Breaking: Punjab logs 7,396 new Covid-19 cases, 13 deaths; positivity rate at 20.76%

Noted thespian Saoli Mitra has died in Kolkata. Her family made the news public at night after cremation as she wished. Mitra was the daughter of legendary theatre artistes Shambhu Mitra and Tripti Mitra, and also the recipient of the Sangeet Natak and Padma Shree awards.

Goa: Former Curtorim MLA Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco has resigned from the primary membership of the Trinamool Congress Party: Mahua Moitra, Lok Sabha MP and AITC Goa in-charge

Lourenco resigned from Congress and joined TMC on December 21

Jammu and Kashmir: Terrorists lobbed a grenade on security forces in the Saraf Kadal area of Old Srinagar city. A cop and a civilian were left injured in the attack, more details are awaited.

Maharashtra | International passengers arriving from UAE including Dubai in Mumbai are now exempted from compulsorily 7-day home quarantine, RT-PCR on arrival: BMC

Haridwar Court sent religious leader Yati Narsinghanand to 14-day judicial custody in the ‘Dharm Sansad’ hate speech case: Haridwar Police

Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi’s brother Manohar Singh, who was eyeing a Congress ticket from Bassi Pathana assembly seat, on Sunday said he will contest as an independent from the constituency after the ruling party fielded its sitting legislator. In its first list of 86 candidates, Congress on Saturday gave the ticket to party MLA Gurpreet Singh GP from Bassi Pathana (SC) seat.

“As a result of country’s solidarity & PM Modi’s commitment during #COVID19, India not only manufactured vaccines but also vaccinated large part of population in short time,” tweeted Union health minister Mansukh Madaviya.

Schools have been declared shut in Tamil Nadu for all classes, due to an increase in the number of Covid-19 cases in the state. The exams which were supposed to be held on January 19 are now postponed: Tamil Nadu govt

“Today is an important day for us as we’ve completed one year of vaccine drive,” said Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya. “The world is amazed by our vaccination drive; over 156 crore doses have been administered. 93 per cent of people above 18 years of age are vaccinated with the first dose of the vaccine and 70 per cent of the population is fully vaccinated.” 

Djokovic released a statement shortly after three Federal Court judges unanimously upheld a decision made on Friday by Immigration Minister Alex Hawke to cancel the 34-year-old Serb’s visa on public interest grounds because he is not vaccinated for Covid-19. Read More

Taking a dig at Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath eating lunch at a Dalit’s household in Gorakhpur on Makar Sankranti on January 14, Akhilesh said: “You all must have seen he ate Khichdi with so much disinterest. He must be remembering, oh we forgot to send shampoo, soap (for the family to have a wash beforehand)… He ate khichidi for votes.”

Former UP minister Dara Singh Chauhan joins Samajwadi Party in the presence of SP supremo Akhilesh Yadav, in Lucknow.

“I welcome Dara Singh Chauhan and his supporters who have come along large numbers,” Yadav said.

Novak Djokovic’s hopes of playing at the Australian Open were dashed Sunday after a court dismissed the top-ranked tennis star’s appeal against a deportation order. Read more

Uttar Pradesh has extended Covid-19 restrictions and closed all schools, colleges and educational institutions till January 23 in view of the rising infections.

North Korea train makes first crossing into China since border lockdown, reports Reuters.

Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya hails India’s vaccination drive as “the most successful in the world,” as the country completes one year of nationwide vaccination drive.

India’s cumulative Covid-19 vaccination coverage has exceeded 156.76 crore. More than 66 lakh vaccine doses have been administered in the last 24 hours.

Chief Secretary, Telangana told news agency ANI, “It has been decided to extend the vacation of all educational institutions in Telangana till January 30, 2022.”

All Texas synagogue hostages are out ‘alive and safe’, says governor Greg Abbott.

India’s Covid-19 tally continued its upward trend with 2,71,202 new cases on Sunday. Active cases rose by 1,32,557, while 314 new deaths were accounted.

Tsunami threat from Tonga volcano eruption has ‘passed’, reports news agency AFP.

Delhi’s air quality remains in the ‘very poor’ category, with overall AQI at 301 as per the data provided by System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR)-India.

“A hostage was released uninjured,” said the Colleyville police department in a statement. Four people were held hostage in Dallas-area synagogue by a man demanding the release of convicted Pakistan scientist Aafia Siddiqui.

As many as 81 Mumbai policemen tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, informed police on Saturday. With this, the tally of positive police personnel rose to 1,312 in the city.