewed support", after the WHO's executive board held a secret-ballot vote approving his nomination as the only candidate for the post of director-general.

Asian share markets steadied on Wednesday after three sessions of losses as investors awaited any hints about faster tightening of monetary policy from the US Federal Reserve later in the day.

On the Padma Shri list this year is Akhone Asgar Ali Basharat, Balti poet from Kargil; Himmatrao Bawaskar who is globally acclaimed for his research on scorpion and snake bites; Wangchuk Bhutia, a Tangkha painter from Sikkim Khandu; and Acharya Chandanaji, a Jain spiritual leader and social worker from Rajgir who has dedicated her life to the empowerment of the poor for the past five decades.

Facing heat from banks for recovery of outstanding dues, Future Retail on Tuesday moved the Supreme Court seeking quashing of lenders' letters threatening initiation of insolvency proceedings by citing its still alive, but mired in cross-country litigations initiated by multinational Amazon, deal with Reliance Retail for sale of assets for nearly Rs 25,000 crore.

Recorded infections of Covid-19 in India crossed 4 crore on Tuesday, with 50 lakh fresh cases added in the last three weeks alone during the Omicron-driven third wave of the pandemic in the country. India's Covid case count continues to be the second-highest in the world after the US, where nearly 7.3 crore cases have been logged till date

General Bipin Rawat, the country’s first Chief of Defence Staff who died in a helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu last month, and late BJP leader Kalyan Singh who served as UP chief minister at the time of the Babri Masjid demolition, have been awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second-highest civilian honour.

The 13-lakh Army is now cranking up its focus on longer-range weapons and night-fighting capabilities, multi-capacity drones, ‘disruptive technologies’ and early-detection and targeting systems in its ongoing modernisation drive amid the 20-month-long military confrontation with China in eastern Ladakh.

Google on Wednesday featured an animated doodle as India celebrates Republic Day, commemorating 72 years since the Indian Constitution took effect and the nation completed its transition to an independent republic.

Rescue crews searched waters off Florida's Atlantic shore on Tuesday for 39 people reported missing by a survivor found clinging to a boat that capsized in what the US Coast Guard called a suspected human smuggling attempt gone awry. The survivor told authorities after his rescue that he had left the Bahamas' Bimini islands, about 50 miles east of Miami, in a boat with 39 others on Saturday night.

The nation’s third-highest gallantry medal Shaurya Chakra has been awarded to five Army soldiers, an Assam Rifles jawan and six CRPF personnel — nine of them posthumously — in the Republic Day awards this year. Though the highest medal Ashoka Chakra and the second Kirti Chakra have not been awarded this year, three have been conferred with the Sena Medal for gallantry the second time.

The partnership between India and the United States is rooted in their shared responsibility to uphold democratic values, the White House said on Tuesday as it greeted the people of India on the occasion of the country's 73rd Republic Day.

Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) under its newly-appointed chairman S Somanath is gearing up to accelerate space activities, which were till now paralysed for several months due to Covid-triggered restrictions.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday said political parties competing with each other to announce freebies and doles during electioneering has the potential to upset states’ finances and vitiate free and fair polls and asked the Centre and the Election Commission to respond to a PIL seeking measures to curb this infectious poll-eve tendency.

NeoCov Covid Variant: Scientists in China have warned about a new strain of coronavirus, NeoCov, related to the Middle East respiratory syndrome MERS-coronavirus. NeoCoV carries with it the potentially combined high mortality rate of MERS-CoV (where one in three infected people die on average) and the high transmission rate of the current SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, the researchers have said.

The Supreme court on Friday quashed the suspension of 12 Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs from the Maharashtra assembly for one year over the alleged misbehaviour with the presiding officer. The apex court termed the suspension unconstitutional and arbitrary.

Former Indian skipper MS Dhoni, who was retained by Chennai Super Kings for Rs 12 crore, arrived here to join their preparation for the Indian Premier League mega auction, scheduled for February 12 and 13.

Alphabet Inc's Google will invest up to $1 billion in Bharti Airtel in a move that could help bolster the Indian telecom operator's digital offerings, the companies said.

Rafael Nadal stood one win away from a men's record 21st Grand Slam title after overpowering Italian seventh seed Matteo Berrettini 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 on Friday to reach the Australian Open final. A win for Nadal in Sunday's final will break a three-way tie with Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer and give him sole ownership of the record for most Grand Slam singles titles.

The BSE gauge sensex shot up more than 700 points to revisit the key 58,000-level in opening deals on Friday, as participants indulged in buying across counters. The 30-share index zoomed 723.55 points 1.26 per cent to 58,000.49 in initial trade.

India on Friday reported 2,51,209 positive cases for the coronavirus infection in a day. With this, India's total tally of cases increased to over 4.06 crore, according to the Union health ministry data updated on Friday. As many as 627 fatalities reported also reported during the 24-hour period. The death toll has climbed to 4,92,327, the data updated at 8 am showed.

In an announcement which would come as massive relief for hundreds of domestic cricket, umpires and scorers, BCCI secretary Jay Shah on Friday stated that the Board will hold the 2021-22 edition of the Ranji Trophy, initially postponed due to a surge in covid cases in the country, in two phases — the league phase before the IPL, and the knockouts post the glitzy T20 league.

Kamala Harris considers Constance Baker Motley, the first Black female federal judge in US history, her hero, someone who she says "inspired me from a young age to fight for the voiceless and for justice." On Thursday, President Joe Biden affirmed that his much-critiqued vice-president will help him select a likeness of Motley to an even higher perch, the highest court in the land.

A new study has placed TCS and Infosys as the second and third most valuable IT services companies in the world, worth Rs 1,25,935 crore ($16.8 billion) and Rs 95,859 crore ($12.8 billion). These are the highest ranks the Indian tech giants have ever achieved, though they have featured in the global top 10 for a decade.

In a statement issued on Thursday by the High Commission of India, it said that the Canadian authorities have confirmed the identities of a family of four Indians, including a baby, whose bodies were found frozen in Manitoba near the Canada-US border on January 19.

Reliance Industries is in talks with investors to raise up to $1.6 billion for its broadcasting business as its partner, ViacomCBS, looks to pare its interest in the joint venture, two sources told Reuters on Thursday.

Kiribati finally began reopening this month, allowing the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to charter a plane to bring home 54 of the island nation's citizens. Many of those aboard were missionaries who had left Kiribati before the border closure to spread the faith abroad for what is commonly known as the Mormon church.

Russia selling S-400 missile defense system to India "shines a spotlight on the destabilising role" that Moscow is playing in the region and potentially beyond as well, the United States has said. The US continues to have its concerns over India purchasing the multi-billion missile defense system from Russia. India has asserted that its decisions are based on its national interest to protect its national security.

With the Covid-19 vaccination drive for children aged 15 gathering pace, the Centre is likely to issue an advisory soon to reopen schools across the country. Sources have said that, Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya has asked the National Expert Group to suggest ways and work on modalities to open schools nationwide.

A new Air India (AI) board led by Tata Group chairman N Chandrasekaran will be formed soon even as several group executives from TCS, AirAsia India and Tata Steel are expected to move to the ailing carrier to revive operations. Chandrasekaran, who is awaiting security clearance from the Centre to lead the Air India board, will bring in an expat CEO to pilot the carrier. This will be his second expat CEO hire after German citizen Puneet Chhatwal for Taj hotels.

The first India-Central Asia summit hosted virtually by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday condemned cross-border terrorism, a term used by India to indict Pakistan, and underlined the significance of transparency, along with respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, in pursuing connectivity initiatives.

An FIR was lodged on Wednesday against six teachers of different private coaching centres in the city, including YouTuber ‘Khan Sir’, and 16 others in connection with violent protests over the Railway Recruitment Board’s non-technical popular category (NTPC) examination. ‘Khan Sir’, as he is popularly known, runs a coaching centre in Patna.

The Supreme Court has ruled that constitutional courts cannot direct the states to earmark a certain per cent of reservation to any category in admissions to government-run institutions or jobs and quashed a Punjab and Haryana HC verdict directing a 3% sports quota in admissions to medical and dental institutions in the state.

All three injured officers were in stable condition after being taken to Memorial Hermann Hospital. Two officers were transported by another patrol officer's vehicle while the Houston fire department took the third.

Smartphone sales topped $71 billion, buoyed by strong demand for the iPhone 13 line, especially in China. Overall, the tech giant posted a net profit of $34.6 billion in its first quarter, compared with $28.7 billion in the same quarter the prior year, according to the earnings report.

Struggling to find a solution to the concerns and anger of job aspirants spilling on to the streets against the shortlisting of candidates in the Non-Technical Popular Categories (NTPC) exam, the Indian Railways may avoid undertaking such massive recruitment drives in one go. It would rather conduct them in phases considering that the number of applicants in this case were over 1.25 crore.

All three major US stock indexes ended lower, having been whipsawed by uncertainty in recent days, marked by wide fluctuations and heightened volatility.

Air India’s Maharaja opened his eyes to a whole new world on Thursday, with the Tata Group reacquiring its old airline along with AI Express and a 50% stake in ground handler AI-SATS. Pilots on all AI flights of Friday will greet guests with the line, “This is your Captain speaking... Welcome to the future of Air India”. And Tata Sons chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran promised employees of the airline that “the golden age lies ahead”.

Congress’s CM face in Punjab will be decided soon on the basis of feedback from party workers, Rahul Gandhi declared at a virtual election rally in Jalandhar Cantt on Thursday after admittedly telling incumbent Charanjit Singh Channi and contender Navjot Singh Sidhu that “two people can't lead”.

Around 75% of the Covid positive samples, that underwent genome sequencing in January, were found to be infected with Omicron variant of SARS-CoV2, National Centre of Disease Control (NCDC) director Sujeet Singh said. He added that Delta also continues to have a significant presence in some states like Odisha, West Bengal and Maharashtra.

A day after Union home minister Amit Shah’s meeting with a select group of Jat representatives, a video clip of him purportedly emphasising affinity with the community by stressing the shared legacy of ‘fighting Mughals’ has gone viral.

Several states, including Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Odisha, Haryana and West Bengal, are witnessing early indications of plateauing of Covid-19 cases but the trend needs to be closely watched as 551 districts have weekly positivity rates above 5%, officials said.

In the midst of a disruptive pandemic caused by the coronavirus, the Supreme Court on Thursday detected another one, the ‘election virus’, and diagnosed that during poll-eve, this virus often afflicts the ruling parties of states, which resort to vengeful actions against political opponents.

A statement by Jerome Powell, chairman of the US central bank, the Federal Reserve, roiled markets around the world after he clearly indicated on Wednesday evening that the Fed would hike rates in March, ending a nearly two-year old market support programme through near-zero interest rate and buying of bonds from markets.

The government will list the country's largest insurer LIC on the stock exchanges by March-end, a top official said on Thursday. The draft papers for LIC's initial public offering (IPO) is being finalised and will be filed with market regulator Sebi soon for its approval.

The traditional 'halwa' ceremony, which marked the beginning of printing of budget documents, will not be conducted this year in the wake of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the ministry of finance said on Thursday.

Ninety five per cent of India's eligible adult population has been administered the first dose of Covid vaccine while 74 per cent are fully inoculated, the Union health ministry said on Thursday as the total vaccine doses administered has crossed 164.35 crore.

Venkatraman Anantha Nageswaran, an academic and former executive with Credit Suisse Group AG and Julius Baer Group, has emerged as the front-runner to be chief economic adviser (CEA) for finance minister, according to people with knowledge of the situation.

Union home minister Amit Shah on Thursday said that only the BJP can keep the country and its borders “safe”, as internal and external security were priorities of the Modi led government. He said no opposition party is capable of doing so. He said the opposition parties had neither the capabilities nor the resolve to provide safe and secure atmosphere to the people of UP.

In a shocking turn of events, the news is that after spending Rs 150 crore for adapting the Baahubali prequels the plan has been shelved by a major streaming platform.

After contracting in 2020, US economic growth saw its biggest increase since 1984 with a rebound to 5.7 per cent in 2021, the second year of the Covid-19 pandemic, the government reported Thursday.

Russian supplies have become increasingly important as Europe's own oil and gas production, mainly from the North Sea, have dwindled, although Norway - the biggest North Sea producer - still supplies about a third of Europe's gas requirements.

As the home ministry extended validity of its order for compliance of evidence-based Covid containment measures until February 28, home secretary Ajay Bhalla on Thursday wrote to all the state and UT administrations saying that the current positivity rate of over 10% in 407 districts across 34 states and UTs was a matter of concern and required exercise of caution and vigilance.

The US rejection of Russia's main demands to resolve the crisis over Ukraine left little ground for optimism, the Kremlin said Thursday, while adding that dialogue was still possible.

The Delta variant was primarily responsible for the second wave between February and June 2021, resulting in large number of deaths. Doctors fear that even as the Omicron variant is resulting in the rise in number of cases, it is the Delta variant that is proving alarming for hospitals. Doctors said that the Delta variant is still prevalent, with many cases landing up in serious conditions.

The Tatas have hit the ground running to restore the Maharaja’s lost sheen. The focus is on improving on time performance (OTP) — not exactly the Maharaja’s strong point — with aircraft door closing 10 minutes before departure time. Inflight announcements will address passengers as guests and there could be a special recorded message from group chairman emeritus Ratan Tata.

The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) has handed over 7-year-old Miram Taron to the Indian Army, a week after the teenager went missing in Arunachal Pradesh. Union minister of Law and justice Kiren Rijiju on Thursday informed through Twitter, that due procedures are being followed including the medical examination.

The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), which held a crucial meeting on Thursday to review restrictions in the capital, considered lifting the weekend curfew and odd-even curbs on shops. It has also allowed restaurants, bars and cinema halls in the national capital to operate at 50 per cent seating capacity.

Anxious to assuage the sullenness of sections of the Jat community in Western UP, Union home minister Amit Shah on Wednesday wooed a group of community influencers by stressing similarity of “nationalist” outlook, recalling communal riots of 2013 and promising resolution of their grievances and consideration of demands.

India reported 2.86 lakh new Covid cases, marginal increase of 0.1 per cent, while the active cases climbed to 22,02,472, according to the Union health ministry data updated on Monday. The death toll climbed to 49,17,00 with 573 fresh fatalities according to the data updated at 9am. Active cases now comprise 5.46 per cent of the total infections.

South Indian megastar Kamal Haasan just launched his own clothing label and on the sidelines of Republic Day, he made a global pitch for the says khadi, a hand-spun and woven natural fibre cloth promoted by Mahatma Gandhi during the freedom struggle. According to the actor, it not only represents Indianness, but also is a fabric for all seasons.

Foreign investors have been cutting their holdings of Indian equities over the past few months, but domestic mutual funds, banks and insurance companies have helped put a floor under the market with their buying. Analysts said the rise in domestic investments is due to the surge in retail interest in the equity markets as the country's young investors pick stocks over other traditional assets.

Karnataka has reported 370 Covid-19 deaths so far in January, and official data shows 28, or nearly 8% of these victims died at home, despite hundreds of beds going spare in hospitals. An analysis of state health and family welfare department data as on Wednesday (January 26) shows 22 of the 28 died at home, while six others were declared dead on arrival at hospitals.

As per the details provided to Twitter, Rahul Gandhi pointed out that he was gaining new followers at the rate of over 2.3 lakh per month, which even went up to 6.5 lakh on certain months. However, since August 2021, his new follower account had come down to roughly 2,500 per month and his total following of 19.5 million has remained virtually frozen during this period.

The army takeover in Myanmar a year ago that ousted Aung San Suu Kyi not only unexpectedly aborted the country's fledgling return to democracy: It also brought a surprising level of popular resistance, which has blossomed into a low-level, but persistent, insurgency. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, commander of Myanmar's military, seized power on February 1, 2021, arresting Suu Kyi.

Hyderabad-based drug maker Bharat Biotech has got regulatory approval to start Phase-3 clinical trials to test its intranasal Covid vaccine as booster dose (third dose) on people who have received both doses of Covaxin, an official source said.

The Serious Fraud Investigation Office on Friday requested the Supreme Court for an urgent hearing on its appeal against a Delhi high court order stalling the probe into alleged collection of Rs 50,000 crore from investors by three Sahara companies and the alleged involvement of six other group entities in round tripping and siphoning off public money.

Law enforcement authorities in Canada are seeking information from the public about how an Indian family of four from Gujarat, who froze to death on their side of the Canada-US border, made their way there amid growing questions about why a well-to-do family would seek to emigrate to America under such dangerous circumstances.

“God is omnipresent. God does not need a specific place for his divine presence. It is the fanatic who is the root cause of all problems to divide people in the name of religion (sic),” Madras high court said on Friday, refusing to stall the removal of a temple standing on public land.

Epidemiologist Dr JP Mulayil, member of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation in India (NTAGI), on Tuesday said booster dose against Covid-19 in the current time would be untimely, two days after another NTAGI member told TOI that benefits of a third shot might not merit expansion of the coverage to all age groups.

Even as bilateral ties with Pakistan remain in deep freeze, India is looking to build on the goodwill created by religious tourism by expanding the agreed list of shrines pilgrims from both sides are allowed to visit. India proposed the same to Pakistan in a note verbale Friday saying that pilgrims be also allowed to travel by air.

While treading cautiously on the Ukraine crisis, India Friday backed diplomatic efforts to resolve the situation saying it was closely following the ongoing high-level discussions between Russia and the US. In its first remarks on the threat of a military flare-up between Russia and NATO forces, the government called for a peaceful resolution of the situation through sustained diplomatic efforts "for long term peace and stability in the region and beyond".

Sunil Mittal’s Airtel secured a $1 billion ‘strategic funding’ from Google as the American tech giant widened its investment spread in India beyond the $4.5 billion (Rs 33,737 crore) deal it had signed up with Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio in July 2020.

The Supreme Court on Friday held that it is mandatory to collect cadre-wise quantifiable data on inadequacy of representation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in government jobs before granting reservation to them in promotion. It, however, refrained from providing any yardstick to decide inadequate representation and left it for governments to take a call.

Holding that suspension of a member from any assembly beyond one session is grossly violative of “basic democratic values” and worse than expulsion, the Supreme Court Friday held the July 2021 resolution passed by the Maharashtra assembly to suspend 12 BJP MLAs for allegedly misbehaving with the presiding officer of the House as “unconstitutional, grossly illegal and irrational” as the period of suspension extended beyond the remainder of the session concerned.

With scenes of unruly behaviour in the House by members of legislative bodies, including Parliament, becoming frequent in recent times, the Supreme Court on Friday expressed deep concern over the deterioration as most of the time is spent “in jeering and personal attacks against each other instead of erudite constructive and educative debates consistent with the highest tradition of the august body”.

Air India flights started operating under the Tata banner from Friday after nearly seven decades. Getting the most suitable buyer means the debt-laden airline has avoided a shutdown like Kingfisher or Jet Airways. But what does it mean for passengers?

Opposing the PILs related to “marital rape”, the Centre has told the Delhi high court that, among other things, misuse of Section 498 of the IPC related to dowry harassment and lack of a mechanism to verify when consent stands withdrawn by the wife are concerns because of which India should move cautiously and not follow other countries blindly on the issue. This has been conveyed to the court in a written submission.

The United States on Friday virtually threatened to impose war on Russia if it invaded Ukraine, which Washington considers imminent and Kyiv insists is not.

The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) on Friday gave permission to Bharat Biotech for intranasal booster dose trials in India. The trials will be done at nine different sites.

China has agreed that the UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet can visit Xinjiang after the Beijing Olympics, the South China Morning Post said, citing unidentified sources. Beijing had asked Bachelet's office not to publish a report on the situation in Xinjiang, the paper said on Thursday.

Malaysia's AirAsia Group Bhd said on Friday it had changed its name to Capital A Bhd to reflect its growing portfolio of businesses beyond the core budget airline. Capital A has been investing heavily in payments business BigPay, logistics arm Teleport and its mobile Super App to gain other sources of revenue, though they remain in growth phases and were loss-making in the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2021.

India on Friday said that it is closely following the developments relating to Ukraine, including ongoing high-level discussions between Russia and the US, and called for a peaceful resolution of the situation for long-term peace and stability in the region and beyond. The Indian Embassy in Kyiv is also monitoring local developments, external affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said while replying to a query on the Ukraine situation.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is committed to its mandate to keep prices stabile while keeping its growth objective, deputy governor in charge of monetary policy, Michael Patra, said in a memorial lecture on Friday. The central bank had cut its key lending rate to a record low of 4% in response to the pandemic and has kept it there since May 2020 but concerns over the need for policy normalisation have been growing in recent months with inflation edging higher.

Bank credit grew 8.01 per cent to Rs 115 lakh crore and deposits rose 9.28 per cent to Rs 159.83 lakh crore in the fortnight ended January 14, according to RBI data. In the fortnight ended January 15, 2021, bank credit stood at Rs 106.43 lakh crore and deposits at Rs 146.25 lakh crore, as per the RBI's Scheduled Banks' Statement of Position in India as on January 14, 2022, released on Friday.

Ahead of the presentation of Economic Survey, government appointed Dr V Anantha Nageswaran as the chief economic adviser (CEA). In an official release, the ministry of finance said on Friday that Dr Nagewaran has assumed charge as the new CEA. Nageswaran succeeds Krishnamurthy Subramanian who returned to academia at the end of his three-year tenure in December 2021.

Former Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor was on Friday banned for three-and-a-half years by the ICC for failing to report a 2019 spot-fixing approach by an Indian businessman on time and was also handed a one month suspension for failing a dope test which was linked to his intake of cocaine during the episode. In a statement, the ICC said Taylor admitted to being in breach of the provisions of the ICC Anti-Corruption Code.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Monday alleged that his chopper was not allowed to take off from Delhi for Muzaffarnagar, where he was scheduled to address a rally. He accused the BJP of misusing power, and said this was an expression of frustration from a losing BJP. A Delhi airport official later said that the chopper was delayed due to high air traffic at Delhi.

Hours before President Joe Biden was to visit the city, a two-lane bridge collapsed in Pittsburgh early Friday, ​​prompting rescuers to rappel nearly 150 feet (46 m) and others to formed a human chain to help rescue multiple people from a dangling bus.

NeoCov Covid Variant: Scientists in China have warned about a new strain of coronavirus, NeoCov, related to the Middle East respiratory syndrome MERS-coronavirus. NeoCoV carries with it the potentially combined high mortality rate of MERS-CoV (where one in three infected people die on average) and the high transmission rate of the current SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, the researchers have said.

The Supreme court on Friday quashed the suspension of 12 Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs from the Maharashtra assembly for one year over the alleged misbehaviour with the presiding officer. The apex court termed the suspension unconstitutional and arbitrary.

Former Indian skipper MS Dhoni, who was retained by Chennai Super Kings for Rs 12 crore, arrived here to join their preparation for the Indian Premier League mega auction, scheduled for February 12 and 13.

Alphabet Inc's Google will invest up to $1 billion in Bharti Airtel in a move that could help bolster the Indian telecom operator's digital offerings, the companies said.

Rafael Nadal stood one win away from a men's record 21st Grand Slam title after overpowering Italian seventh seed Matteo Berrettini 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 on Friday to reach the Australian Open final. A win for Nadal in Sunday's final will break a three-way tie with Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer and give him sole ownership of the record for most Grand Slam singles titles.

The BSE gauge sensex shot up more than 700 points to revisit the key 58,000-level in opening deals on Friday, as participants indulged in buying across counters. The 30-share index zoomed 723.55 points 1.26 per cent to 58,000.49 in initial trade.

India on Friday reported 2,51,209 positive cases for the coronavirus infection in a day. With this, India's total tally of cases increased to over 4.06 crore, according to the Union health ministry data updated on Friday. As many as 627 fatalities reported also reported during the 24-hour period. The death toll has climbed to 4,92,327, the data updated at 8 am showed.

In an announcement which would come as massive relief for hundreds of domestic cricket, umpires and scorers, BCCI secretary Jay Shah on Friday stated that the Board will hold the 2021-22 edition of the Ranji Trophy, initially postponed due to a surge in covid cases in the country, in two phases — the league phase before the IPL, and the knockouts post the glitzy T20 league.

Kamala Harris considers Constance Baker Motley, the first Black female federal judge in US history, her hero, someone who she says "inspired me from a young age to fight for the voiceless and for justice." On Thursday, President Joe Biden affirmed that his much-critiqued vice-president will help him select a likeness of Motley to an even higher perch, the highest court in the land.

A new study has placed TCS and Infosys as the second and third most valuable IT services companies in the world, worth Rs 1,25,935 crore ($16.8 billion) and Rs 95,859 crore ($12.8 billion). These are the highest ranks the Indian tech giants have ever achieved, though they have featured in the global top 10 for a decade.

In a statement issued on Thursday by the High Commission of India, it said that the Canadian authorities have confirmed the identities of a family of four Indians, including a baby, whose bodies were found frozen in Manitoba near the Canada-US border on January 19.

Reliance Industries is in talks with investors to raise up to $1.6 billion for its broadcasting business as its partner, ViacomCBS, looks to pare its interest in the joint venture, two sources told Reuters on Thursday.

Kiribati finally began reopening this month, allowing the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to charter a plane to bring home 54 of the island nation's citizens. Many of those aboard were missionaries who had left Kiribati before the border closure to spread the faith abroad for what is commonly known as the Mormon church.

Russia selling S-400 missile defense system to India "shines a spotlight on the destabilising role" that Moscow is playing in the region and potentially beyond as well, the United States has said. The US continues to have its concerns over India purchasing the multi-billion missile defense system from Russia. India has asserted that its decisions are based on its national interest to protect its national security.

With the Covid-19 vaccination drive for children aged 15 gathering pace, the Centre is likely to issue an advisory soon to reopen schools across the country. Sources have said that, Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya has asked the National Expert Group to suggest ways and work on modalities to open schools nationwide.

A new Air India (AI) board led by Tata Group chairman N Chandrasekaran will be formed soon even as several group executives from TCS, AirAsia India and Tata Steel are expected to move to the ailing carrier to revive operations. Chandrasekaran, who is awaiting security clearance from the Centre to lead the Air India board, will bring in an expat CEO to pilot the carrier. This will be his second expat CEO hire after German citizen Puneet Chhatwal for Taj hotels.

The first India-Central Asia summit hosted virtually by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday condemned cross-border terrorism, a term used by India to indict Pakistan, and underlined the significance of transparency, along with respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, in pursuing connectivity initiatives.

An FIR was lodged on Wednesday against six teachers of different private coaching centres in the city, including YouTuber ‘Khan Sir’, and 16 others in connection with violent protests over the Railway Recruitment Board’s non-technical popular category (NTPC) examination. ‘Khan Sir’, as he is popularly known, runs a coaching centre in Patna.

The Supreme Court has ruled that constitutional courts cannot direct the states to earmark a certain per cent of reservation to any category in admissions to government-run institutions or jobs and quashed a Punjab and Haryana HC verdict directing a 3% sports quota in admissions to medical and dental institutions in the state.

All three injured officers were in stable condition after being taken to Memorial Hermann Hospital. Two officers were transported by another patrol officer's vehicle while the Houston fire department took the third.

Smartphone sales topped $71 billion, buoyed by strong demand for the iPhone 13 line, especially in China. Overall, the tech giant posted a net profit of $34.6 billion in its first quarter, compared with $28.7 billion in the same quarter the prior year, according to the earnings report.

Struggling to find a solution to the concerns and anger of job aspirants spilling on to the streets against the shortlisting of candidates in the Non-Technical Popular Categories (NTPC) exam, the Indian Railways may avoid undertaking such massive recruitment drives in one go. It would rather conduct them in phases considering that the number of applicants in this case were over 1.25 crore.

All three major US stock indexes ended lower, having been whipsawed by uncertainty in recent days, marked by wide fluctuations and heightened volatility.

Air India’s Maharaja opened his eyes to a whole new world on Thursday, with the Tata Group reacquiring its old airline along with AI Express and a 50% stake in ground handler AI-SATS. Pilots on all AI flights of Friday will greet guests with the line, “This is your Captain speaking... Welcome to the future of Air India”. And Tata Sons chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran promised employees of the airline that “the golden age lies ahead”.

Congress’s CM face in Punjab will be decided soon on the basis of feedback from party workers, Rahul Gandhi declared at a virtual election rally in Jalandhar Cantt on Thursday after admittedly telling incumbent Charanjit Singh Channi and contender Navjot Singh Sidhu that “two people can't lead”.

It’s been two years since the first Covid-19 case was recorded in India. Through this period — and three waves of the pandemic — Maharashtra and most of the southern states have consistently recorded more cases and deaths than other states of the country, particularly those in the north.

The controversy over the alleged use of Pegasus spyware for targeting the government's political opponents has returned just ahead of the budget session, with the opposition latching onto the claim of a US newspaper that acquisition of the espionage tool was part of a $2-billion deal signed with Israel in 2017.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath raked up the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots again at a public event in Baghpat on Saturday and said that “their cap is red with the blood of innocent Ram bhakts.” On candidates with criminal antecedents, Yogi said, “There seems to be competition between SP and BSP on giving tickets to criminals. If these criminals become MLAs, MPs, they will produce guns and not flowers. The only way to treat them is by using a bulldozer.”

With the world witnessing significant changes, India’s ties with Israel have become even more significant, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday. Speaking on the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries, Modi said it was the best possible time now to set new goals in the relationship.

Besides significant increase in budgetary allocation, the government is also likely to announce the introduction of more semi-high-speed trains that can run at 180-200 kmph on Golden Quadrilateral (GQ) routes in the Union Budget that will be presented on Tuesday.

India has been ranked among the top 10 countries for cross-country travel in an index of 118 countries by vacation homes aggregator Holidu. The index was compiled by taking into account a variety of factors deemed important for anyone planning a road trip, including attractions like the Unesco World Heritage sites, wildlife, natural assets, range of landscapes and etc.

Union home minister Amit Shah, who was in western Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar and Saharanpur as part of his election campaign on Saturday, reached out to Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Jayant Chaudhary again, the second time in a week, and said, “If Samajwadi Party (RLD’s alliance partner) forms the next government, Jayant bhai, you will be sidelined and Azam Khan will take over.”

Left-arm seamer Ravi Kumar bowled a sensational opening spell as India's 'class of 2022' exacted a sweet revenge, ousting defending champions Bangladesh by 5 wickets to enter the semi-final of ICC U-19 World Cup. India will meet Australia in the semis on Feb 2, having won an unprecedented 7 out of 9 U-19 World Cup QFs. Chasing a lowly 112 for victory, India crossed the finish line with 115 balls to spare.

Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav and his alliance partner, Rashtriya Lok Dal’s (RLD) Jayant Chaudhary, launched a joint attack on BJP at a joint press conference on Saturday, saying the saffron party was behaving like a wrestler who has lost the bout, and people would teach a lesson to those who honour the killers of Mahatma Gandhi.

Terrorists shot dead a J&K police head constable around 5.30pm on Saturday near his home in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district, while security forces engaged “two-three” terrorists in a shootout in Pulwama district. Officers said Kulgam police station head constable Ali Mohammad Ganie was grievously wounded in the shooting near his home at Hasanpora Tabala of Bijbehara.

Even though some cities or states in India may be beginning to see plateauing of Covid-19 cases, the risk persists and focus must be on reducing transmission and implementing situation-specific measures, senior WHO official Poonam Khetrapal Singh said. "We are still in the midst of the pandemic and the focus should be to curtail the virus spread and save lives," said Singh.

Voters in Uttar Pradesh would favour only those talking about the welfare of farmers and polarisation on religious lines would not benefit those indulging in it, farmer leader Rakesh Tikait has said. He claimed farmers were going through "troubled times" in Uttar Pradesh as they were getting less value for their produce and forced to pay "exorbitant" electricity bills.

Ashleigh Barty became the first Australian to win her home Grand Slam in 44 years on Saturday, halting the charge of fearless American Danielle Collins in straight sets. The world number one was 5-1 down in the second set but came storming back to win on a tiebreak and sweep past the 27th seed 6-3, 7-6 (7/2) to be crowned Australian Open champion in front of an expectant Rod Laver Arena crowd.

Afghanistan is struggling with drought, a pandemic, an economic collapse, and the effects of years of conflict. Some 24 million people are experiencing acute food insecurity. More than half the population will be facing famine this winter and 97 per cent of the population could fall below the poverty line this year. WFP chief David Basely called on the world's richest to help solve the crisis.

About a week after BharatPe founder Ashneer Grover went on leave, his wife Madhuri Jain Grover - who is the Head of Controls - has followed suit as the firm. According to sources, with the company undertaking an independent audit, there could be governance-related issues at BharatPe that could now come to the fore. BharatPe did not comment on Madhuri's exit.

Amid a fresh row over the Pegasus issue, the government sources on Saturday said that a Supreme Court committee is closely monitoring the matter and a report is awaited.​ A new controversy has erupted after a report claimed that India bought the Pegasus spyware from Israel as part of a defence deal in 2017.

While treading cautiously on the Ukraine crisis, India Friday backed diplomatic efforts to resolve the situation saying it was closely following the ongoing high-level discussions between Russia and the US. In its first remarks on the threat of a military flare-up between Russia and NATO forces, the government called for a peaceful resolution of the situation through sustained diplomatic efforts "for long term peace and stability in the region and beyond".

After two years remote working has become a new normal and as things settled down new habits have formed, according to a study. The tech workforce has found new love with remote working, giving them freedom and productivity that requires HR to be more trusting, it said adding that unengaged or underutilised employees will find alternatives faster and exit faster than pre-pandemic times.

Investigations into the characteristics of BA.2, including immune escape properties and virulence, should be prioritised independently (and comparatively) to BA.1, said the World Health Organisation (WHO). The BA.2 Omicron sub-lineage differs from BA.1 in some of the mutations, including in the spike protein, the WHO wrote on its website.

The army takeover in Myanmar a year ago that ousted Aung San Suu Kyi not only unexpectedly aborted the country's fledgling return to democracy: It also brought a surprising level of popular resistance, which has blossomed into a low-level, but persistent, insurgency. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, commander of Myanmar's military, seized power on February 1, 2021, arresting Suu Kyi.

Imran Khan will visit China from February 3 to February 5 during which he will attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics and meet Chinese leaders. This China visit, which is taking place after nearly two years, will provide an opportunity for both sides to have a look at the state of bilateral cooperation and discuss more projects.

India on Saturday reported 2.35 lakh new Coronavirus cases and 871 deaths. With this rise in cases, India's active caseload has reached 20,04,333, which is 4.91 per cent of total cases. With 3,35,939 recoveries in the last 24 hours, the total recoveries reached 3,83,60,710. The country's daily positivity rate is 13.39 per cent, while the weekly positivity rate is 16.89 per cent.

India's foreign exchange (forex) reserves fell by $678 million to $634.28 billion in the week ended January 21 due to a sharp decline in foreign currency assets, the RBI data showed. The foreign currency assets, which is the biggest component of the forex reserves, dipped by $1.115 billion to $569.582 billion during the week under review, according to the RBI's weekly statistical supplement.

Mitchell Starc was honoured for his strong performance in all three formats of the game. He is only the fifth bowler in 22 years to win the award. Ashleigh Gardener also bagged the recognition for the first time. She is the first indigenous player to clinch the top gong in Australian women's cricket.

Hyderabad-based drug maker Bharat Biotech has got regulatory approval to start Phase-3 clinical trials to test its intranasal Covid vaccine as booster dose (third dose) on people who have received both doses of Covaxin, an official source said.

The Serious Fraud Investigation Office on Friday requested the Supreme Court for an urgent hearing on its appeal against a Delhi high court order stalling the probe into alleged collection of Rs 50,000 crore from investors by three Sahara companies and the alleged involvement of six other group entities in round tripping and siphoning off public money.

Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait on Saturday said that the fight to get a law on Minimum Support Price for farmers' produce will continue. "MSP is the backbone of farmers and farmers want MSP guarantee law to save the future of farming! The fight continues, the fight will continue," tweeted Tikait.

Law enforcement authorities in Canada are seeking information from the public about how an Indian family of four from Gujarat, who froze to death on their side of the Canada-US border, made their way there amid growing questions about why a well-to-do family would seek to emigrate to America under such dangerous circumstances.

“God is omnipresent. God does not need a specific place for his divine presence. It is the fanatic who is the root cause of all problems to divide people in the name of religion (sic),” Madras high court said on Friday, refusing to stall the removal of a temple standing on public land.

Epidemiologist Dr JP Mulayil, member of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation in India (NTAGI), on Tuesday said booster dose against Covid-19 in the current time would be untimely, two days after another NTAGI member told TOI that benefits of a third shot might not merit expansion of the coverage to all age groups.

Even as bilateral ties with Pakistan remain in deep freeze, India is looking to build on the goodwill created by religious tourism by expanding the agreed list of shrines pilgrims from both sides are allowed to visit. India proposed the same to Pakistan in a note verbale Friday saying that pilgrims be also allowed to travel by air.

Sunil Mittal’s Airtel secured a $1 billion ‘strategic funding’ from Google as the American tech giant widened its investment spread in India beyond the $4.5 billion (Rs 33,737 crore) deal it had signed up with Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio in July 2020.

The Supreme Court on Friday held that it is mandatory to collect cadre-wise quantifiable data on inadequacy of representation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in government jobs before granting reservation to them in promotion. It, however, refrained from providing any yardstick to decide inadequate representation and left it for governments to take a call.

Holding that suspension of a member from any assembly beyond one session is grossly violative of “basic democratic values” and worse than expulsion, the Supreme Court Friday held the July 2021 resolution passed by the Maharashtra assembly to suspend 12 BJP MLAs for allegedly misbehaving with the presiding officer of the House as “unconstitutional, grossly illegal and irrational” as the period of suspension extended beyond the remainder of the session concerned.

With scenes of unruly behaviour in the House by members of legislative bodies, including Parliament, becoming frequent in recent times, the Supreme Court on Friday expressed deep concern over the deterioration as most of the time is spent “in jeering and personal attacks against each other instead of erudite constructive and educative debates consistent with the highest tradition of the august body”.

Air India flights started operating under the Tata banner from Friday after nearly seven decades. Getting the most suitable buyer means the debt-laden airline has avoided a shutdown like Kingfisher or Jet Airways. But what does it mean for passengers?

Opposing the PILs related to “marital rape”, the Centre has told the Delhi high court that, among other things, misuse of Section 498 of the IPC related to dowry harassment and lack of a mechanism to verify when consent stands withdrawn by the wife are concerns because of which India should move cautiously and not follow other countries blindly on the issue. This has been conveyed to the court in a written submission.

The United States on Friday virtually threatened to impose war on Russia if it invaded Ukraine, which Washington considers imminent and Kyiv insists is not.

The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) on Friday gave permission to Bharat Biotech for intranasal booster dose trials in India. The trials will be done at nine different sites.

China has agreed that the UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet can visit Xinjiang after the Beijing Olympics, the South China Morning Post said, citing unidentified sources. Beijing had asked Bachelet's office not to publish a report on the situation in Xinjiang, the paper said on Thursday.

Malaysia's AirAsia Group Bhd said on Friday it had changed its name to Capital A Bhd to reflect its growing portfolio of businesses beyond the core budget airline. Capital A has been investing heavily in payments business BigPay, logistics arm Teleport and its mobile Super App to gain other sources of revenue, though they remain in growth phases and were loss-making in the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2021.

India on Friday said that it is closely following the developments relating to Ukraine, including ongoing high-level discussions between Russia and the US, and called for a peaceful resolution of the situation for long-term peace and stability in the region and beyond. The Indian Embassy in Kyiv is also monitoring local developments, external affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said while replying to a query on the Ukraine situation.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is committed to its mandate to keep prices stabile while keeping its growth objective, deputy governor in charge of monetary policy, Michael Patra, said in a memorial lecture on Friday. The central bank had cut its key lending rate to a record low of 4% in response to the pandemic and has kept it there since May 2020 but concerns over the need for policy normalisation have been growing in recent months with inflation edging higher.

Bank credit grew 8.01 per cent to Rs 115 lakh crore and deposits rose 9.28 per cent to Rs 159.83 lakh crore in the fortnight ended January 14, according to RBI data. In the fortnight ended January 15, 2021, bank credit stood at Rs 106.43 lakh crore and deposits at Rs 146.25 lakh crore, as per the RBI's Scheduled Banks' Statement of Position in India as on January 14, 2022, released on Friday.

Ahead of the presentation of Economic Survey, government appointed Dr V Anantha Nageswaran as the chief economic adviser (CEA). In an official release, the ministry of finance said on Friday that Dr Nagewaran has assumed charge as the new CEA. Nageswaran succeeds Krishnamurthy Subramanian who returned to academia at the end of his three-year tenure in December 2021.

Former Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor was on Friday banned for three-and-a-half years by the ICC for failing to report a 2019 spot-fixing approach by an Indian businessman on time and was also handed a one month suspension for failing a dope test which was linked to his intake of cocaine during the episode. In a statement, the ICC said Taylor admitted to being in breach of the provisions of the ICC Anti-Corruption Code.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Monday alleged that his chopper was not allowed to take off from Delhi for Muzaffarnagar, where he was scheduled to address a rally. He accused the BJP of misusing power, and said this was an expression of frustration from a losing BJP. A Delhi airport official later said that the chopper was delayed due to high air traffic at Delhi.

Hours before President Joe Biden was to visit the city, a two-lane bridge collapsed in Pittsburgh early Friday, ​​prompting rescuers to rappel nearly 150 feet (46 m) and others to formed a human chain to help rescue multiple people from a dangling bus.

NeoCov Covid Variant: Scientists in China have warned about a new strain of coronavirus, NeoCov, related to the Middle East respiratory syndrome MERS-coronavirus. NeoCoV carries with it the potentially combined high mortality rate of MERS-CoV (where one in three infected people die on average) and the high transmission rate of the current SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, the researchers have said.

The Supreme court on Friday quashed the suspension of 12 Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs from the Maharashtra assembly for one year over the alleged misbehaviour with the presiding officer. The apex court termed the suspension unconstitutional and arbitrary.

Amid improving vaccination status and declining graph of daily Covid cases in the poll-bound states, the Election Commission will on Monday review its ban on big political rallies and roadshows after hearing the assessment of the health ministry and respective state governments.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said corruption is “like a termite” that hollows the country and the task to make India corruption-free brooks no delay. He urged all citizens to work together to get rid of this menace as soon as possible. In his monthly radio address Mann ki Baat, the PM read a postcard addressed to him by a girl from Prayagraj mentioning her dream of a corruption-free India by 2047.

The number of prisoners on death row across India has soared by more than a fifth to 488 from 404 in 2020 – which is also the highest it has been since 2004 when 563 faced capital punishment. ‘Death Penalty in India: Annual Statistics Report 2021’ attributes the almost 21% spike to trial courts handing down more capital sentences than before the pandemic, coupled with higher courts pronouncing on far fewer appeals because of their limited functioning.

Three vaccines against Covid-19 — Covovax, Corbevax and ZyCov-D — which received the Drug Controller General of India’s nod last year for emergency use in the country are yet to be used in the immunisation drive, raising questions on the delay in their utilisation. While Zydus Cadila’s ZyCoV-D was granted emergency use authorisation on August 20 last year, the authorisation was given to Serum Institute’s Covovax on December 28 and to Biologocal E’s Corbevax on December 29.

The government and the MPs will get a total of only 79.5 hours, around 60% of the scheduled sitting hours, for pursuing their legislative agenda and raising issues of immediate public concern in the Rajya Sabha during the first half of the Budget session that commences on Monday.

Niti Aayog has suggested that railways should designate at least 20% of the parking capacity at railway stations or office complex for setting up electric vehicle charging bays or battery charging and swapping stations, and also install at least one EV charging point at each targeted manned level crossing and railway colony.

Union minister for personnel Jitendra Singh on Sunday said mentally challenged child of a deceased government employee or pensioner is entitled to family pension and the spirit of this provision needs to be understood and respected.

Mahatma Gandhi was the greatest person to have lived in the past millennium, Union home minister Amit Shah said on Sunday, adding that the Centre’s schemes like Make in India, Atmanirbhar Bharat, and Vocal for Local are the new definitions of Swadeshi movement propagated by Gandhi. Shah unveiled a mural of the Mahatma at the Sabarmati riverfront on the occasion of Martyrs’ Day.

In a big warning to property owners who intend to sell their assets through a power of attorney (PoA) holder, the Supreme Court has ruled that the PoA holder can sell the property and register the sale by merely producing a copy of the PoA and that the original was not mandatory for registration of the sale.

In a relief to homebuyers who are forced to take possession and start living in their flats without occupancy certificate (OC) because of delay on the part of builders to get all clearances from the authority, the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission held that builders cannot demand maintenance charge from the buyers without OC.

Over 75% of adults in the country are now fully vaccinated against Covid-19 with two doses of the jabs, heralding a major achievement in the mass immunisation drive that played a crucial role in keeping disease severity, hospitalisation and deaths low during the present surge powered by Omicron variant of SARS-CoV2.

Angry BJP workers of Manipur on Sunday burnt effigies of Chief Minister N Biren Singh and the state unit president Sharda Devi as well as flags, even as they ransacked local offices and shouted slogans against the ruling party's list of assembly poll candidates which featured defectors from the Congress ignoring many loyalists.

Rafael Nadal edged Daniil Medvedev in a classic Australian Open final on Sunday, roaring back from two sets down to claim a record 21st Grand Slam title only months after fearing his glorious career might be over due to injury.

Cash-trapped Pakistan is looking to secure a $3-billion loan from China and investments in half a dozen sectors during Prime Minister Imran Khan's visit to Beijing next week, according to a media report on Sunday. Khan will visit the Chinese capital on February 3 to attend the opening of the Beijing Winter Olympics and hold bilateral talks.

Israel's embattled cyber tech company NSO Group has denied wrongdoing as it called criticism of its sale of Pegasus spyware programme to non-democratic countries "hypocritical," comparing the surveillance technology to military weapons systems being sold by others, amid mounting allegations that software was misused globally, including in Israel.

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Sunday said an alliance could not be forged between his party and the NCP-Shiv Sena for the Goa Assembly polls despite best efforts but asserted that they "will remain friends" and after the elections, the Congress would continue to explore opportunities to "work together" with them.

The registration for the much sought-after H-1B visa for the fiscal year 2023 will begin from March 1 and the successful applicants will be randomly selected and notified online by March 31, according to USCIS.

The coronavirus NeoCoV, described as a potential threat to humanity by Chinese researchers this week, poses no actual danger in its current form, top health experts TOI spoke to said. The experts added that the virus, which uses bat ACE2 receptors, cannot bind to human ACE2 receptors unless it acquires a significant mutation.

Severe respiratory distress and Covid pneumonia have been frequent among ICU patients across private hospitals in Kolkata in last two weeks, prompting doctors to suspect that even Omicron can trigger lower respiratory tract illnesses, especially in the case of patients who are ‘unresponsive’ to vaccines.

Former Uttar Pradesh CM and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav will file nomination papers to contest his first assembly elections from the Karhal constituency in Mainpuri on Monday. Rumours have been rife in Mainpuri and adjoining areas about BJP fielding someone from Akhilesh’s family, such as Mulayam Singh Yadav’s daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav who recently joined BJP .

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on his 74th death anniversary and said that it is a collective endeavour to further popularise the noble ideals of the father of the nation. India observes Martyrs' Day every year on January 30 to mark the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and to honour his contribution towards the freedom of the country.

The security forces on Saturday recovered and destroyed more than 200 detonators in the Shindra area of Poonch district in Jammu and Kashmir. The operation was carried out by a joint team of the Indian Army and Bomb Disposal Squads (BDS) of the Army and police. No loss of life and property has been reported.

India on Sunday reported 2,34,281 new Covid-19 cases and 893 deaths. With this rise the total active cases in the country has reached 18,84,937. The active cases account for 4.59 per cent of total cases. The daily Covid positivity rate in India is 14.50 per cent, while the weekly positivity rate is 16.40 per cent.

Top seeds Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova won their fourth Grand Slam on Sunday, sweeping to the Australian Open women's doubles title against Kazakhstan's Anna Danilina and Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia. The Czech pair battled from a set down to come through 6-7 (3/7), 6-4, 6-4 on the Rod Laver Arena and go one better than last year when they were runners-up.

Israel and India have a "gehri dosti", Israeli PM Naftali Bennett has said and thanked his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi for his "deep commitment" to the "strong and robust friendship". Describing the opportunities of collaboration between the two countries as "endless", Bennett stressed that "the ties between Israel and India are strong and together they will only grow stronger".

North Korea on Sunday fired what appeared to be the most powerful missile it has tested since US President Joe Biden took office, possibly breaching a self-imposed suspension on the testing of longer-range weapons as it revives its old playbook in brinkmanship to wrest concessions from Washington and neighbors amid a prolonged stalemate in diplomacy.

A young woman from Thrissur was chasing her childhood dream of becoming a doctor at a medical college in Wuhan, like many more from her home state Kerala. Then the unthinkable happened—she became Patient One, the first person in India to test positive for the novel coronavirus detected in the Chinese city. That was two years ago: January 30, 2020.

The controversy over the alleged use of Pegasus spyware for targeting the government's political opponents has returned just ahead of the budget session, with the opposition latching onto the claim of a US newspaper that acquisition of the espionage tool was part of a $2-billion deal signed with Israel in 2017.

It’s been two years since the first Covid-19 case was recorded in India. Through this period — and three waves of the pandemic — Maharashtra and most of the southern states have consistently recorded more cases and deaths than other states of the country, particularly those in the north.

Australian great Ian Chappell has found Virat Kohli to be an exceptional captain who has carried the Indian team to a higher level and considered England's Joe Root a "fine batter but poor captain".

UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres on Sunday urged the Taliban to both recognise and uphold the basic human rights that belong to every girl and woman. With Afghanistan "hanging by a thread" six months after the Taliban takeover, members of the international community have repeatedly raised concerns about the deteriorating human rights condition in the country.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath raked up the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots again at a public event in Baghpat on Saturday and said that “their cap is red with the blood of innocent Ram bhakts.” On candidates with criminal antecedents, Yogi said, “There seems to be competition between SP and BSP on giving tickets to criminals. If these criminals become MLAs, MPs, they will produce guns and not flowers. The only way to treat them is by using a bulldozer.”

Besides significant increase in budgetary allocation, the government is also likely to announce the introduction of more semi-high-speed trains that can run at 180-200 kmph on Golden Quadrilateral (GQ) routes in the Union Budget that will be presented on Tuesday.

With the world witnessing significant changes, India’s ties with Israel have become even more significant, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday. Speaking on the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries, Modi said it was the best possible time now to set new goals in the relationship.

Union home minister Amit Shah, who was in western Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar and Saharanpur as part of his election campaign on Saturday, reached out to Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Jayant Chaudhary again, the second time in a week, and said, “If Samajwadi Party (RLD’s alliance partner) forms the next government, Jayant bhai, you will be sidelined and Azam Khan will take over.”

Daniil Medvedev's first taste of going up against Rafael Nadal was as an eight-year-old. When hitting against the wall of a Moscow club as a child, Medvedev imagined he was playing Nadal. In the Australian Open final on Sunday – with history on the line – the 25-year-old Russian will strive to keep it all together, when he takes on the legendary Spaniard. Medvedev knows the ball will come back.

India has been ranked among the top 10 countries for cross-country travel in an index of 118 countries by vacation homes aggregator Holidu. The index was compiled by taking into account a variety of factors deemed important for anyone planning a road trip, including attractions like the Unesco World Heritage sites, wildlife, natural assets, range of landscapes and etc.

Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav and his alliance partner, Rashtriya Lok Dal’s (RLD) Jayant Chaudhary, launched a joint attack on BJP at a joint press conference on Saturday, saying the saffron party was behaving like a wrestler who has lost the bout, and people would teach a lesson to those who honour the killers of Mahatma Gandhi.

Terrorists shot dead a J&K police head constable around 5.30pm on Saturday near his home in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district, while security forces engaged “two-three” terrorists in a shootout in Pulwama district. Officers said Kulgam police station head constable Ali Mohammad Ganie was grievously wounded in the shooting near his home at Hasanpora Tabala of Bijbehara.

Stand-in skipper Moeen Ali starred with bat and ball as England beat the West Indies by 34 runs in the fourth Twenty20 international in Bridgetown to set up a series decider on Sunday. Moeen, leading England in place of the injured Eoin Morgan, struck seven sixes, including four in a row off Jason Holder, during a 63 made from just 28 balls as England posted a total of 193 for six on Saturday.

Even though some cities or states in India may be beginning to see plateauing of Covid-19 cases, the risk persists and focus must be on reducing transmission and implementing situation-specific measures, senior WHO official Poonam Khetrapal Singh said. "We are still in the midst of the pandemic and the focus should be to curtail the virus spread and save lives," said Singh.

Voters in Uttar Pradesh would favour only those talking about the welfare of farmers and polarisation on religious lines would not benefit those indulging in it, farmer leader Rakesh Tikait has said. He claimed farmers were going through "troubled times" in Uttar Pradesh as they were getting less value for their produce and forced to pay "exorbitant" electricity bills.

Ashleigh Barty became the first Australian to win her home Grand Slam in 44 years on Saturday, halting the charge of fearless American Danielle Collins in straight sets. The world number one was 5-1 down in the second set but came storming back to win on a tiebreak and sweep past the 27th seed 6-3, 7-6 (7/2) to be crowned Australian Open champion in front of an expectant Rod Laver Arena crowd.

Afghanistan is struggling with drought, a pandemic, an economic collapse, and the effects of years of conflict. Some 24 million people are experiencing acute food insecurity. More than half the population will be facing famine this winter and 97 per cent of the population could fall below the poverty line this year. WFP chief David Basely called on the world's richest to help solve the crisis.

About a week after BharatPe founder Ashneer Grover went on leave, his wife Madhuri Jain Grover - who is the Head of Controls - has followed suit as the firm. According to sources, with the company undertaking an independent audit, there could be governance-related issues at BharatPe that could now come to the fore. BharatPe did not comment on Madhuri's exit.

Amid a fresh row over the Pegasus issue, the government sources on Saturday said that a Supreme Court committee is closely monitoring the matter and a report is awaited.​ A new controversy has erupted after a report claimed that India bought the Pegasus spyware from Israel as part of a defence deal in 2017.

While treading cautiously on the Ukraine crisis, India Friday backed diplomatic efforts to resolve the situation saying it was closely following the ongoing high-level discussions between Russia and the US. In its first remarks on the threat of a military flare-up between Russia and NATO forces, the government called for a peaceful resolution of the situation through sustained diplomatic efforts "for long term peace and stability in the region and beyond".

After two years remote working has become a new normal and as things settled down new habits have formed, according to a study. The tech workforce has found new love with remote working, giving them freedom and productivity that requires HR to be more trusting, it said adding that unengaged or underutilised employees will find alternatives faster and exit faster than pre-pandemic times.

Investigations into the characteristics of BA.2, including immune escape properties and virulence, should be prioritised independently (and comparatively) to BA.1, said the World Health Organisation (WHO). The BA.2 Omicron sub-lineage differs from BA.1 in some of the mutations, including in the spike protein, the WHO wrote on its website.

The army takeover in Myanmar a year ago that ousted Aung San Suu Kyi not only unexpectedly aborted the country's fledgling return to democracy: It also brought a surprising level of popular resistance, which has blossomed into a low-level, but persistent, insurgency. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, commander of Myanmar's military, seized power on February 1, 2021, arresting Suu Kyi.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday proposed enhancing the funding under the PLI scheme for domestic solar cells and module manufacturing to Rs 24,000 crore from the existing Rs 4,500 crore to make India an exporting nation.

Current Covid-19 vaccines provide robust protection against severe disease and hospitalisation caused by both the Delta and Omicron variants, according to a study. The research, published in the journal Nature on Monday, demonstrated that the vaccines induce this protection through cellular immunity or the production of protective immune cells, such as so-called killer and memory cells.

Lt Gen Manoj Pande on Tuesday took charge as the new vice chief of the Indian Army, succeeding Lt Gen CP Mohanty. Lt Gen Pande was serving as the Eastern Army Commander before assuming the new role. He will be the senior-most Army commander when Army chief Gen MM Naravane retires from service in April.

The e-Vidya program begun in May 2020 will be expanded from 12 TV channels to 200, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said while presenting the union budget. The program had been started to help children unable to access the internet for online learning during the Covid-19 pandemic to continue their education through listening to TV programs.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said that India's GDP growth will be highest amongst all economy while presenting the Union Budget 2022-23 in Parliament. Sitharaman noted that India will report an economic growth of 9.2 per cent for FY22.

The Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index, compiled and collected by IHS Markit from Jan. 12-25, fell to 54.0 in January from December's 55.5. "The latest PMI results indicated that the new wave of Covid-19 had a mild impact on the performance of the Indian manufacturing sector," Pollyanna De Lima, economics associate director at IHS Markit, said in a release.

India is likely to step up spending on infrastructure, health services and social programmes in its annual budget on Tuesday, to try to set the economy on a firmer footing as it fights a spike in Covid-19 cases and rising inflationary pressure.

India has reported 1,67,059 new cases of Covid-19 and 1,192 deaths in the last 24 hours, a government bulletin stated on Tuesday. While cases saw a dip, daily deaths on Tuesday witnessed a spike. India's active caseload currently stands at 17,43,059.

Sub-variant BA.2 -- also called "stealth Omicron" -- was detected earlier this year and has displaced the first Omicron variant, known as BA.1, as the dominant strain in Denmark.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday urged all MPs to make the Budget session of Parliament fruitful by holding discussions with an "open mind" and making sure that the ongoing assembly elections do not affect the session, which is very important as it draws a blueprint for the entire year.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Monday said members of all political parties have assured him of cooperation in the running of the House and hoped that Parliament will function smoothly during the Budget session. Birla on Monday chaired a meeting of the business advisory committee of Lok Sabha, which was attended by parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi and floor leaders of all parties. It also acted as the customary all-party meeting at the start of a Parliament session.

Springing a surprise, BJP has fielded former SP leader and party's Dalit MP from Agra, Satya Pal Singh Baghel, again-st former CM and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav in "family bastion" Karhal. Baghel, who is presently the minister of state for law and justice at the centre, filed his nomination papers soon after Akhilesh completed the formality in the constituency, which comes under Mainpuri.

India must reconsider its booster dose strategy in light of multiple variants of the novel coronavirus at play and private labs should be encouraged to carry out genome sequencing to identify the variant and threat levels better, a top virologist said on Monday. Talking about the current vaccination drive, virologist Gagandeep Kang drew attention to the importance of having a practical vaccination plan, particularly in terms of precaution dose.

Allowing a physical poll campaign to begin across the five poll-bound states from Tuesday in view of the flattening curve of Covid infections, the Election Commission on Monday allowed in-person public meetings in open spaces subject to a cap of 1,000 participants, up from 500 earlier, while also raising the attendance ceiling for indoor meetings to 500 persons from 300. The relaxations will apply uniformly to all the seven phases.

A day after Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury served a notice for breach of privilege against IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw for allegedly misleading Parliament over the Pegasus issue, more MPs belonging to Congress, Left and Trinamool followed suit on Monday, setting the stage for another confrontation in the two Houses after the presentation of the Union Budget on Tuesday.

PM Narendra Modi lashed out at the Samajwadi Party in his first virtual rally for poll-bound UP on Monday, addressing 21 constituencies in the western part of the state that vote in the initial phase on February 10, and said that the SP has been promoting “nakli samajwad (fake socialism)".

The Supreme Court on Monday protected SAD functionary Bikram Singh Majithia from arrest in a drug trafficking case till February 23 and told the Charanjit Singh Channi-led Congress government in Punjab that in a democracy governments must not slap election-eve criminal cases on political opponents to prevent them from contesting.

Asserting that it is necessary to change the old mindset that women's skills are only in domestic work, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said both Make in India and the Self-reliant India initiatives are utilising their skills for the growth of the country.

The Union government on Monday barred the telecast of Malayalam news channel MediaOne citing "security reasons", but the Kerala High Court stayed the implementation of the order for two days.The Centre's move drew the ire of many, with the opposition Congress party terming the move as "undemocratic". When contacted, I&B ministry officials confirmed that the channel has been banned but did not share any further details.

Indian auto major Tata Motors on Monday reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 1,451.05 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2021, dragged down by the impact of semiconductor shortage on its British arm Jaguar Land Rover (JLR).

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Monday he had tested positive for Covid-19 but was feeling fine and would continue to work remotely while following public health guidelines.

Calling Pakistan's new ambassador-designate to the United States Masood Khan a "jihadist," and a "terrorist sympathiser," an American lawmaker has urged the Biden administration to reject his diplomatic credentials amid continued deterioration in Washington's ties with Islamabad.

As it called for immediate de-escalation on the Ukraine issue, the government's hands-off policy saw India abstaining Monday from a procedural vote in UN Security Council on whether or not discussions were required on the threat of an invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces.

Researchers from Oxford, Sheffield, Cardiff and Manchester have identified abnormalities in the lungs of long COVID patients who are experiencing breathlessness. These abnormalities can't be detected with routine tests, the researchers have said.

The Election Commission on Monday extended the ban on roadshows, vehicle rallies and processions till February 11, but relaxed curbs on the number of people that can attend physical public meetings, indoor meetings and door-to-door campaigns.

US Congressman Scott Perry has written a scathing letter to US President Joe Biden over the proposed appointment of Masood Khan as Pakistani envoy to the US. In the letter, Perry has called Khan a "terror sympathizer" who praised "terror organisations/terrorists like Hizbul Mujahideen and Burhan Wani".

A day before presentation of Union Budget 2022, the government on Monday revised gross domestic product (GDP) growth for financial year 2021-22. In an official release, the National Statistics Organisation (NSO) said Indian economy contracted by 6.6 per cent in 2020-21 as against a contraction of 7.3 per cent that was showed in provisional estimates.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman tabled the Economic Survey 2021-22 in Parliament on Monday. It presents details of state of the economy ahead of the government's budget for the fiscal year beginning April 1, 2022.

Equity indices surged on Monday with the benchmark BSE sensex rising over 1,000 points ahead of Economic Survey release. The benchmark BSE sensex started the session on a positive note, and surged 1,034 points or 1.8 per cent racking gains in index-majors Wipro, Bajaj Finance and Infosys amid a positive trend in the Asian markets.

Ricky Ponting, one of the most successful captains ever, hailed Virat Kohli for his leadership skills, saying that under him India had improved its overseas record by winnings more Tests abroad than before. He also backed Rohit Sharma to do well as Kohli's successor.

India reported 2,62,628 recoveries in the last 24 hours, taking the total recoveries to 3,89,76,122. The recovery rate is currently at 94.37 per cent. With this rise in cases the daily positivity rate has reached 15.77 per cent, while the weekly positivity rate is 15.75 per cent.

The Budget Session of Parliament, commencing on Monday, has a 79.5-hour window for the government's legislative agenda and for tabling issues of public concern over the scheduled 29 sittings of both the Houses, as per officials. The session will begin with the President's address. Amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, "elaborate arrangements" have been made in Parliament to ensure smooth and safe functioning.

"It's amazing to achieve another Grand Slam title at this moment of my career. It means a lot to me," Rafael Nadal said. Nadal who looked down and out at the half-way mark, especially given that he was up against the world No. 2 Daniil Medvedev, who was reading his play like a book, said he was encouraged not undone by the second set.

Photos released by state media showed space-based images of North Korea and the surrounding areas through a round camera lens. North Korea first took such photos in 2017, analysts said. Leader Kim Jong Un was not reported to have attended the test.

Amid improving vaccination status and declining graph of daily Covid cases in the poll-bound states, the Election Commission will on Monday review its ban on big political rallies and roadshows after hearing the assessment of the health ministry and respective state governments.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said corruption is “like a termite” that hollows the country and the task to make India corruption-free brooks no delay. He urged all citizens to work together to get rid of this menace as soon as possible. In his monthly radio address Mann ki Baat, the PM read a postcard addressed to him by a girl from Prayagraj mentioning her dream of a corruption-free India by 2047.

The number of prisoners on death row across India has soared by more than a fifth to 488 from 404 in 2020 – which is also the highest it has been since 2004 when 563 faced capital punishment. ‘Death Penalty in India: Annual Statistics Report 2021’ attributes the almost 21% spike to trial courts handing down more capital sentences than before the pandemic, coupled with higher courts pronouncing on far fewer appeals because of their limited functioning.

Three vaccines against Covid-19 — Covovax, Corbevax and ZyCov-D — which received the Drug Controller General of India’s nod last year for emergency use in the country are yet to be used in the immunisation drive, raising questions on the delay in their utilisation. While Zydus Cadila’s ZyCoV-D was granted emergency use authorisation on August 20 last year, the authorisation was given to Serum Institute’s Covovax on December 28 and to Biologocal E’s Corbevax on December 29.

The government and the MPs will get a total of only 79.5 hours, around 60% of the scheduled sitting hours, for pursuing their legislative agenda and raising issues of immediate public concern in the Rajya Sabha during the first half of the Budget session that commences on Monday.

Niti Aayog has suggested that railways should designate at least 20% of the parking capacity at railway stations or office complex for setting up electric vehicle charging bays or battery charging and swapping stations, and also install at least one EV charging point at each targeted manned level crossing and railway colony.

Union minister for personnel Jitendra Singh on Sunday said mentally challenged child of a deceased government employee or pensioner is entitled to family pension and the spirit of this provision needs to be understood and respected.

Mahatma Gandhi was the greatest person to have lived in the past millennium, Union home minister Amit Shah said on Sunday, adding that the Centre’s schemes like Make in India, Atmanirbhar Bharat, and Vocal for Local are the new definitions of Swadeshi movement propagated by Gandhi. Shah unveiled a mural of the Mahatma at the Sabarmati riverfront on the occasion of Martyrs’ Day.

In a big warning to property owners who intend to sell their assets through a power of attorney (PoA) holder, the Supreme Court has ruled that the PoA holder can sell the property and register the sale by merely producing a copy of the PoA and that the original was not mandatory for registration of the sale.

In a relief to homebuyers who are forced to take possession and start living in their flats without occupancy certificate (OC) because of delay on the part of builders to get all clearances from the authority, the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission held that builders cannot demand maintenance charge from the buyers without OC.

Over 75% of adults in the country are now fully vaccinated against Covid-19 with two doses of the jabs, heralding a major achievement in the mass immunisation drive that played a crucial role in keeping disease severity, hospitalisation and deaths low during the present surge powered by Omicron variant of SARS-CoV2.

Angry BJP workers of Manipur on Sunday burnt effigies of Chief Minister N Biren Singh and the state unit president Sharda Devi as well as flags, even as they ransacked local offices and shouted slogans against the ruling party's list of assembly poll candidates which featured defectors from the Congress ignoring many loyalists.

Rafael Nadal edged Daniil Medvedev in a classic Australian Open final on Sunday, roaring back from two sets down to claim a record 21st Grand Slam title only months after fearing his glorious career might be over due to injury.

Cash-trapped Pakistan is looking to secure a $3-billion loan from China and investments in half a dozen sectors during Prime Minister Imran Khan's visit to Beijing next week, according to a media report on Sunday. Khan will visit the Chinese capital on February 3 to attend the opening of the Beijing Winter Olympics and hold bilateral talks.

Israel's embattled cyber tech company NSO Group has denied wrongdoing as it called criticism of its sale of Pegasus spyware programme to non-democratic countries "hypocritical," comparing the surveillance technology to military weapons systems being sold by others, amid mounting allegations that software was misused globally, including in Israel.

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Sunday said an alliance could not be forged between his party and the NCP-Shiv Sena for the Goa Assembly polls despite best efforts but asserted that they "will remain friends" and after the elections, the Congress would continue to explore opportunities to "work together" with them.

Senior Conservative lawmaker Tobias Ellwood said he would submit a letter of no confidence on British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday, saying so-called 'partygate' was distracting the government at a time of international crisis.

Those with taxable income at 30% can save 45,000 by claiming 1.5 lakh as deduction under Section 80C and not opting for the new ‘simplified’ personal income tax regime.

Akali leader Bikram Singh Majithia has taken up his Amritsar East rival Navjot Singh Sidhu's challenge to contest from just one seat in the Punjab assembly elections and has decided to withdraw his nomination from his stronghold of Majitha. Sidhu had on Saturday challenged him to leave Majitha and fight from Amritsar East seat only.

The next edition of the IPL player auction will be a mega auction and what that means is that barring a handful of retained players and six players signed by the two new teams - Lucknow and Ahmedabad - everyone else will go back into the auction pool. It will be a two day affair spread over February 12 and 13.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said that the Union Budget 2022-12 focuses on the poor, middle class and youth and aims to provide them with basic necessities.

While India’s e-gaming ecosystem (at 38%) is growing faster than social media (at 11%), this year’s budget has come as a booster shot after it was announced that the government was going to set up an ‘Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics’ (AVGC) task force to “build domestic capacity to serve our markets and global demand.”

Daughters are entitled to inherit father's self-acquired property, the Supreme Court has ruled. The SC said that the daughters of a Hindu male who dies without a will or intestate will inherit the property of the father. In such cases, the daughters will be given priority over other family members like sons and daughters of the father's siblings.

India on Wednesday reported 1,61,386 new cases of Covid-19 and 1,733 deaths, a government bulletin stated on Tuesday. While cases saw a dip, daily deaths witnessed a spike in the last 24 hours.

Based on a trust-based governance mechanism, the Finance Bill has now allowed taxpayers to file an 'Updated Return' within two years from the end of the relevant assessment year.

The study added to the canon of research associating physical activity with cognitive performance, this time using 90 middle-aged and older subjects who wore accelerometers while physically active and completed mobile cognitive testing from home.

It may not sound logical, but cryptocurrency prices rose in response to the Union Budget's imposition of a 30% tax on income earned from transfer of virtual digital assets (VDAs), and its decision to bring in a TDS mechanism to track such transactions. The Budget's objective was to rein in speculation in cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and to protect investor interest. But the markets also saw it as a de facto legitimisation of these new age instruments.

Pfizer on Wednesday asked the US to authorize extra-low doses of its Covid-19 vaccine for children under 5, potentially opening the way for the very youngest Americans to start receiving shots as early as March. In an extraordinary move, the Food and Drug Administration had urged Pfizer and its partner BioNTech to apply earlier than the companies had planned.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday unveiled a Budget that sought to keep the momentum of economic recovery going with a 35% increase in government spending on asset creation. The Budget, which left income tax rates and slabs unchanged and was bereft of populist promises despite coming ahead of assembly polls, appears to be banking on growth.

The gems and jewellery industry on Tuesday welcomed the Union Budget for the year, suggesting it'll facilitate their business. Presenting the Budget for 2022-23 in the Lok Sabha, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that the government will facilitate export of jewellery through e-commerce for which it will implement a “simplified regulatory framework” by June this year.

Pakistan has blamed the "Indian lobby" in America for a diplomatic train wreck in Washington that has resulted in the Biden administration holding up the acceptance of Islamabad's ambassador-designate to the United States, purportedly for his dodgy stance on terrorism.

Banerjee's principal chief advisor Amit Mitra claimed there is no direction for financial growth in the union budget and it is "either a hoax or lack of goodwill". The opposition BJP supported the Union budget as "pro-people".

The Congress party has fielded no candidates against Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav and his uncle Shivpal Yadav on Karhal and Jaswant Nagar assembly seats where the deadline for filing nominations ended Tuesday.

Syncing the budget proposals with the promises made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at United Nations climate conference (COP26) in Glasgow last November, the government on Tuesday pushed 'energy transition and climate action' as one of its four priorities that would lead India's development agenda for the next 25 years

Criticising the Union Budget tabled in the Parliament on Tuesday, West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee said the central government didn’t provide any relief to the common man “who are getting crushed by unemployment & inflation”.

There was a modest increase in the annual defence budget despite the continuing military confrontation with China. But the government strongly pushed for 'Atmanirbharta’ (self-reliance) with 68% of the capital procurement allocation earmarked for domestic industry as well as 25% of the R&D budget for private industry, startups and academia.

"The budget also emphasizes the commitment of the Narendra Modi government towards social justice, equality, life with dignity and equal opportunity to all. The budget will further facilitate 'ease of living', which has been the hallmark of the BJP government led by our Prime Minister Modi," he said.

Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Tuesday said the FM has presented a futuristic budget for 2022-23 with "huge emphasis" on every sector. Sitharaman unveiled a Rs 39.45 lakh crore budget, with higher spending on highways to affordable housing with a view to fire up key engines of the economy to sustain a world-beating recovery from the pandemic.

Hailing the Union Budget as 'visionary', top BJP leaders on Tuesday said it outlines the Narendra Modi government's focus on a self-reliant India and is growth-oriented, with focus on harnessing the energies of New India.

Presenting the Budget for 2022-23, Sitharaman said recognising the importance of 'Nari Shakti' as the harbinger of India's bright future and for women-led development during the 'Amrit Kaal', the government has comprehensively revamped the schemes of the Ministry of Women & Child Development.

The Union Budget lacks any tangible measures to increase revenue generation even though the capital expenditure plans have gone up significantly and the fiscal deficit estimate suggests that the government is relying too much on strong growth to help drive fiscal consolidation, rating agency Moody's said in a note.

There will be 590 players who will go under the hammer during the two-day auction. The IPL announced the final auction list on Tuesday. Among the 590 players, a total of 228 are capped players, 355 are uncapped and seven belong to associate nations.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday proposed enhancing the funding under the PLI scheme for domestic solar cells and module manufacturing to Rs 24,000 crore from the existing Rs 4,500 crore to make India an exporting nation.

Current Covid-19 vaccines provide robust protection against severe disease and hospitalisation caused by both the Delta and Omicron variants, according to a study. The research, published in the journal Nature on Monday, demonstrated that the vaccines induce this protection through cellular immunity or the production of protective immune cells, such as so-called killer and memory cells.

Lt Gen Manoj Pande on Tuesday took charge as the new vice chief of the Indian Army, succeeding Lt Gen CP Mohanty. Lt Gen Pande was serving as the Eastern Army Commander before assuming the new role. He will be the senior-most Army commander when Army chief Gen MM Naravane retires from service in April.

The e-Vidya program begun in May 2020 will be expanded from 12 TV channels to 200, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said while presenting the union budget. The program had been started to help children unable to access the internet for online learning during the Covid-19 pandemic to continue their education through listening to TV programs.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said that India's GDP growth will be highest amongst all economy while presenting the Union Budget 2022-23 in Parliament. Sitharaman noted that India will report an economic growth of 9.2 per cent for FY22.

The Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index, compiled and collected by IHS Markit from Jan. 12-25, fell to 54.0 in January from December's 55.5. "The latest PMI results indicated that the new wave of Covid-19 had a mild impact on the performance of the Indian manufacturing sector," Pollyanna De Lima, economics associate director at IHS Markit, said in a release.

India is likely to step up spending on infrastructure, health services and social programmes in its annual budget on Tuesday, to try to set the economy on a firmer footing as it fights a spike in Covid-19 cases and rising inflationary pressure.

India has reported 1,67,059 new cases of Covid-19 and 1,192 deaths in the last 24 hours, a government bulletin stated on Tuesday. While cases saw a dip, daily deaths on Tuesday witnessed a spike. India's active caseload currently stands at 17,43,059.

Sub-variant BA.2 -- also called "stealth Omicron" -- was detected earlier this year and has displaced the first Omicron variant, known as BA.1, as the dominant strain in Denmark.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday urged all MPs to make the Budget session of Parliament fruitful by holding discussions with an "open mind" and making sure that the ongoing assembly elections do not affect the session, which is very important as it draws a blueprint for the entire year.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Monday said members of all political parties have assured him of cooperation in the running of the House and hoped that Parliament will function smoothly during the Budget session. Birla on Monday chaired a meeting of the business advisory committee of Lok Sabha, which was attended by parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi and floor leaders of all parties. It also acted as the customary all-party meeting at the start of a Parliament session.

Springing a surprise, BJP has fielded former SP leader and party's Dalit MP from Agra, Satya Pal Singh Baghel, again-st former CM and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav in "family bastion" Karhal. Baghel, who is presently the minister of state for law and justice at the centre, filed his nomination papers soon after Akhilesh completed the formality in the constituency, which comes under Mainpuri.

India must reconsider its booster dose strategy in light of multiple variants of the novel coronavirus at play and private labs should be encouraged to carry out genome sequencing to identify the variant and threat levels better, a top virologist said on Monday. Talking about the current vaccination drive, virologist Gagandeep Kang drew attention to the importance of having a practical vaccination plan, particularly in terms of precaution dose.

Allowing a physical poll campaign to begin across the five poll-bound states from Tuesday in view of the flattening curve of Covid infections, the Election Commission on Monday allowed in-person public meetings in open spaces subject to a cap of 1,000 participants, up from 500 earlier, while also raising the attendance ceiling for indoor meetings to 500 persons from 300. The relaxations will apply uniformly to all the seven phases.

A day after Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury served a notice for breach of privilege against IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw for allegedly misleading Parliament over the Pegasus issue, more MPs belonging to Congress, Left and Trinamool followed suit on Monday, setting the stage for another confrontation in the two Houses after the presentation of the Union Budget on Tuesday.

PM Narendra Modi lashed out at the Samajwadi Party in his first virtual rally for poll-bound UP on Monday, addressing 21 constituencies in the western part of the state that vote in the initial phase on February 10, and said that the SP has been promoting “nakli samajwad (fake socialism)".

The Supreme Court on Monday protected SAD functionary Bikram Singh Majithia from arrest in a drug trafficking case till February 23 and told the Charanjit Singh Channi-led Congress government in Punjab that in a democracy governments must not slap election-eve criminal cases on political opponents to prevent them from contesting.

Asserting that it is necessary to change the old mindset that women's skills are only in domestic work, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said both Make in India and the Self-reliant India initiatives are utilising their skills for the growth of the country.

The Union government on Monday barred the telecast of Malayalam news channel MediaOne citing "security reasons", but the Kerala High Court stayed the implementation of the order for two days.The Centre's move drew the ire of many, with the opposition Congress party terming the move as "undemocratic". When contacted, I&B ministry officials confirmed that the channel has been banned but did not share any further details.

Indian auto major Tata Motors on Monday reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 1,451.05 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2021, dragged down by the impact of semiconductor shortage on its British arm Jaguar Land Rover (JLR).

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Monday he had tested positive for Covid-19 but was feeling fine and would continue to work remotely while following public health guidelines.

Calling Pakistan's new ambassador-designate to the United States Masood Khan a "jihadist," and a "terrorist sympathiser," an American lawmaker has urged the Biden administration to reject his diplomatic credentials amid continued deterioration in Washington's ties with Islamabad.

As it called for immediate de-escalation on the Ukraine issue, the government's hands-off policy saw India abstaining Monday from a procedural vote in UN Security Council on whether or not discussions were required on the threat of an invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces.

Researchers from Oxford, Sheffield, Cardiff and Manchester have identified abnormalities in the lungs of long COVID patients who are experiencing breathlessness. These abnormalities can't be detected with routine tests, the researchers have said.

Chinese casualties in the Galwan skirmish of June 2020 were much higher than the official figures, a new report has claimed. “At least 38 PLA troops were washed away and drowned that night...." The Klaxon, an Australian newspaper reported, citing findings by social media researchers. China has officially acknowledged only five casualties on its side.

The Covid-19 death toll for January in the state crossed the 1,000-mark —for the first time after October (1,120)—with an addition of over 250 deaths in the last four days of the month. There were 474 deaths in November and 233 in December. The increase was more than four-fold from the December toll.

Air India may get Alex Cruz, an aviation veteran with rich experience of heading both full service and low cost airlines, as its CEO. Cruz was chairman and CEO of British Airways for about five years till 2020 and before that he headed Spanish low cost Vueling. Pandemic-hit British Airways had in October 2020 cut 13,000 jobs. At that time, Cruz had stepped down as the airline’s chief executive.

The stage is all set for the IPL 2022 mega auction and the 10 franchises are all in readiness to vie for the players in what promises to be an action-packed bidding war, spread over two days, to pick up the best cricketing talents from around the world. TimesofIndia.com takes a look at the foreign players, who will be going under the hammer at the auction this time with the highest base price.

India on Thursday reported 1.72 lakh new Coronavirus cases and 1,008 deaths. With this rise, the total deaths has reached 4,98,983. The daily positivity rate in India stands at 10.99 per cent, while the weekly positivity rate is 12.98 per cent. With 2,59,107 recoveries in the last 24 hours, the recovery rate increased to 95.14 per cent.

Amid the Russia-Ukraine crisis, soft power doesn't pack the necessary deterrence. French President Emmanuel Macron and British prime minister Boris Johnson, representing Europe's two nuclear powers, have a direct line to Putin, while the EU seems to be largely locked out of the diplomatic efforts again.

The United States said it "would not endorse" Rahul Gandhi's remarks on the foreign policies of the BJP-led government, which the Congress leader alleged had brought "China and Pakistan together." US State Department spokesperson Ned Price in a press briefing said, "I will leave it to the Pakistanis and the PRC to speak to their relationship. I certainly would not - would not endorse those remarks."

There’s no real mystery behind US President Joe Biden’s antipathy toward Tesla. Within Tesla, there is a feeling among some executives that all of this is just politics: Biden will never win Texas, where Musk now lives, while Michigan -- home to Ford and GM -- support is key to Democratic victories both in upcoming midterm elections and in 2024.

Pharma major Zydus Cadila said on Wednesday it has started supplying its Covid-19 vaccine ZyCoV-D to the Centre, nearly six months after it had been authorised for emergency use in the 12 and above age group. It is a three-dose Plasmid DNA vaccine injected intradermally or in the skin with the painless PharmaJet needle-free system called Tropis.

The government is expected to finalise incentives under its new battery swap scheme for electric vehicles (EVs) within the next two months, an official told Reuters, amid a broader clean mobility push to meet its decarbonisation goals. India said on Tuesday it will introduce a new policy to promote swapping, a service that allows EV drivers to replace depleted battery blocks for freshly charged ones.

India Under-19 skipper Yash Dhull says it was a conscious decision to steady the ship by batting till the 40th over alongside Shaik Rasheed without taking much risk, which helped them notch a 96-run win against Australia in the semifinals. Off to a shaky start after opting to bat, India were struggling at 37 for 2 when Dhull walked in.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday highlighted the big increase in capital expenditure in the Budget, saying that besides creating modern infrastructure it will also create opportunities for growth for small businesses. “The Budget provides for 7 lakh 50 thousand crore rupees for government expenditure. The magnitude of this step and how big will its effect be can be estimated from the fact that in the year 2013-14, public investment was only 1 lakh 87 thousand crore rupees.

A PLA regiment commander, Qi Fabao, who sustained head injury while fighting “bravely” in the Galwan clash with India, was a torchbearer at Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Torch Relay on Wednesday, reported the Chinese media. According to a report in Global Times, Qi, the regimental commander from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Xinjiang military command, took the flame from Wang Meng, China’s four-time Olympic short track speed skating champion.

In what could cause some anxiety to Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu, the Supreme Court will on Thursday hear petitions seeking review of its 2018 verdict letting off the cricketer-turned-politician with a fine of Rs 1,000 by modifying a high court order convicting him for culpable homicide not amounting to murder and awarding three years’ jail term.

Facebook’s global daily active users declined from the previous quarter for the first time, to 1.929 billion from 1.930 billion. Meta said it faced hits from Apple Inc's privacy changes to its operating system, which have made it harder for brands to target and measure their ads on Facebook and Instagram.

Experts said they identified what's left of British explorer James Cook's ship HMS Endeavour in Newport Harbor, Rhode Island. Cook sailed the ship around the South Pacific in a pioneering voyage before landing on the east coast of Australia in 1770. The Endeavour was deliberately sunk there by the British during the American Revolution and lay forgotten for more than two centuries.

The Centre on Wednesday asked states to accelerate second dose coverage for Covid vaccine among adolescents of 15-17 years. The government also plans to soon start giving ZyCoV-D in seven states under the immunisation programme. The states include Bihar, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, UP and West Bengal.

A metropolitan magistrate in Mumbai on Tuesday issued summons to West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on a complaint filed by BJP's Mumbai unit secretary who alleged she disrespected the national anthem last December. The complainant, Vivekanand Gupta, said Banerjee was on December 1, 2021 present at a public function at Y B Chavan Auditorium in south Mumbai as the main speaker, and that at the end of the event, she started singing the national anthem in a sitting position.

With an eye on the upcoming polls in UP, BJP on Wednesday fielded two of its MPs from the state to initiate the debate in Lok Sabha on the Motion of Thanks to the President's Address while in Rajya Sabha, opposition parties took on the government on a range of issues, including unemployment and inflation, after BJP member Geeta said the Modi government had got a repeat mandate in 2019 based on its performance in the preceding five years.

Nine players including Bombardier, Siemens, BHEL, Titagarh Wagons and Medha Engineering have bid for manufacturing of 58 new Vande Bharat trains, TOI has learnt. Currently, 44 such trains are being manufactured by Medha Engineering at three production units of Indian Railways.

Former UP minister Swami Prasad Maurya, who defected from the BJP to join the Samajwadi Party last month, will contest the 2022 assembly elections from Fazilnagar constituency. This despite the fact that he has been representing the adjoining Padrauna seat for three straight terms since 2007. Maurya's name figured in the fresh list of 15 candidates released by the SP on Wednesday.

Indian officials have held heated discussions with Google, Twitter and Facebook for not proactively removing what they described as fake news on their platforms, sources said. Officials of the I&B ministry criticised the companies and said their inaction on fake news was forcing the government to order content takedowns, which in turn drew international criticism that authorities were suppressing free expression, sources said.

Dishing out a clinical, all-round show, a relentless India scored a comprehensive 96-run win over Australia in the semis to storm into the final of the Under-19 World Cup — for the fourth consecutive time — on Wednesday at Coolidge in Antigua. They will now take on England, who beat Afghanistan by 15 runs in the first semifinal, in the summit clash at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium on Saturday.

Days after the government ruled out any discussion on Pegasus during the first part of the Budget session, the Rajya Sabha secretariat on Wednesday disallowed all amendments to the President’s address that were related to the alleged snooping issue and moved by opposition MPs.

Rahul Gandhi said the NDA government's flawed policies have brought Pakistan and China closer. India stands surrounded and isolated in its neighbourhood. He warned of China's "designs" in the region, and said the current dispensation will be solely responsible in the event of any adverse development.

The government said it doesn’t treat trading in crypto assets as illegal, a day after it announced taxing such transactions just the same as winnings from gambling. "They are in a grey area. It’s not illegal to buy and sell crypto," finance secretary T V Somanathan said in an interview to Bloomberg Television.

A COVID-19 outbreak hit the Indian cricket team on Wednesday as three main players -- senior opener Shikhar Dhawan, reserve opener Ruturaj Gaikwad and middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer -- tested positive for the virus during their mandatory isolation period before the start of West Indies series.

Former Punjab Congress president Sunil Jakhar claimed that after the unseating of Captain Amarinder Singh, he was favoured by 42 MLAs to be the next chief minister of the state followed by Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa with 16 MLAs supporting him. Jakhar also said that after Channi was made the chief minster, he was offered the post of deputy chief minister, which he politely declined.

Sri Lanka was handed temporary relief from energy shortages and rolling blackouts on Wednesday with a $500 million loan from India to finance urgent oil purchases for the cash-strapped nation. The island's economic woes have left thermal power generators unable to keep the lights on and disrupted transport networks, as traders run desperately low on foreign currency to fund imports.

Officials from the ministry of information and broadcasting (I&B) strongly criticised Google, Twitter and Facebook and said their inaction on fake news was forcing the Indian government to order content takedowns, which in turn drew international criticism that authorities were suppressing free expression, two sources said.

Tamil Nadu all-rounder Shahrukh Khan has been fast-tracked into senior team contention thanks to his stellar show in domestic cricket. He is being seen as an impact player. "When I go to the crease, I am mentally prepared and don't think about the pressure. I keep calm and play my game," the 26-year-old said, adding, ""I idolise MS Dhoni and want to finish games the way he did for India".

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday taunted Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, claiming that his own party had “isolated” him and accused him of playing the politics of negativity. Addressing a joint press in Shamli's Kairana with Rashtriya Lok Dal's Jayant Chaudhary, Yadav also attacked the CM over his “language” in the run-up to the assembly polls.

Income tax return forms from next year will have a separate column for making disclosures on gains made from cryptocurrencies and paying taxes, revenue secretary Tarun Bajaj said on Wednesday. In an interview with PTI, Bajaj said gains from cryptocurrencies were always taxable and what the Budget proposed is not a new tax but providing certainty over the issue.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said that in the last seven years, his government gave 'pucca' houses to three crore poor people and made them 'lakhpatis', underlining that most of such houses were in the name of women who became "malkins (owners)". He was ddressing the 'Atmanirbha Arthavyavastha' (self-reliant economy) symposium organised by the BJP.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath will file his nomination papers for the Gorakhpur Urban seat on Friday. Before filing the nomination, Yogi will address a meeting at Maharana Pratap Inter College ground under Covid protocols, Pandey said. On Friday afternoon, he will address voter awareness convention at Gorakhpur club and also Prabudhdh Varg Sammelan at Nipal lodge.

Those with taxable income at 30% can save 45,000 by claiming 1.5 lakh as deduction under Section 80C and not opting for the new ‘simplified’ personal income tax regime.

Senior Conservative lawmaker Tobias Ellwood said he would submit a letter of no confidence on British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday, saying so-called 'partygate' was distracting the government at a time of international crisis.

Those talking of the Kairana exodus will have to migrate out of UP after the assembly polls, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said on Wednesday as he accused the BJP of indulging in politics of negativity. Addressing a press conference with alliance partner Rashtriya Lok Dal president Jayant Chaudhary in Kairana, Yadav hit out at the BJP-led governments both in the state as well as at the Centre.

Akali leader Bikram Singh Majithia has taken up his Amritsar East rival Navjot Singh Sidhu's challenge to contest from just one seat in the Punjab assembly elections and has decided to withdraw his nomination from his stronghold of Majitha. Sidhu had on Saturday challenged him to leave Majitha and fight from Amritsar East seat only.

The next edition of the IPL player auction will be a mega auction and what that means is that barring a handful of retained players and six players signed by the two new teams - Lucknow and Ahmedabad - everyone else will go back into the auction pool. It will be a two day affair spread over February 12 and 13.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said that the Union Budget 2022-12 focuses on the poor, middle class and youth and aims to provide them with basic necessities.

While India’s e-gaming ecosystem (at 38%) is growing faster than social media (at 11%), this year’s budget has come as a booster shot after it was announced that the government was going to set up an ‘Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics’ (AVGC) task force to “build domestic capacity to serve our markets and global demand.”

Daughters are entitled to inherit father's self-acquired property, the Supreme Court has ruled. The SC said that the daughters of a Hindu male who dies without a will or intestate will inherit the property of the father. In such cases, the daughters will be given priority over other family members like sons and daughters of the father's siblings.

India on Wednesday reported 1,61,386 new cases of Covid-19 and 1,733 deaths, a government bulletin stated on Tuesday. While cases saw a dip, daily deaths witnessed a spike in the last 24 hours.

Based on a trust-based governance mechanism, the Finance Bill has now allowed taxpayers to file an 'Updated Return' within two years from the end of the relevant assessment year.

The study added to the canon of research associating physical activity with cognitive performance, this time using 90 middle-aged and older subjects who wore accelerometers while physically active and completed mobile cognitive testing from home.

It may not sound logical, but cryptocurrency prices rose in response to the Union Budget's imposition of a 30% tax on income earned from transfer of virtual digital assets (VDAs), and its decision to bring in a TDS mechanism to track such transactions. The Budget's objective was to rein in speculation in cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and to protect investor interest. But the markets also saw it as a de facto legitimisation of these new age instruments.

Pfizer on Wednesday asked the US to authorize extra-low doses of its Covid-19 vaccine for children under 5, potentially opening the way for the very youngest Americans to start receiving shots as early as March. In an extraordinary move, the Food and Drug Administration had urged Pfizer and its partner BioNTech to apply earlier than the companies had planned.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday unveiled a Budget that sought to keep the momentum of economic recovery going with a 35% increase in government spending on asset creation. The Budget, which left income tax rates and slabs unchanged and was bereft of populist promises despite coming ahead of assembly polls, appears to be banking on growth.

The gems and jewellery industry on Tuesday welcomed the Union Budget for the year, suggesting it'll facilitate their business. Presenting the Budget for 2022-23 in the Lok Sabha, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that the government will facilitate export of jewellery through e-commerce for which it will implement a “simplified regulatory framework” by June this year.

India on Friday reported 1,49,394 new cases of Covid-19 infection, a significant drop (13%) from 172,433 cases a day back. This is also the first time after January 8 that daily new cases remained under the 1.5 lakh mark. However the country also passed the grim milestone of 5 lakh Covid deaths, with another 1,072 people succumbing to the disease- becoming only the third country to record 5 lakh fatalities.

Meta Platforms’s one-day crash now ranks as the worst in stock-market history. The Facebook parent plunged 26% on Thursday on the back of woeful earnings results, and erased about $251.3 billion in market value. That’s the biggest wipeout in market value for any US company ever.

The Indian mission in Beijing will not participate in the opening and closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics, which officially kicks off on Friday, the government announced on Thursday. The decision followed the revelation on Wednesday that a PLA regiment commander involved in the June 2020 Galwan clashes was a torchbearer at the Olympics.

India is witnessing “trailers” of future conflicts and its adversaries like China and Pakistan will continue efforts to achieve their strategic aims by use of “grey zone” tactics instead of a full-fledged war, Army chief General M M Naravane said on Thursday. “We have observed some nations are challenging globally accepted norms and the rules-based order.

India became the third country in the world to officially record more than 5 lakh deaths from the Covid-19 pandemic, reaching the grim milestone on Thursday. Only the US, with over 9.1 lakh Covid fatalities, and Brazil (nearly 6.3 lakh) have reported more deaths from the virus so far. At 3.3 lakh, the toll from the pandemic in Russia is the fourth highest, ahead of Mexico, which has so far logged just over 3.07 deaths.

Observing that the offence of money laundering cannot be treated lightly, the Supreme Court on Thursday said that it was a more serious and heinous crime than murder as it afffected the entire economy whose growth could be put on hold or derailed because of it.

he US state department said Wednesday it “would not endorse” Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s remarks in which he had alleged that the Narendra Modi government had driven China and Pakistan into an embrace. “I will leave it to the Pakistanis and the PRC (the People’s Republic of China) to speak to their relationship. I certainly would not – would not endorse those remarks,” state department spokesperson Ned Price said on Wednesday in response to a question on Gandhi’s comments in Lok Sabha.

SP chief Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday made overtures to BSP to support the SP-RLD alliance in Uttar Pradesh to “save the Constitution and democracy”. Yadav reached out to the Mayawati-led party while addressing a press conference in Bulandshahr, where he had gone to campaign for NCP candidate K K Sharma.

The hijab row raging in a college in Udupi in southern Karnataka since last month enveloped another institution in the same district on Thursday as 28 students in headscarves were prevented from entering. The Karnataka high court is set to hear on Tuesday two petitions seeking a directive to permit Muslim students wearing headscarves to attend classes.

In order to ensure continuum of learning and mitigate the impact of the Covid pandemic, the ministry of education has written to states and Union territories about is plan ensure learning recovery. The plan includes financial support to students, funds for primary school teachers to purchase tablets and Rs 20 lakh per state/UT to conduct oral reading fluency (ORF) study.

China lost at least 38 soldiers during the violent Galwan clashes with India in June 2020, which is much more than the five casualties Beijing has officially acknowledged till now, an Australian website has claimed. The Indian Army has for long maintained the death toll among the ranks in the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) was “much higher” than what China admitted to after a long delay.

Opposition members in Rajya Sabha on Thursday accused the government of undermining the federal structure with TMC citing expansion of BSF’s jurisdiction without consulting the states and the move to amend the IAS cadre rules while in Lok Sabha, the parties alleged that the government had failed to rein in prices and check unemployment.

Sharpening the attack on Samajwadi Party’s list of candidates, Union home minister Amit Shah on Thursday said the mafia can be found in only three places today – in jail, outside UP and on the list of SP candidates. The upcoming elections, he said, would be about “eliminating the mafia, each one of them”.

Diversified entity ITC Ltd on Thursday reported a 15 per cent increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 4,118.8 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2021, on the back of robust demand across business verticals.

The US State Department said it does not endorse the remarks of Congress Party leader Rahul Gandhi that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s "ineffective foreign policies" have driven Pakistan and China are closer, while asserting Washington's strategic relationship with Islamabad despite the perception of a sharp downturn.

Shares of Facebook parent company Meta Platforms crashed more than 25 per cent on Thursday, biggest in stock market history. Shares were down 25.6 per cent shortly after the opening in New York, resulting in a roughly $200 billion hit to the company's market value.

In a raid reminiscent of the strikes that killed Osama bin Laden and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, US Special Forces conducted a counter-terrorism mission in northwestern Syria killing Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, who had succeeded al-Baghdadi as the leader of ISIS.

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Thursday said his vehicle was shot at near Chhajarsi toll plaza in Uttar Pradesh while he was returning to Delhi from an election event in Meerut.

Four women are judges in the Supreme Court against the total sanctioned strength of 34 judges and 83 women are judges in high courts against the sanctioned strength of 1,098 judges, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.

President Joe Biden said Thursday that the leader of the Islamic State group had been "taken off the battlefield" by US forces in Syria. "Last night at my direction, US military forces in northwest Syria successfully undertook a counterterrorism operation to protect the American people and our allies, and make the world a safer place," Biden said in a statement.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), which has a packed year ahead of it, has made considerable progress on its third moon mission — Chandrayaan-3. With many related hardware and their special tests having been successfully completed, the team is moving closer to integrated testing.

The government has earmarked Rs 5,000 crore in the next fiscal just for Covid vaccination of 15-17-year-age group and precautionary dose for senior citizens, finance secretary T V Somanathan said, emphasising more money will be allocated as needs arise.

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) may go for a hike of up to 0.25 per cent in the reverse repo rate at which the RBI absorbs excess liquidity and leave the repo rate at which it lends, to narrow the policy rate corridor, a British brokerage said on Thursday.

State-run Life Insurance Corporation of India's (LIC) embedded value has been finalised at more than Rs 5 lakh crore ($66.82 billion), a government official who is overseeing what is expected to be the country's largest IPO said on Thursday.

The Union health ministry on Thursday refuted as “misleading” media reports which claimed that 50 lakh unused Covishield doses may go waste by the end of this month. It said the Centre had proactively advised all state governments to review the availability of vaccines, right from the start of the vaccination drive against Covid-19, to ensure that the wastage of doses is reduced to a minimum.

The propaganda film makes coded reference to the country's "worst-ever hardships" in 2021, showing footage of Kim carefully making his way down stairs as a narrator describes how his "body has been completely withered away" by hard work.

The Chinese president, hosting a Winter Olympics beleaguered by complaints about human rights abuses, has upended tradition to restore strongman rule in China and tighten Communist Party control over the economy and society.

Equity indices plunged on Thursday after surging for three straight sessions with the benchmark BSE sensex falling over 750 points amid profit booking by investors. The 30-share BSE index fell 770 points or 1.29 per cent to close at 58,788. While, the broader NSE Nifty settled 220 points or 1.24 per cent lower at 17,560.

The February 10 start for Ranji Trophy has offered a lifeline to veterans Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane to get their Test career back on track. With Test series against Sri Lanka set to be played from first week of March after the T20Is starting February 25, a big hundred in the Ranji Trophy will provide the confidence that they need and probably ensure that they retain their place in the Indian team.

Chinese casualties in the Galwan skirmish of June 2020 were much higher than the official figures, a new report has claimed. “At least 38 PLA troops were washed away and drowned that night...." The Klaxon, an Australian newspaper reported, citing findings by social media researchers. China has officially acknowledged only five casualties on its side.

The Covid-19 death toll for January in the state crossed the 1,000-mark —for the first time after October (1,120)—with an addition of over 250 deaths in the last four days of the month. There were 474 deaths in November and 233 in December. The increase was more than four-fold from the December toll.

Air India may get Alex Cruz, an aviation veteran with rich experience of heading both full service and low cost airlines, as its CEO. Cruz was chairman and CEO of British Airways for about five years till 2020 and before that he headed Spanish low cost Vueling. Pandemic-hit British Airways had in October 2020 cut 13,000 jobs. At that time, Cruz had stepped down as the airline’s chief executive.

The stage is all set for the IPL 2022 mega auction and the 10 franchises are all in readiness to vie for the players in what promises to be an action-packed bidding war, spread over two days, to pick up the best cricketing talents from around the world. TimesofIndia.com takes a look at the foreign players, who will be going under the hammer at the auction this time with the highest base price.

India on Thursday reported 1.72 lakh new Coronavirus cases and 1,008 deaths. With this rise, the total deaths has reached 4,98,983. The daily positivity rate in India stands at 10.99 per cent, while the weekly positivity rate is 12.98 per cent. With 2,59,107 recoveries in the last 24 hours, the recovery rate increased to 95.14 per cent.

Amid the Russia-Ukraine crisis, soft power doesn't pack the necessary deterrence. French President Emmanuel Macron and British prime minister Boris Johnson, representing Europe's two nuclear powers, have a direct line to Putin, while the EU seems to be largely locked out of the diplomatic efforts again.

The United States said it "would not endorse" Rahul Gandhi's remarks on the foreign policies of the BJP-led government, which the Congress leader alleged had brought "China and Pakistan together." US State Department spokesperson Ned Price in a press briefing said, "I will leave it to the Pakistanis and the PRC to speak to their relationship. I certainly would not - would not endorse those remarks."

There’s no real mystery behind US President Joe Biden’s antipathy toward Tesla. Within Tesla, there is a feeling among some executives that all of this is just politics: Biden will never win Texas, where Musk now lives, while Michigan -- home to Ford and GM -- support is key to Democratic victories both in upcoming midterm elections and in 2024.

Pharma major Zydus Cadila said on Wednesday it has started supplying its Covid-19 vaccine ZyCoV-D to the Centre, nearly six months after it had been authorised for emergency use in the 12 and above age group. It is a three-dose Plasmid DNA vaccine injected intradermally or in the skin with the painless PharmaJet needle-free system called Tropis.

The government is expected to finalise incentives under its new battery swap scheme for electric vehicles (EVs) within the next two months, an official told Reuters, amid a broader clean mobility push to meet its decarbonisation goals. India said on Tuesday it will introduce a new policy to promote swapping, a service that allows EV drivers to replace depleted battery blocks for freshly charged ones.

India Under-19 skipper Yash Dhull says it was a conscious decision to steady the ship by batting till the 40th over alongside Shaik Rasheed without taking much risk, which helped them notch a 96-run win against Australia in the semifinals. Off to a shaky start after opting to bat, India were struggling at 37 for 2 when Dhull walked in.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday highlighted the big increase in capital expenditure in the Budget, saying that besides creating modern infrastructure it will also create opportunities for growth for small businesses. “The Budget provides for 7 lakh 50 thousand crore rupees for government expenditure. The magnitude of this step and how big will its effect be can be estimated from the fact that in the year 2013-14, public investment was only 1 lakh 87 thousand crore rupees.

A PLA regiment commander, Qi Fabao, who sustained head injury while fighting “bravely” in the Galwan clash with India, was a torchbearer at Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Torch Relay on Wednesday, reported the Chinese media. According to a report in Global Times, Qi, the regimental commander from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Xinjiang military command, took the flame from Wang Meng, China’s four-time Olympic short track speed skating champion.

In what could cause some anxiety to Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu, the Supreme Court will on Thursday hear petitions seeking review of its 2018 verdict letting off the cricketer-turned-politician with a fine of Rs 1,000 by modifying a high court order convicting him for culpable homicide not amounting to murder and awarding three years’ jail term.

Facebook’s global daily active users declined from the previous quarter for the first time, to 1.929 billion from 1.930 billion. Meta said it faced hits from Apple Inc's privacy changes to its operating system, which have made it harder for brands to target and measure their ads on Facebook and Instagram.

Experts said they identified what's left of British explorer James Cook's ship HMS Endeavour in Newport Harbor, Rhode Island. Cook sailed the ship around the South Pacific in a pioneering voyage before landing on the east coast of Australia in 1770. The Endeavour was deliberately sunk there by the British during the American Revolution and lay forgotten for more than two centuries.

The Centre on Wednesday asked states to accelerate second dose coverage for Covid vaccine among adolescents of 15-17 years. The government also plans to soon start giving ZyCoV-D in seven states under the immunisation programme. The states include Bihar, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, UP and West Bengal.

A metropolitan magistrate in Mumbai on Tuesday issued summons to West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on a complaint filed by BJP's Mumbai unit secretary who alleged she disrespected the national anthem last December. The complainant, Vivekanand Gupta, said Banerjee was on December 1, 2021 present at a public function at Y B Chavan Auditorium in south Mumbai as the main speaker, and that at the end of the event, she started singing the national anthem in a sitting position.

With an eye on the upcoming polls in UP, BJP on Wednesday fielded two of its MPs from the state to initiate the debate in Lok Sabha on the Motion of Thanks to the President's Address while in Rajya Sabha, opposition parties took on the government on a range of issues, including unemployment and inflation, after BJP member Geeta said the Modi government had got a repeat mandate in 2019 based on its performance in the preceding five years.

Nine players including Bombardier, Siemens, BHEL, Titagarh Wagons and Medha Engineering have bid for manufacturing of 58 new Vande Bharat trains, TOI has learnt. Currently, 44 such trains are being manufactured by Medha Engineering at three production units of Indian Railways.

Former UP minister Swami Prasad Maurya, who defected from the BJP to join the Samajwadi Party last month, will contest the 2022 assembly elections from Fazilnagar constituency. This despite the fact that he has been representing the adjoining Padrauna seat for three straight terms since 2007. Maurya's name figured in the fresh list of 15 candidates released by the SP on Wednesday.

India on Saturday reported 1.27 lakh new Coronavirus cases and 1059 deaths. This brought the total deaths reported in the country so far to 5,01,114. With 2,30,814 recoveries in the last 24 hours, the current Covid recovery rate stands at 95.64%. The total recoveries reported in the country to date is 4,02,47,902.

Two Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists were killed in an encounter with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday, police said. Acting on specific inputs about the presence of terrorists in the Zakura locality of the city, security forces launched a cordon and search operation there during the night, a police official said.

A giant, $500 million yacht reportedly being built for Amazon founder Jeff Bezos faces a delivery problem: It may require dismantling a beloved, historic bridge in Rotterdam that is blocking its passage to the sea. On Facebook, locals are proposing to pelt the yacht with rotten eggs when it passes through.

The Supreme Court on Friday directed states governments not to reject Covid death claims on technical grounds and gave 10 days’ time to them to pay compensation from the time such an application is submitted by a bereaved family. "Official statistics are not true on death figures and it cannot be said fraudulent claims are being made (by families of Covid victims)," the SC-bench said.

Amazon shares surged 13.5% on Friday following its blowout quarterly report, expanding its market capitalization by around $190 billion by the end of trading. That beat Apple Inc's record $181 billion one-day gain in stock market value on January 28 following the iPhone maker's own blockbuster quarterly report.

Australian men's cricket coach Justin Langer announced his surprise resignation on Saturday, just weeks after trouncing archrivals England in a lopsided Ashes series and months after winning the T20 World Cup. Board members held lengthy discussions about Langer's future into Friday night, but appeared to have failed to reach an agreement on a new deal with the former Test batsman.

Additional director-general of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Dr Samiran Panda on Friday said the third wave of Covid was likely to wane by February-end in Maharashtra, Delhi and West Bengal. “The peak of cases encountered in these states will come down to the base level by the end of this month itself. An overall decline in Covid cases in the country is expected by March,” he said.

The Centre on Friday told Delhi high court it would argue next week to press for deference of hearings, as sought in its latest affidavit on a batch of petitions on the issue of marital rape. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta apprised a bench of Justices Rajiv Shakdher and C Hari Shankar about the additional affidavit filed by the Centre on Thursday.

The US death toll from the Covid-19 pandemic surpassed 900,000 on Friday, according to the Johns Hopkins University coronavirus tracker. New cases linked to the Omicron variant are falling, but daily deaths are still rising, with an average of 2,400 now, according to government figures. Americans continue to die from Covid in large numbers because only 64% of the population is fully immunised.

"I condemn the attack on AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi. There should be no violence in a democracy. If this violence has happened, then, after all who is to blame for it? What was the intention behind the attack? Some people were caught but intentions should be clear. These people (BJP) claimed that criminals ran away. If criminals ran away, then who did this attack?" Yadav told ANI.

Covaxin has been granted Emergency Use Listing (EUL) in 13 countries as on January 31, minister of state for health Bharati Pravin Pawar informed the Lok Sabha on Friday, quoting data from WHO. Responding to a question, she said Covaxin was granted EUL by the national regulator, Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), for the age group 12 to 18 years on December 24, 2021.

As many as 30,111 children were orphaned, lost a parent or abandoned due to Covid-19 or other reasons from April 2020 to June 5, 2021, the government said on Friday. Responding to a question in the Lok Sabha, Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani said a total of 26,176 children have lost a parent, 3,661 were orphaned and 274 abandoned during the period.

Vasant Panchami is a festival that is celebrated in India to worship Goddess Saraswati, the deity of learning. She is the symbol of wisdom, learning, art and music in the Hindu culture. It is therefore also called Saraswati Puja in many parts of the country.

United States secretary of state Antony Blinken will meet Indian external affairs minister S Jaishankar, along with the foreign ministers of Australia and Japan, during the fourth Quadrilateral Security Dialogue to be held in Melbourne next week.

Fuelled by higher passenger revenues, the country's largest airline IndiGo on Friday posted a profit after tax of Rs 129.8 crore in the three months ended December 2021 amid the pandemic clouds. InterGlobe Aviation, the parent of IndiGo, had slipped into a loss of Rs 620.1 crore in the year-ago period.

Overall, the economy had added 19.1 million jobs since the nadir of the Covid-19 crisis in April 2020, but it is still short 2.9 million positions, the data said.

Vaccine effectiveness of 99.3 per cent has been seen in individuals fully inoculated against coronavirus according to the data uploaded on India Covid-19 Tracker till January 2, the Lok Sabha was told on Friday.

A day after an attack on his car at Hapur in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday, the home ministry on Friday approved Z-category security for AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi, which he rejected.

Having successfully deployed and tested the K-9 Vajra Howitzers in the Ladakh sector, the Indian Army is now planning to deploy K-9 Vajra howitzers in the high altitude mountains in the central and eastern sector of the line of actual control with China.

There's no doubt that Lionel Messi will perhaps always be synonymous with Barcelona. But now that he is no longer in Spain, after bidding an emotional goodbye to his childhood club, Messi needs to embrace the Paris way of life. After all, he made the choice to go to Paris St Germain (PSG) and join Ligue 1.

The Union Budget presented by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman is a very "thoughtful" policy agenda for India and puts a great deal of emphasis on innovation in research and development on human capital investment and digitalisation, managing director of IMF Kristalina Georgieva has said.

Hundreds of Tibetan exiles marched outside the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi on Friday and held a protest rally while denouncing the Beijing Winter Olympics and demanding freedom for their region. The protesters waved Tibetan flags and held placards bearing messages like "No Rights, No Games" and "Say No To Genocide Games." They demanded that China leave Tibet and implored the international community to stand up against Beijing.

India on Friday reported 1,49,394 new cases of Covid-19 infection, a significant drop (13%) from 172,433 cases a day back. This is also the first time after January 8 that daily new cases remained under the 1.5 lakh mark. However the country also passed the grim milestone of 5 lakh Covid deaths, with another 1,072 people succumbing to the disease- becoming only the third country to record 5 lakh fatalities.

Meta Platforms’s one-day crash now ranks as the worst in stock-market history. The Facebook parent plunged 26% on Thursday on the back of woeful earnings results, and erased about $251.3 billion in market value. That’s the biggest wipeout in market value for any US company ever.

The Indian mission in Beijing will not participate in the opening and closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics, which officially kicks off on Friday, the government announced on Thursday. The decision followed the revelation on Wednesday that a PLA regiment commander involved in the June 2020 Galwan clashes was a torchbearer at the Olympics.

India is witnessing “trailers” of future conflicts and its adversaries like China and Pakistan will continue efforts to achieve their strategic aims by use of “grey zone” tactics instead of a full-fledged war, Army chief General M M Naravane said on Thursday. “We have observed some nations are challenging globally accepted norms and the rules-based order.

India became the third country in the world to officially record more than 5 lakh deaths from the Covid-19 pandemic, reaching the grim milestone on Thursday. Only the US, with over 9.1 lakh Covid fatalities, and Brazil (nearly 6.3 lakh) have reported more deaths from the virus so far. At 3.3 lakh, the toll from the pandemic in Russia is the fourth highest, ahead of Mexico, which has so far logged just over 3.07 deaths.

Observing that the offence of money laundering cannot be treated lightly, the Supreme Court on Thursday said that it was a more serious and heinous crime than murder as it afffected the entire economy whose growth could be put on hold or derailed because of it.

he US state department said Wednesday it “would not endorse” Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s remarks in which he had alleged that the Narendra Modi government had driven China and Pakistan into an embrace. “I will leave it to the Pakistanis and the PRC (the People’s Republic of China) to speak to their relationship. I certainly would not – would not endorse those remarks,” state department spokesperson Ned Price said on Wednesday in response to a question on Gandhi’s comments in Lok Sabha.

SP chief Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday made overtures to BSP to support the SP-RLD alliance in Uttar Pradesh to “save the Constitution and democracy”. Yadav reached out to the Mayawati-led party while addressing a press conference in Bulandshahr, where he had gone to campaign for NCP candidate K K Sharma.

The hijab row raging in a college in Udupi in southern Karnataka since last month enveloped another institution in the same district on Thursday as 28 students in headscarves were prevented from entering. The Karnataka high court is set to hear on Tuesday two petitions seeking a directive to permit Muslim students wearing headscarves to attend classes.

In order to ensure continuum of learning and mitigate the impact of the Covid pandemic, the ministry of education has written to states and Union territories about is plan ensure learning recovery. The plan includes financial support to students, funds for primary school teachers to purchase tablets and Rs 20 lakh per state/UT to conduct oral reading fluency (ORF) study.

China lost at least 38 soldiers during the violent Galwan clashes with India in June 2020, which is much more than the five casualties Beijing has officially acknowledged till now, an Australian website has claimed. The Indian Army has for long maintained the death toll among the ranks in the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) was “much higher” than what China admitted to after a long delay.

Opposition members in Rajya Sabha on Thursday accused the government of undermining the federal structure with TMC citing expansion of BSF’s jurisdiction without consulting the states and the move to amend the IAS cadre rules while in Lok Sabha, the parties alleged that the government had failed to rein in prices and check unemployment.

Sharpening the attack on Samajwadi Party’s list of candidates, Union home minister Amit Shah on Thursday said the mafia can be found in only three places today – in jail, outside UP and on the list of SP candidates. The upcoming elections, he said, would be about “eliminating the mafia, each one of them”.

Diversified entity ITC Ltd on Thursday reported a 15 per cent increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 4,118.8 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2021, on the back of robust demand across business verticals.

The US State Department said it does not endorse the remarks of Congress Party leader Rahul Gandhi that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s "ineffective foreign policies" have driven Pakistan and China are closer, while asserting Washington's strategic relationship with Islamabad despite the perception of a sharp downturn.

Shares of Facebook parent company Meta Platforms crashed more than 25 per cent on Thursday, biggest in stock market history. Shares were down 25.6 per cent shortly after the opening in New York, resulting in a roughly $200 billion hit to the company's market value.

In a raid reminiscent of the strikes that killed Osama bin Laden and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, US Special Forces conducted a counter-terrorism mission in northwestern Syria killing Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, who had succeeded al-Baghdadi as the leader of ISIS.

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Thursday said his vehicle was shot at near Chhajarsi toll plaza in Uttar Pradesh while he was returning to Delhi from an election event in Meerut.

Four women are judges in the Supreme Court against the total sanctioned strength of 34 judges and 83 women are judges in high courts against the sanctioned strength of 1,098 judges, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.

President Joe Biden said Thursday that the leader of the Islamic State group had been "taken off the battlefield" by US forces in Syria. "Last night at my direction, US military forces in northwest Syria successfully undertook a counterterrorism operation to protect the American people and our allies, and make the world a safer place," Biden said in a statement.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), which has a packed year ahead of it, has made considerable progress on its third moon mission — Chandrayaan-3. With many related hardware and their special tests having been successfully completed, the team is moving closer to integrated testing.

The government has earmarked Rs 5,000 crore in the next fiscal just for Covid vaccination of 15-17-year-age group and precautionary dose for senior citizens, finance secretary T V Somanathan said, emphasising more money will be allocated as needs arise.

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) may go for a hike of up to 0.25 per cent in the reverse repo rate at which the RBI absorbs excess liquidity and leave the repo rate at which it lends, to narrow the policy rate corridor, a British brokerage said on Thursday.

State-run Life Insurance Corporation of India's (LIC) embedded value has been finalised at more than Rs 5 lakh crore ($66.82 billion), a government official who is overseeing what is expected to be the country's largest IPO said on Thursday.

The Union health ministry on Thursday refuted as “misleading” media reports which claimed that 50 lakh unused Covishield doses may go waste by the end of this month. It said the Centre had proactively advised all state governments to review the availability of vaccines, right from the start of the vaccination drive against Covid-19, to ensure that the wastage of doses is reduced to a minimum.

The propaganda film makes coded reference to the country's "worst-ever hardships" in 2021, showing footage of Kim carefully making his way down stairs as a narrator describes how his "body has been completely withered away" by hard work.

The Chinese president, hosting a Winter Olympics beleaguered by complaints about human rights abuses, has upended tradition to restore strongman rule in China and tighten Communist Party control over the economy and society.

Equity indices plunged on Thursday after surging for three straight sessions with the benchmark BSE sensex falling over 750 points amid profit booking by investors. The 30-share BSE index fell 770 points or 1.29 per cent to close at 58,788. While, the broader NSE Nifty settled 220 points or 1.24 per cent lower at 17,560.

Legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar passed away today at the age of 92. She was admitted to a city hospital in early January this year, after she tested positive for Covid-19 and was also diagnosed with pneumonia. Lata Mangeshkar was admitted to the ICU with mild symptoms and was recovering slowly.

India reported 1,07,474 new coronavirus cases, pushing the total tally of Covid-19 infections to 4,21,88,138, while the active cases further declined to 12,25,011, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Sunday.

The Election Commission on Sunday extended ban on roadshows, 'pad yatras', cycle and vehicle rallies but relaxed norms for indoor and outdoor political meets for polls. In a statement, the EC said restrictions regarding outdoor meetings, indoor meetings, rallies will be further relaxed subject to condition that the number of persons attending these events will be limited to maximum of 50 per cent of the capacity of indoor halls and 30 per cent of the open ground capacity.

India clinched the U19 Cricket World Cup title for the fifth time after beating England by four wickets in the summit clash, riding on a sensational all-round show from Chandigarh boy Raj Angad Bawa, in Antigua on Saturday. Bawa shone with the ball with a sensational fiver (5/31) to help India shot England out for 189 before hitting a valuable 35 down the order to help India chase down the target of 190. Shaik Rasheed and Nishant Sindhu also cracked fifties in the chase.

Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday accused Rahul Gandhi of “relying on Chinese media rather than trusting the valour of Indian soldiers over the death toll from the clashes in Galwan valley.” Singh made the remarks while addressing a public meeting in Mathura.

the Election Commission is planning further relaxations of its curbs on physical campaigning, including allowing rallies with better attendance, ahead of the start of polling on February 10. The options being considered by the EC, according to sources, include doing away with the existing cap of 1,000 participants and instead allowing people up to a certain percentage of the capacity of the open ground on which physical rally is to be held.

The Bombay high court bench at Nagpur has held that the Centre, by amending the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in March 2018, revived the twin conditions under Section 45(1) of the Act that make it tougher to obtain or grant bail. The conditions stipulate that when an accused in a money-laundering case applies for bail, the court has to first give an opportunity to the public prosecutor to be heard and only when court is satisfied that the accused is not guilty can it grant bail.

The government has placed a purchase order with Biological E for five crore doses of its Covid vaccine Corbevax, which are expected to arrive by the end of February and boost the availability of jabs under its corona-immunisation programme. The government may also use the vaccine to expand its vaccination drive to cover adolescents below 15 years since most states are reopening schools, sources have said.

Fresh cases of Covid-19 continued to fall sharply across the country, with less than 1.1 lakh new infections recorded on Saturday, while the deaths from the virus crossed 650 for the fourth time this week. India reported 107,731 fresh cases on Saturday, the lowest daily tally in a month since January 5 and down from 1,28,338 on the previous day.

India captain Rohit Sharma on Saturday admitted that some individuals in the team needed "role clarity" but he would prefer carrying on from where his predecessor Virat Kohli had left rather than trying to reinvent the wheel. In his first interaction with media as full-time ODI skipper, Rohit refrained from entertaining any questions on his likely elevation as Test captain.

Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that India does not have a prime minister but a king who expects the public to keep quiet when he takes a decision.

Polling in Uttar Pradesh would be held in seven phases starting on February 10. The second phase would be held on February 14, the third on February 20, the fourth on February 23, the fifth on February 27 and the final phase on March 7.