Breaking News: NSG leaves from Ludhiana Court, PM Modi Chairs COVID Review Meeting

Home Minister Amit Shah dials Punjab CM Channi to discuss Ludhiana Blast Case.

Police have registered FIR in Ludhiana blast case under sections 302, 307, 124A and 120B IPC and UAPA. Explosive substance act has also been imposed. FIR registered against unidentified person.

Suicide Bomber Angle Not Ruled Out In Ludhiana Blast Case, Say Sources

NSG team is expected to reach Ludhiana by 9pm. This team is from NSG’s bomb data centre. While NIA’s team will also carry out an examination of the bomb spot, NSG’s team will carry out the forensic examination.This team has left from Manesar.

"Their syllabus does not have Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas and Sabka Prayaas. Their syllabus and dictionary only have the mafia, family politics and land grabbing," he said while inaugurating developmental projects in Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi. 

Hyderabad High Court has directed the Telangana government to impose limitations on Christmas and New Year celebrations due to the severity of the Omicron variant. According to the Hyderabad High Court, the state government should apply limits similar to those imposed by Delhi and Maharashtra, considering the severity of the Omicron variation. The High Court heard the case today and ordered the State Government to guarantee that crowds do not congregate in large numbers for Christmas, New Year, and other holiday celebrations and that the Government issue directives in the next two to three days.

Telangana has reported a total of 38 Omicron infections and one case of local transmission. On Wednesday, the State Health Department announced that fourteen more Omicron cases have been detected in Telangana, bringing the total number of cases of the novel coronavirus variant in the state to 38. According to the bulletin, 12 of the 14 cases include travellers who arrived at the international airport from countries other than those classified in danger by the Centre, while two involve travellers from "at-risk" nations.

After AAP and BJP mocked the infighting in Congress' Uttarakhand unit ahead of the Assembly polls, former CM Harish Rawat again took to Twitter on Thursday. While refusing to elaborate on the meaning and implication of his earlier Twitter posts that had set the rumour mills abuzz, he disputed the notion that they were "special" in any manner.

Maintaining that they were just like his usual daily posts, Rawat slammed AAP and BJP leaders for commenting on the controversy and giving far-fetched statements. While BJP is Congress' principal opponent in Uttarakhand, AAP is also seeking to make inroads in the upcoming election. 

After two people lost their lives and many were taken injured in the Ludhiana court blast on Thursday, BJP leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa lashed out at Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi for linking the incident to elections instead of taking responsibility for law and order in the state. 

Stating that the incident was a result of instability in the Punjab government, Sirsa said Channi should accept his failure in governing the state and morally resign as Chief Minister. 

"I am shocked by the law and order situation in the state. The CM has claimed that the blast was aimed at creating unrest ahead of elections. When you are aware that such incidents could occur in the state before polls, why were you not prepared to keep the law and order under control? The CM should morally resign over his failure to prevent such an incident," the former SAD leader told Republic. 

The court made the observation on Wednesday while taking cognisance of the charge sheet filed against the CBI's sub-inspector Abhishek Tiwari, Deshmukh's lawyer Anand Daga and the politician's social-media handler Vaibhav Gajendra Tumane for allegedly trying to subvert the Bombay High Court directed preliminary enquiry against the ex-minister.

“It appears that accused persons i.e. Daga and Tumane were closely associated with Anil Deshmukh and may have been acting in tandem with him, who may be the controlling mind of the larger conspiracy, whereas the accused persons may only be hands, as he (Deshmukh) would have been and was the main beneficiary from the leakage of the contents of above PE and RC (case),” the judge said.

"For BJP to say that it is winning more than 300 seats this time, we don't think there is any substance in this. Otherwise, they wouldn't have made big announcements, laid the foundation stone for projects and inaugurated half-completed projects just a few days ahead of polls. Besides this, this party would haven't sent its national leaders and Union Ministers here," BSP supremo Mayawati rejected the possibility of BJP crossing the 300-seat mark in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls

 Eyewitnesses speaking to Republic informed about a major blast in the toilet of the court's second floor. 

One of them, advocate Saurabh Maheshwari while giving a detailed account of the incident said that a woman had died in the blast and the other person is yet to be identified. "The high-intense blast shook the entire court building and the windows on all the floors have shattered due to it. There is a situation of chaos and efforts are being made to evacuate the area and further prevent any other blast," he said. Also, ambulances and fire tenders are also present at the court premises. 

Ludhiana Police Commissioner while speaking to the media assured the situation is under control and confirmed the death of two people and two grave casualties.

"The forensic team is on its way and reports can be confirmed only after proper investigation," he said.

A day after the Ram Mandir land scam expose, Opposition leaders - AAP's Sanjay Singh, Congress' Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and SP's Anurag Bhaduariya on Thursday, demanded a court-monitored probe into it. Claiming an insult to faith, the Opposition have questioned how UP govt officials involved in the scam could probe it. CM Yogi Adityanath has ordered a probe after an investigative report found that govt officials and their relatives have purchased land around Ram Mandir construction site post-Ayodhya judgment. 

"A person from Prayagraj comes to Ayodhya, purchases 21 acres land from Dalits and then gifts it to a person from Ghaziabad for stamp paper worth Rs 10. The transaction has been made in the name of Maharshi Ramayan Vidya's name and then the trust sells it to many government officials. This is illegal and reeks of corruption," said AAP MP Sanjay Singh.

He added, "Adityanath ji has ordered his own officers to probe the land scam. The scam in which BJP MLAs, Mayor, Commissioner, DIG, DM, ADM, SDM are all involved in forgery, cannot be investigated by Adityanath Ji's officials. An SIT should be constituted under the supervision of the Supreme Court and the fraudsters should be put in jail".

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PM Narendra Modi inaugurates 22 developmental projects worth over Rs 870 crores in his parliamentary constituency He also lays the foundation stone for 'Banas Dairy Sankul', & distributes rural residential rights record ‘Gharauni'

"We need to take things seriously. We don't want a lockdown again. We request everyone in the House also to please wear a mask. I request Opposition leaders to speak responsibly on this issue."

Mumbai currently has climbed to 65 while COVID-19 cases indicated a surge with 495 cases in the last 24 hrs. 

As Karnataka Assembly debates the anti-conversion bill, a church has been attacked Chickaballapur on Thursday. As per visuals from the site, St. Anthony's statue at a church in Soosaipalya of Chickaballapur district was vandalised and the church's glass windows were broken. A massive faceoff is currently underway in the Karnataka Assembly between BJP and Congress over the legislation.

In the Assembly, state law minister JC Madhuswamy tabled the anti-conversion bill, stating the bill was first formulated in 2016 when Congress' Siddarmaiaih was the CM. He alleged the same bill has now been scrutinized by the BJP govt and tabled. Ex-CM Siddarmaiah denied that the bill was scrutinized under his cabinet which was countered by the BJP with 'documents'. Previously, Congress state chief DK Shivakumar walked off tearing the bill into pieces.

CM Basavaraj Bommai has defended the bill saying that it aimed to prevent religious conversions by inducements in the state. "Hinduism, Christianity, Islam and Sikhism and constitutionally recognised religion," he said. "There would be no hindrance to the worship and religious practices of people belonging to any religion. It is only to prevent conversions by inducements," he added.

In a crackdown on fake currency racket, two suppliers in the international syndicate of Circulation of Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) were arrested in the national capital on December 23. Sources have informed that fake notes worth Rs 8 crores being routed in India from Bangladesh was recovered by authorities. "Both have supplied fake notes worth Rs 8 crores in Delhi in the last two years," DCP Special Cell-Delhi Jasmeet Singh told ANI. 

Further, the Delhi Police informed that perpetrators were residing in the national capital for over two years and had channelled the fake currency notes for various unlawful purposes. The investigation is underway to unearth the syndicate. "The two accused had hatched a criminal conspiracy for procuring and circulating fake Indian currency notes to use the same as genuine Indian currency for unlawful gains," Singh added. 

Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly on Thursday passed a bill that provides for recovery of losses from the people and organisations responsible for damaging public and private properties during protests. The Madhya Pradesh Damage to Public and Property Recovery Bill, 2021 was tabled in the House by State Home and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Narottam Mishra on Wednesday. The bill was passed without discussion as the Opposition MPs staged a walkout in protest of other issues.

The law is aimed at those who damage properties by indulging in communal riots, during hartals (strikes), protests, and rallies, he said, adding that such offenders will face legal action. Speaking about the bill Mishra said the state government has decided to frame a stringent law to deal with those who indulge in damaging public and private properties during protests.

"For example, some incidents took place in Ujjain and in April in Indore wherein doctors who went to treat (coronavirus patients), stones were hurled at them," the Minister said.

"Such people, who hurl stones and cause damages... they should also pay for the loss of property. They roam scot-free in society. Such people should have a fear of law," he added.

In a shocking incident, an explosion has occurred at a Ludhiana court on Thursday at around 12:25 PM, killing two. Multiple police teams, forensic teams, and fire tenders have reached the spot. As per sources, the blast occurred in a women's washroom inside the court premises. The nature of the explosion is yet to be ascertained.  More details are awaited.

Every year on December 23, Kisan Diwas or National Farmers Day is commemorated in India. This day is celebrated to honour the Indian farmers as well as to show gratitude for their contributions to building the nation's economy. The day marks the birth anniversary of India's fifth Prime Minister, Chaudhary Charan Singh whose contributions to the country's agricultural development are commendable. 

As Indian farmers are the foundation and a significant component of rural development, Charan Singh gave a great deal of thought to farmer-friendly policies. Between July 1979 until January 1980, he served as Prime Minister of India. Because of the various schemes, he implemented for farmers during his term, the Indian government has designated Chaudhary Charan Singh's birthday as Kisan Diwas since 2001. 

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CM Bhupendrabhai Patel convened a high-level meeting & reviewed the current COVID19 situation in the state. He said that about 70,000 tests are done daily. 85% of the eligible population has received two doses of vaccine & 95% has received the first dose in the state: CMO

With a decline in temperature, the air pollution situation in the national capital remained in the 'very poor' category with the Air Quality Index touching 387. As updated by the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR)

SAFAR has also made a prediction of an improvement from December 24 onwards.

"The AQI today indicates ‘very poor’ air quality due to low mixing (ventilation) throughout the day. Moderate wind speed and low boundary layer height (typical of winter) is going to keep AQI in ‘very poor’ for next 2 days. An improvement is expected due to western disturbance from December 24 onwards", it added. 

Tamil Nadu with 33 fresh Omicron cases stands with a total of 34 cases of the new variant, informed Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian on Thursday. The state which had only one single case till Wednesday now has reported a major spike in the infections creating a situation of tension among the people. 

Providing further details on it, he said that out of the fresh infections, 26 cases of infections have been reported from Chennai, four from Madurai, two from Tiruvanamalai, and one from Salem. "All the patients are being treated in isolation and are asymptomatic. However, all of them are vaccinated and there is no need to panic or get scared", he assured. 

"In the last 24 hours, the movement of more than 280 trains has been affected due to protest demonstration by farmers in the Firozpur Division of the Northern Railway. While more than 400 trains have been affected in the last four days of protest," CPRO, Northern Railway stated. 

"Today India successfully testfired the Pralay conventional quasi ballistic missile which can hit targets between 150 to 500 kms. The test was conducted for a different range and different configuration* and met all the parameters," Government officials told ANI.

"A man, Jaisingh Rajput arrested by Mumbai Crime Branch Cyber Cell from Bengaluru for giving life threats to Maharashtra Minister Aaditya Thackeray. He had called the Minister on 8th Dec & left him threatening text messages after the latter didn't receive the call: Mumbai Police

As per the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the total number of Omicron cases across the country has grown to 236. According to the ministry, 104 of the 236 Omicron patients have recovered.

Telangana has reported 24 new Omicron cases, while Rajasthan has reported 21 new cases. Omicron instances have also been reported in Karnataka (19), Kerala (15), and Gujarat (14). In J&K, three cases of Omicron have been reported. Two instances of Omicron have been reported in each of the states of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, and Uttar Pradesh. At least one instance has been documented in Chandigarh, Ladakh, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal.

The Kerala High Court has come to the aid of a lawyer couple, one of them in the UK, by permitting the online solemnisation of their marriage as the groom was unable to come here due to the Omicron related travel restrictions.

When 25-year old lawyer Rintu Thomas and her fiance -- Anantha Krishnan Harikumaran Nair -- decided to get married more than a month ago, they never thought of the latest COVID-19 variant Omicron could put a spanner in the works.Nair, who is in the UK for higher studies, had booked tickets to come to India on December 22 for the wedding scheduled on December 23, but due to the worldwide Omicron outbreak, he was not in a position to travel.

In these circumstances, Thomas moved the high court seeking a direction to the state of Kerala and the Marriage Officer, in the Sub-Registrar's office at Malayinkeezhu in Thiruvananthapuram, to permit them to conduct their marriage via virtual or online mode.

The court directed the Marriage Officer to solemnise the couple's marriage or register the marriage, as the case may be, through online mode subject to the conditions that the witnesses will be physically present before the official and shall identify the parties who are online.

Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel alleged that the district collector had warned him from talking about the Lakhimpur massacre. Baghel, Congress' UP election in-charge, added that he was told not to talk about Union MoS Ajay Mishra's son - Ashish, who mowed down farmers. Ajay Mishra's son - Ashish and nine others have been arrested in connection to the Lakhimpur violence.

"When we were preparing for this rally, Collector refused to permit it. When we asked why he said you can rally but don't mention the Lakhimpur incident, don't talk about farmers. I, who was born in a farm family and now become CM due to Congress, will not talk about farmers? I was told that you cannot talk about that Teni's son who mowed down farmers in Lakhimpur." 

"Is this democracy? Yogiji keeps saying he has stopped Gundaraj, but Collector is the biggest Gunda who is issuing orders that a CM can't speak here. Why can't we meet the victims' kin? We did it. Do whatever you want to do, Bhupesh Baghel will stand here." The 403-seat UP assembly where Yogi rules with an iron-clad majority of 314 seats, is up for grabs in February 2022.  

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram slammed the Centre on Thursday after I&B Minister Anurag Thakur disagreed with India's ranking on the 'World Press Freedom Index' citing "lack of clear definition of press freedom" among other reasons. As per the 2021 index, India retained the 142nd rank among 180 countries across the globe in press freedom.

Taking a dig at the government over the ranking, Chidambaram said, "the definition (of press freedom in India) is quite simple and obvious: Press Freedom is the freedom that was taken away by the Modi government."

The Congress leader claimed that the voices of several news media companies and journalists were being muzzled by the BJP government. He also cites two media companies that were being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate had the Income Tax Department in separate cases.

Chidambaram asked the Modi government to restore freedom, in order to improve India's ranking in the Press Freedom Index.

Amid a surge in Omicron cases and never-ending speculations over the same, PM Modi is set to commence the COVID-19 review meeting at 6:30 pm. 

CBI nabbed 11 persons in connection with the Pearl Agro Corporation Limited (PACL) chit fund scam to the tune of Rs 60,000 crores. The arrested people include employees of the company as well as some businessmen. The group has allegedly cheated at least five crore people across the country on the pretext of lucrative schemes.

Moreover, it is believed that the owners of the group had brought many properties abroad, including hotels with the money that was taken from the people who were investors. CBI Spokesperson RC Joshi has informed that 11 people have been arrested namely Chandra Bhushan Dhillon, Prem Nath, Manmohan Kamal Mahajan, Mohanlal Sehjpal, Kanwaljit Singh Tore. Joshi added that all accused belong to the Pearl Group.

Two recent British researches offered preliminary evidence that the new COVID-19 variant Omicron is milder than Delta. Hospitalisation risks for Omicron instances in England were estimated by the Imperial College London COVID-19 response team, who discovered that individuals infected with the variant are approximately 20% less likely to be admitted to a hospital at all than those affected with the delta variant and even has 40% less possibility to be hospitalised for a night or more. 

Furthermore, another research conducted by scientists at the University of Edinburgh and other specialists in Scotland found that Omicron had a two-third lower risk of hospitalisation than delta. However, the approximately 24,000 omicron instances in Scotland were mostly among young individuals aged 20 to 39, according to the research. Younger persons have a lower risk of developing severe COVID-19 infections. 

Even though the findings of both the researches have shown some positive outcomes, yet, scientists warn that any decreases in intensity are required to be considered against the fact that Omicron spreads considerably quicker than Delta and is more resistant to vaccinations. Hospitals may still be overwhelmed by the sheer volume of infections, AP reported.  

World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in Geneva, during his final press briefing, said, "no country can boost their way out."

Two recent British researches offered preliminary evidence that the new COVID-19 variant Omicron is milder than Delta. Hospitalisation risks for Omicron instances in England were estimated by the Imperial College London COVID-19 response team, who discovered that individuals infected with the variant are approximately 20% less likely to be admitted to a hospital at all than those affected with the delta variant and even has 40% less possibility to be hospitalised for a night or more. 

Furthermore, another research conducted by scientists at the University of Edinburgh and other specialists in Scotland found that Omicron had a two-third lower risk of hospitalisation than delta. However, the approximately 24,000 omicron instances in Scotland were mostly among young individuals aged 20 to 39, according to the research. Younger persons have a lower risk of developing severe COVID-19 infections. 

Taking to Twitter, the former Finance Minister shared, "If the third wave affects and infects a large number of vaccinated Indians, the government alone will be to blame."

"Now is the time to allow the use of other approved vaccines like Pfizer and Moderna. In its misguided zeal to protect the economic interests of the Serum Institute of India (protectionism), the government is putting millions of vaccinated Indians vulnerable to infection," he added. 

Amid rumours of a rift with poll strategist Prashant Kishor, TMC Rajya Sabha MP Derek O'Brien revealed the extent of the Indian Political Action Committee's association with his party. Speaking to the media on Wednesday, he made a clear distinction between TMC and I-PAC stressing that the latter does not necessarily reflect the views of the Mamata Banerjee-led party.

This comes even as TMC has slammed Congress for not playing an effective role in the opposition, inducted many of its leaders and even dismissed the notion that the United Progressive Alliance exists. TMC spokesperson Derek O'Brien affirmed, "TMC is the first political party who have hired I-PAC for five years and they have certain deliverables to do. I-PAC has reach-out on the ground, communication and social media. All this is evaluated by the national working committee chaired by Mamata Banerjee". 

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In light of the repeated targeted attacks by terrorists on Jammu and Kashmir Police (JKP) personnel, armed forces, and civilians the Union Home Ministry has called a high-level meeting with the top brass of Police and Intelligence agencies in New Delhi today, December 23. 

The meeting, called by Union Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla will be attended by top officials of the Home Ministry and heads of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs).

A Counter Strategy to the targeted killings and winter strategy will be the main agenda of the MHA meeting. Besides the security situation, officials may also discuss the functioning of the newly created State Investigation Agency (SIA) on the lines of National Investigation Agency (NIA), modernization of Police Stations and Police Posts, and misuse of certain prisons by the militants.

Director-General of Police (DGP) Dilbag Singh and DGP CID Rashmi Ranjan Swain, who is also head of the SIA, are likely to attend the meeting among others from J&K.

As of now, as many as 14 countries ranging from Singapore to Germany have authorised the use of booster doses. Countries such as the United States, South Africa and Germany have mandated a booster dose within six months of their last dose.

France, Singapore, Taiwan, Italy and Australia have a five-month booster dose policy. In addition to this, countries like the United Kingdom, South Korea, Thailand and Finland have implemented a three-month booster policy whereas Spain and Lithuania have authorised booster doses for their 'at-risk' population.

Dr VK Paul from NITI Aayog told ANI that the Union Health Minister has said in Parliament that "the need, timing and nature of boosting will be based on scientific decisions and thinking that is what the government is engaged with."

Gujarat Police disclosed on Wednesday that no slogans in favour of Pakistan were prima facie raised during the rally of a candidate who won the village panchayat election in Kutch district contrary to the claims made on social media.

A police officer said that a probe will be conducted and action will be taken against the people who spread the misinformation that some people shouted 'Pakistan Zindabad' during the victory rally of Reenaben Radhubhai Kothiwad, soon after the election result was declared in Dudhai village on Tuesday.      

On December 21, Gujarat Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi had cited this video and directed Kutch (East) SP and Border Range IG to take immediate action. The video had gone viral on social media with accompanying messages claiming that a group of people raised pro-Pakistan slogans during the victory procession of the woman candidate. 

READ | Gujarat gram panchayat polls: Voter turnout over 77%, says State Election Commission

"Reenaben Radhubhai Kothiwad won the election as the woman sarpanch of Dudhai village, results of which were declared on Tuesday. In her victory rally, her supporters shouted 'Radhubhai zindabad' twice. However, some people misrepresented the video to claim that people shouted 'Pakistan zindabad," Superintendent of Police (Kutch East), Mayur Patil told reporters

PM Modi will launch a series of development initiatives in Varanasi. He will lay the foundation stone of 'Banas Dairy Sankul' in an effort to develop the rural economy and assist farmers in the region. PM Modi to give rural residential rights record 'Gharauni' to over 20 lakh people of Uttar Pradesh.

In Varanasi, the Prime Minister will launch and lay the foundation stone for 22 development projects worth Rs. 870 crores. Urban development, health, education, road infrastructure, and tourism are among the sectors covered by projects. Projects are aimed towards bolstering Varanasi's ongoing 360-degree development. 

The Prime Minister has made it a point to work for the development and economic advancement of Varanasi, his seat. In this vein, PM Modi will visit Varanasi on December 23, 2021, at around 1 p.m., to launch a slew of development programmes. At the UP State Industrial Development Authority Food Park, Karkhiyaon, Varanasi, the Prime Minister will lay the foundation stone for the 'Banas Dairy Sankul.' The Dairy, which will be built on 30 acres of land and cost over Rs 475 crores, will have the capacity to process 5 lakh litres of milk each day. This will enhance the rural economy and provide new prospects for the region's farmers.

In addition, the Prime Minister would digitally transfer a bonus of Rs 35 crore to the bank accounts of around 1.7 lakh milk farmers linked with Banas Dairy.

The White House undervalued a statement by the US Secret Service department who claimed that nearly $100 billion has been frauded from COVID relief funds, saying that the amount estimate was based on two old reports. Speaking at a regular press briefing on Wednesday, White House Jen Psaki when asked to shed light on the mammoth figure in question she stated that "there is no new research, data, or analysis of fraud here." Emphasising that the said fraud amount was a result of "just an adding up" of two old reports of precedented challenges involving small business loans and unemployment insurance payments.

"It is also important to note that even those two older analyses combined payments that include mistakes in over and underpayments but it was a reference to two older IG reports," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement, on Wednesday presser.

In a horrifying incident in Bihar's Gopalganj, a boy brutally stabbed a girl 13 times after she opposed molestation and groping attempts made by the accused. The gruesome attack was caught on nearby CCTV cameras and the incident took place at a crossroad in broad daylight. Identified as Mohammad Ashraf Ali's son Mohammad Guddan Ali, he is seen stabbing the girl all over her body as she resists his physical contact. 

The crime occurred in Pratappur village of Manjhagarh jurisdiction and reports suggest that the accused was her stalker. The girl, a grade VIII student, resisted his notice but was stabbed about 13 times in 15 seconds duration. Based on CCTV camera's footage, the juvenile was identified and nabbed by local police. 

The victim was rushed to Sadar hospital in Gopalganj and she has been referred to Patna Medical College for further medical attention. In the video that is doing rounds, the victim was walking on the road with two other girls while Guddan Ali was standing across the road with a bunch of boys. As soon as the girl drifted away from her group, Guddan Ali is seen attacking her mercilessly with a knife. In what appears to be lethal, he mindlessly attacked her face in the first attack while bystanders hop in to pull Guddan Ali away. 

Local police have informed that investigation, based on CCTV footage and eyewitnesses, is underway.

Watch the incident caught on camera here.

A Delhi Court on Wednesday has directed the authorities to register an FIR against senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid who compared the "Sanatan" Hindu religion with terrorist organisations Boko Haram and ISIS in his book. Khurshid had recently sparked a row with the said comparison in his new book titled  "Sunrise Over Ayodhya: Nationhood in our times". His remarks in the book had led to massive outrage and even his house in Nainital was vandalised. 

The order to register the FIR against the former Union Minister was given by Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Shantanu Tyagi. The Delhi Court has therefore directed the Bakshi Ka Talab police in-charge to get the FIR lodged. It has been asked to register the FIR under the relevant provisions of law and ensure a proper investigation in the matter.

"The copy of the FIR be sent to the court within the next three days," the magistrate said.

Fourteen more Omicron cases have been reported in Telangana, taking the total number of cases of the new coronavirus variant in the State to 38, the State Health Department said on Wednesday.

Of the 14 cases, 12 are passengers who arrived at the international airport from countries other than those declared at risk by the Centre, while two are from "at risk" countries, it said in a bulletin.

The bulletin said four samples are awaited with regard to their Omicron status.

Meanwhile, Telangana reported 182 new COVID-19 cases, pushing the tally to 6,80,074, while the death toll rose to 4,017 with one more fatality.

The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) accounted for the most number of cases with 91, followed by Hanumakonda (18) district, a bulletin said, providing details as of 5.30 PM today.

The number of recoveries outnumbered fresh cases with 196 people recovering from the infectious disease. The cumulative number of recoveries till date was 6,72,447.

The number of active cases was 3,610, the bulletin said.

Two foreign returnees, who had tested positive for COVID-19, on Wednesday were found to have been infected by the Omicron variant, a senior health official said.

One of them had returned from Nigeria and the other from United Kingdom, he said.

"We have received genome sequencing results for three samples today and among them, two were positive for Omicron strain. The other was suffering from the delta variant," he said.

International travellers who test positive for COVID-19 after their RT PCR tests at the airport on their arrival to the city will not be allowed to progress to their destinations, the state health department said on Wednesday.

“These passengers must be put in separate isolation in any of the health facilities identified for this purpose. Any traveller testing positive for COVID-19 on a later date, who has a history of travel in the last 14 days to a country at risk for Omicron will be subjected to a similar isolation measure as above,” the health department directed.

The department said that the airport authorities must ensure that the specimens of the tests are collected on the arrival of the international passengers and sent to the School of Tropical Medicine for genome sequencing.

There should be an enclosure, a room or a ward, for separate isolation exclusively for the COVID affected and there should be no mixing with other positive cases.

"The isolation should have a separate toilet and bathroom so that there is no mixup with other cases within the facility,” the order said.

"No case of Omicron has been reported in Bihar so far. Nevertheless, Govt is alert & conducting average daily COVID testing of 1.75 lakh. For genome sequencing, a lab has been set up at Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences," Bihar Health Minister Mangal Pandey

Haryana Government is expected to reduce the age limit to consume liquor to 21 years. On Wednesday, the state assembly amended its Excise Act to reduce the legal age to consume, purchase or sell liquor and other intoxicant drugs from 25 years to 21 years.

Presenting the bill on the concluding day of the Winter Session, the Haryana government said, "At the time of framing the Excise Policy for the year 2021-22, it was discussed that the age limit may be reduced from 25 years to 21 years, as many of other states have prescribed lower age limits. The National Capital Territory of Delhi has also recently reduced the age limit to 21 years. Moreover, the socio-economic conditions of the day have changed drastically from the time when the provisions were incorporated in the Excise Act."

It added, "People now are more educated and participating in new endeavours and also can take rational decisions when it comes to responsible drinking. Accordingly, The Haryana Excise (Amendment) Bill, 2021 has been passed to reduce the minimum age limit of 25 years as provided in Sections 27, 29, 30 and 62 of the Haryana Excise Act, 1914 to 21 years.”

The United Kingdom reported a record high COVID caseload amid the ongoing spread of the Omicron variant. As reported by AFP, the UK recorded around 1,06,122 virus cases in the last 24 hours.

The surge in cases was seen at a time when the global spread of the newly detected, highly mutated variant has become a cause of worry. Moreover, UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid announced earlier in the day that the self-isolation period for people who test positive for COVID-19 in England will be reduced from 10 to seven days. This will be for those who produce two negative lateral flow test (LFT) results on days six and seven since the start of their quarantine.

After Samajwadi Party (SP) supremo Akhilesh Yadav's wife Dimple Yadav and their daughter tested positive for COVID-19, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath made a phone call to his predecessor Akhilesh to enquire about his wife and daughter's health. 

After contracting the virus, Dimple Yadav took to Twitter on Wednesday and said, "I got the COVID test done, and the report is positive. I am fully vaccinated and am still not showing any symptoms. For the safety of myself and others, I have isolated myself. All the people who have met me recently are requested to get their tests done soon."

Former US President Donald Trump announced he will hold a press conference on January 6-- the day on which the US Capitol was attacked by the supporters of Trump last year. According to the statement released by Trump, he will host the presser at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on January 6, Thursday. In the statement, the 45th US President said the main agenda of his press conference will be the 2020 Presidential "election fraud"-- a claim that the US Court and investigating agency had denied multiple times. Further, Trump went on to criticise the  House Select Committee which is currently investigating the Capitol seize. He called the investigator group as "Unselect Committee" and accused them of working under the influence of the Democratic party. 

"Why isn't the Unselect Committee of highly partisan political hacks investigating the CAUSE of the January 6th protest, which was the rigged Presidential Election of 2020?" Trump wrote in a statement.

US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has okayed the emergency use authorisation (EUA) for Pfizer’s Paxlovid tablets. Paxolvid consists of Nirmatrelvir and Ritonavir tablets, co-packaged for oral, and can be used for the treatment of mild-to-moderate coronavirus disease in adults and pediatric (12 years of age and older weighing at least 40 kilograms) patients, according to a statement released by the FDA on Wednesday.

The FDA said that the oral medication can be used for the treatment of those who are at high risk for progression to suffer from severe COVID-19, including hospitalisation or death. Though the President Joe Biden-led administration had announced the procurement of the pills in early November this year, the final distribution will be possible either before the end of this year or the first week of 2022.

Delhi High Court affirmed that dowry death cases of wives cannot be repealed by simple settlement between the accused and the complainant. This comes after the HC had recently refused to quash an FIR filed against a man after his wife died by suicide due to alleged harassment for dowry. Single-judge Justice Mukta Gupta stated that demand for dowry is a social evil and if it leads to a woman's death, it is a crime against society.

As per Bar and Bench, the HC stated, "In the present case a woman has committed suicide within five months of the marriage due to the harassment caused by the husband and his family members and the offence punishable under Section 304-B IPC is not only a grave and heinous offence but an offence against the society actuated by the social evil of demand of dowry, thus needs deterrence and, therefore, cannot be quashed on the basis of settlement arrived at between the accused and the complainant."

After two terror attacks were witnessed in Jammu and Kashmir, killing one in Anantanag's Bijbejara and another in Srinagar's Eidgah, Jammu & Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) vice president Omar Abdullah condemned the twin attacks, extending his condolences to the kin of the deceased.

Taking to Twitter, the JKNC leader prayed for the souls of the departed and unreservedly condemned the twin attacks. 

Ahead of polls in Uttar Pradesh, the political scenario in the state is heating up with leaders across parties making claims and counterclaims. In one such claim, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said that her children's Instagram accounts had been hacked. 

"Leave phone tapping. Instagram accounts of my children have also been hacked, " Vadra had claimed, adding, "Has the government no work?" Vadra's remarks were in response to questions asking her about allegations of phone tapping of opposition leaders by the BJP-led Central government.