Here are top stories this Wednesday evening:

Coronavirus: Second nationwide dry run to be held on January 8 ahead of vaccine rollout

Days after successfully conducting a nationwide COVID-19 vaccination 'dry run' across the country, India is all set to conduct another pan-India dry run on January 8, this time, across all districts of the country. As per sources, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan will hold a virtual review meeting with the Health Ministers of all the states on January 7, regarding the mammoth inoculation drive. The state governments are expected to apprise the Health Minister about their plans and preparations to carry out the exercise.

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Bird Flu Outbreak: Health Ministry rushes multi-disciplinary teams to Kerala & Haryana

Amid the Bird Flu outbreak in various states across the country, the Union Health Ministry has deployed multi-disciplinary teams to the affected districts to review the situation of Avian Influenza. Two teams comprising of experts from the National Center for Disease Control, National Institute of Virology, PGIMER and RML Hospital and the Lady Hardinge Medical College have been deployed to Kerala and Haryana. The deployment of experts comes after the notification of the Animal Husbandry Department which noted the detection of the H5N8 virus from dead ducks in Alappuzha and Kottayam districts in Kerala and from poultry samples in Haryana's Panchkula.

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All India Farmers Association throws weight behind agrarian laws, shares 5 suggestions

Amid the ongoing farmers' protests, the All India Farmers Association (AIFA) extended support to the three agrarian laws passed by both Houses of Parliament in September 2020. A delegation met Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar under the leadership of former PM Lal Bahadur Shastri's grandson and AIFA working president Sanjay Nath Singh on Wednesday. In the memorandum submitted to Tomar, the farmers' body attributed the crisis in the agriculture sector to non-remunerative farming and price manipulation at the APMC markets by vested interests.

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TMC MLA Baishali Dalmiya rues Laxmi Ratan Shukla's resignation, exposes rot within party

A day after West Bengal Minister of State for Youth Services and Sports Laxmi Ratan Shukla resigned, fellow MLA Baishali Dalmiya laid bare the chinks within TMC. Speaking exclusively to Republic TV on Wednesday, Dalmiya claimed that some elements wanted to finish TMC from within. Expressing dismay over Shukla's decision, she attributed his unhappiness to a few leaders at the local level. Moreover, the daughter of former BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya opined that the exodus of leaders would pose a big challenge for TMC ahead of the 2021 WB Assembly polls.

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UK court denies bail to WikiLeaks' Julian Assange after blocking his extradition request

Julian Assange on January 6 has been denied bail just a couple of days after a British judge ruled that the Wikileaks founder should not be extradited to the United States to face charges including espionage.  The decision came after earlier this week UK court announced its verdict after a three-week extradition hearing in London’s Central Criminal Court. District Judge Vanessa Baraitser has reportedly ordered Assange to remain in jail as the courts consider the appeal by US authorities against a decision not to extradite him.

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