LIVE! We need to be cautious: WHO ex-top official on JN.1

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Thu, 21 December 2023

We need to be cautious: WHO ex-top official on JN.1

Timeline Refresh

23:59 Kerala woman arrested for killing differently-abled daughter

An eight-year-old differently-abled girl was allegedly choked to death and then dumped into a well by her mother in Chirayinkeezhu in Thiruvananthapuram district, the police said on Thursday.

The victim, Anushka, was reportedly missing from her home along with her mother since Tuesday.

The shocking murder of the girl came to light when the mother, Mini (48) confessed to the crime at the police station on Thursday.

She reached the police station to own up to her crime and was later arrested.

According to the woman's confession statement, she attempted to end her life after killing her differently-abled daughter following a family dispute.

She said that she had choked her daughter to death before dumping her body into the well at their house.

"Although she also jumped into the well, Mini claimed to have climbed back up later when she started suffocating," a police officer said.

The police were already investigating the disappearance of the mother and daughter based on a complaint filed by her husband.

The woman's arrest has been recorded under IPC 302 (murder). -- PTI

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23:37 Man tests Covid positive in UP's Noida, first case in several months

A Noida resident has tested positive for Covid, in a first case of the infection in Uttar Pradesh's Gautam Buddh Nagar after several months, officials said on Thursday.

The patient is a 54-year-old male who lives in Noida but works at a multinational company in Gurugram, Gautam Buddh Nagar chief medical officer Dr Sunil Sharma said.

"His test sample has been sent to Delhi for genome sequencing. The result is awaited," Sharma said.

District surveillance officer and public healthcare expert Dr Amit Kumar said the patient travelled to Nepal earlier this month and also went to work at his Gurugram office after returning.

"The patient is asymptomatic and went for the COVID-19 test on his own," Kumar said, adding that this is the only confirmed case in Gautam Buddh Nagar so far.

CMO Sharma said testing for the virus had come down in the district this year.

People can get themselves tested for Covid at primary and community health centres here and the district hospital, he added.

The healthcare department, meanwhile, urged residents to practise Covid-appropriate measures amid concerns over the infection spreading once again. -- PTI

Dr Soumya Swaminathan

23:15 We need to be cautious: WHO ex-top official on JN.1

Amid the rising new JN.1 COVID-19 variant scare, former World Health Organisation chief scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan asserted that there is no need to panic currently as it is a variant of interest and not of concern.

However, she urged people to be cautious by taking proper precautionary measures.

Speaking to ANI exclusively, Dr Soumya Swaminathan, former DG, of the Indian Council of Medical Research said, "We need to be cautious, but we don't need to worry because we don't have any data to suggest that this variant JN.1 is more severe or it's going to cause more pneumonia, more death."

"I think what we need to do is try to take the normal preventive measures that we are all now familiar with. We were familiar with Omicron, so it's the same family. So not much has changed, but 1 or 2 new mutations have come up. And that's why I think WHO has said let's keep a watch on it. It's a variant of interest. It's not a variant of concern," she said.

She further advised precautions to avoid infection, "Avoid being in a very closed environment with very poor ventilation with toxic people without a mask. So do wear a mask if you're in that type of very close setting because prolonged exposure to somebody infected increases the risk of infection." -- ANI

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23:08 Arunachal to transfer ex-MLA killing case to NIA

The Arunachal Pradesh government on Thursday decided to transfer the case relating to the murder of former MLA Yumsem Matey to the National Investigation Agency, a home department official said.

The government decided to transfer the case following a request from the police department, deputy home secretary Likha Sampu said in a statement in Itanagar.

Matey was shot dead by unknown assailants at Lazu circle of Tirap district, near the Indo-Myanmar border, on December 15. Matey, a former Congress legislator, along with three of his followers had gone to Lazu for some personal work when someone took him towards a jungle on some pretext and killed him on the spot.

Matey debuted as an MLA on a Congress ticket in 2009. After losing the 2014 election, he joined the BJP in 2015.

Out of the 239 insurgency-related fatalities in the state since March 2000, 183 have occurred in the Tirap-Changlang-Longding region, according to official data. -- PTI

Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai

22:57 Chhattisgarh cabinet to be expanded tomorrow, 9 ministers to be inducted: CM

The Chhattisgarh cabinet will be expanded on Friday with the induction of nine ministers, Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai said in Raipur.

Nine MLAs will be sworn in as ministers at the Raj Bhavan at 11:45am, he told reporters on Thursday.

Brijmohan Agrawal, Ramvichar Netam, Dayaldas Baghel, Kedar Kashyap, Lakhanlal Dewangan, Shyambihari Jaiswal, OP Chaudhary, Tank Ram Verma and Laxmi Rajwade will take oath as ministers, he added.

"Very soon portfolios will be allotted. One more cabinet berth will be filled later," CM Sai told reporters.

Chhattisgarh can have a maximum of 13 ministers, including the CM.

Currently, the cabinet has three members -- chief minister Sai and two deputy CMs Arun Sao and Vijay Sharma.

They were sworn in on December 13.

The BJP came back to power in the state by ousting the Congress in the assembly polls held on November 7 and 17.

Results were declared on December 3. -- PTI

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22:25 Tie-up with AAP for LS polls suicidal: Punjab Cong leader

Punjab Congress leader Bharat Bhushan Ashu on Thursday said any alliance with Aam Aadmi Party for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls would be "suicidal" as it would come at the risk of ignoring the party workers' sentiments.

Addressing a party event, the former Punjab Minister said if such an alliance comes to a pass, he would prefer to sit at home instead of campaigning for the alliance candidates.

Ashu, who is currently the Working President of the Punjab Congress, asserted that the Congress is strong enough in Punjab to give a crushing defeat to the AAP and BJP in next year's Lok Sabha elections.

Ashu's statement comes as seat-sharing calculations continue apace in the INDIA bloc.

Earlier too, some Punjab Congress leaders voiced their sentiment against any tie-up with AAP for LS polls.

Punjab Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa had a few weeks back said that the sentiments of party cadre in the state are against any alliance with the ruling Aam Aadmi Party. -- PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a public meeting in Ayodhya on December 30, officials said on Thursday.

Before the meeting, Modi will inaugurate the Ayodhya Airport and the Ayodhya railway station, they said.

The meeting will be held at a ground next to the airport.

On Thursday, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath inspected the venue of the public meeting, the official here said.

The prime minister will also flag off two trains from the Ayodhya railway station, including a Vande Bharat.

Ayodhya commissioner Gaurav Dayal said Prime Minister Modi will be reaching Ayodhya on December 30 and will address the public meeting.

He will also inaugurate the airport and the railway station, he said.

He said that preparations regarding the visit of the prime minister will be completed on time. -- PTI

22:06 Early end to tumultuous Winter Session of Parl

Parliament's Winter Session was adjourned sine die on Thursday, a day ahead of schedule ending three frenetic weeks that saw a security breach in Lok Sabha, suspension of 146 MPs and the expulsion of Trinamool Congress member Mahua Moitra in the "bribe-for-query" case.

The session, which began on December 4, saw both Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha running largely peacefully for the first week but the scenario changed after December 13.

On the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament attack, two people jumped into the chamber of the Lower House of Parliament from the public gallery during the Zero Hour, released yellow gas from canisters and shouted slogans before being overpowered by MPs.

During the session, both the Houses approved some key bills such as those to replace colonial-era laws Indian Penal Code, Indian Evidence Act, Code of Criminal Procedure, Telegraph Act and Press and Registration of Books Act.

These bills were passed by voice vote with almost empty opposition benches in the House.

While 100 MPs were suspended from Lok Sabha, another 46 from Rajya Sabha for unruly behaviour, disrupting proceedings and showing placards and raising slogans over the breach issue.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said the House recorded 74 per cent productivity, and 18 draft legislations, including the new criminal justice bills, were passed.

Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said the Upper House was able to transact business for 65 hours during the 14 sittings. -- PTI

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde/File image

21:36 Maha CM Shinde chairs Covid review meet, says govt fully prepared to tackle situation

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Thursday held a meeting to review the COVID-19 situation in the state in view of the detection of the JN.1 sub variant in some parts of the country.

The state was fully prepared to tackle the situation and people must not panic but should take precautions, especially due to the upcoming festival and new year season, Shinde said.

In his address after the meeting that he chaired through video conferencing, Shinde said the symptoms of the new sub variant were mild but it seems to spread faster.

During the meeting, the CM was informed that Maharashtra has 63,000 isolation beds to tackle the ailment, a release by the Thane district information office said.

He was also informed that the state currently has 45 COVID-19 patients, including 27 in Mumbai, eight each in Pune and Thane and one each in Kolhapur and Raigad.

He directed officials to ensure hospitals are fully equipped with oxygen plants, ventilators, beds and also took stock of the availability of medicines and vaccines, the release said. -- PTI

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21:24 Central Railway to install panic switches at 117 railway stations

The Central Railway will be installing panic switches at 117 railway stations on its network, a top official said in Mumbai on Thursday.

Speaking at his first news conference after taking charge of the post, Central Railway general manager Ram Karan Yadav said two panic switches will be installed on each platform at 117 stations.

In case of emergency, a passenger can press the button to seek help from the Railway Protection Force.

A senior CR official said the Central Railway has signed an MoU with RailTel for the installation.

"On pressing the panic button, the RPF control will get an alert and immediate help will be sent to the passengers by checking the CCTV," the official said.

The work is expected to be complete within a year.

Yadav further said that all ladies coaches in the CR's local trains in Mumbai will get emergency talkback system and CCTV cameras by March 2024. -- PTI

File image/Radovan Stoklasa/Reuters

21:06 Several dead, dozens hurt in Czech varsity shooting

Several people have been killed and dozens hurt after a gunman reportedly opened fire at people in a university in Czech Republic's capital Prague on Thursday, said a BBC report quoting the country's police officials.

The police said that the accused gunman has also been 'eliminated' and the building was being evacuated.

More details awaited.

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20:52 New criminal laws get Parl nod as RS passes bills with voice vote

Three new bills that seek to overhaul the colonial-era criminal laws, making punishments more stringent for crimes such as terrorism, lynching, and offences endangering national security, were approved by Parliament on Thursday.

The bills were passed in the Rajya Sabha by voice vote.

The Lok Sabha had approved these on Wednesday.

The bills that repeal and replace the Indian Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure and the Indian Evidence Act will usher in a new era in the criminal justice system, Home Minister Amit Shah said while replying to a debate in the Upper House of Parliament.

The Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha (Second) Sanhita and the Bharatiya Sakshya (Second) Bills will now go to the president for her assent, upon which these will become laws.

Just like in the Lok Sabha, the legislations were passed in the Rajya Sabha in the absence of most opposition MPs, who were suspended for unruly behaviour while pressing for a discussion on the December 13 security breach in Parliament.

Replying to the debate, Shah said once the new criminal laws are implemented, the entire process from FIR to judgment will be online.

Their implementation will ensure the end of the 'tareekh-pe-tareek'-era and justice will be delivered in three years, he said. -- PTI

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20:45 Tiger dies of electrocution in Maharashtra's Chandrapur; one held

A sub-adult tiger died of electrocution in a private farmland in Maharashtra's Chandrapur district on Thursday, forest officials said.

A man has been arrested in connection with the death of the big cat in Sindewahi tehsil of the district, they said.

A male sub-adult tiger aged around 1.5-2.5 years was found dead in a private farmland.

The tiger died after coming in contact with a live wire there, a senior forest department official said.

One person has been arrested over the tiger's death and more arrests will be made in this connection, said the official, adding that the carcass was sent for post-mortem. -- PTI

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20:27 Genome sequencing of all Covid samples to be done: U'khand

Genome sequencing of all Covid positive samples will be done in Uttarakhand, health secretary R Rajesh Kumar said on Thursday.

Though no case of the new Covid sub variant JN.1 has been detected in the state, a detailed guideline in view of its detection in several states has been issued and hospitals and health centres asked to remain in alert mode, he said.

Daily monitoring has begun and officials have been asked to start campaigns to create awareness about the new Covid sub variant, Kumar who held a meeting with all DMs and CMOs via video conferencing said.

"The health department is ready to deal with any situation. We appeal to people in general to follow the Covid guidelines. Sampling is being done at all hospitals and suspected patients are being monitored," he said.

The Congress on Thursday asserted that it would be in election mode without any delay and candidates for the Lok Sabha polls would be decided soon with the constitution of the screening committee this month.

The assertion was made by Congress general secretary, organisation, K C Venugopal after a four-hour Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting here at the All India Congress Committee headquarters.

He also said CWC members also requested Rahul Gandhi to undertake a Bharat Jodo Yatra 2.0 and a decision in this regard would be taken soon.

Venugopal also said the manifesto committee for the Lok Sabha polls would be announced in a day or two.

The meeting of the Congress' highest decision-making body was attended by party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi and senior leader Rahul Gandhi among others. -- PTI

The Delhi Police will conduct a 'psychoanalysis' test on all six people who were allegedly involved in Parliament security breach case, officials said on Thursday.

The test is done by a team of doctors and psychiatrists to know the mental condition of the accused, they said.

Six people, Sagar Sharma, Manoranjan D, Neelam, Amol Shinde, Lalit Jha, and Mahesh Kumawat, have been arrested and booked in UAPA by the Delhi Police Special Cell in connection with the December 13 breach.

According to a police officer, the accused are highly 'motivated and mind washed' and do not 'cooperate' during the investigations.

The accused have not even given the proper sequence of the whole act till, officials said.

"This test will help us ascertain their mental condition as they are regularly changing their statements," said the officer.

The Special Cell has not ruled out the possibility of a kingpin who may have mobilised these youths to execute such a plan. The police have also scanned the financial transactions of all six.

Several teams of Special Cell have questioned the family members and friends of all six accused to know their activities, behaviour, and their contacts.

Police said the accused were part of multiple WhatsApp groups, including the now-deleted Facebook page 'Bhagat Singh Fan Club,' which was created by them before the security breach incident.

On Wednesday, the police questioned two more members who were associated with that page.

A psychoanalysis test was recently done on the main accused in the murder of Swiss woman Nina Berger in west Delhi's Tilak Nagar area.

The accused, Gurdeep Singh, admitted to have killed the woman but was not revealing how he came to kill her, the officer said.

Earlier, a psychoanalysis was done on the accused in the murder of a 16-year-old girl in northwest Delhi's Shahbad Dairy area.

In the horrific killing, 20-year-old Sahil Khan stabbed the girl at least 22 times before smashing her head with a slab of stone.

On Thursday, police custody of Sagar, Manoranjan, Neelam, and Amol was extended for 15 more days.

Lalit will be produced on Friday and Mahesh on Saturday, when police may seek their further custody. -- PTI

A holiday has been announced for all the schools and colleges in Thoothukudi district on Thursday after heavy rains continued to pound the regions in southern Tamil Nadu, creating a flood-like situation and throwing life out of gear.

"A holiday has been announced in all schools and colleges in Thoothukudi district tomorrow," District Collector of Thoothukudi said.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin said that the state government has taken all possible precautions and measures for the welfare of the people in the wake of the situation.

"Heavy rainfall was received in Chennai and surrounding districts. In history, we have never seen this much rainfall in the Thoothukudi district. For rescue operations, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) have been deployed," CM Stalin said.

He further said that as many as 12,653 people have been rescued and are staying at the 14 relief camps.

"I have advised district collectors and the official to immediately provide food and other needful items to those who were staying in relief camps," he added.

The CM further said that he has requested excess money for the southern districts of the state from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"On December 19, I met PM in Delhi, I requested him to provide relief funds to Tamil Nadu and 2000 cr excess money for Southern districts," he said. -- ANI

Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Thursday confirmed reports of an invitation to Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) chairperson Sonia Gandhi for the Ayodhya Ram Mandir consecration ceremony, adding that she was 'very positive on this matter'.

He said that either she will go or a delegation from her side will be attending the ceremony.

The inauguration ceremony of Ram Mandir will take place on January 22 next year.

"What objection can be there? Sonia Gandhi is very positive on this matter. Either she will go or a delegation from the party will go," said Digvijaya Singh.

On being asked about his own invitation to the grand opening, Digvijaya Singh said, "They (BJP) will not invite me because they are not inviting the true devotees. Whether it be Murli Manohar Joshi, Lal Krishna Advani or Digvijay Singh, they will not be given the invitation."

Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust had earlier this week sent an invitation on their behalf to Sonia Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge for the consecration ceremony of Ram Mandir.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to attend the installation of the idol of Ram Lalla at the grand temple on January 22. -- ANI

17:51 Terrorists fire at Army vehicle in Poonch

Terrorists fired at an Army vehicle carrying some jawans in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district on Thursday, officials said.

The attack took place in the Thanamandi area of the district.

There was no immediate report of any casualty, the officials said.

Additional forces have been rushed to the spot and further details are awaited, they added. -- PTI

Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal

17:28 Earlier law on CEC, EC was half-baked: Minister

The Parliament on Thursday gave its nod to a Bill which seeks to establish a mechanism to appoint the chief election commissioner and election commissioners with Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal asserting that it's in line with the Supreme Court's directions.

The Lok Sabha passed the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Bill, 2023 by a voice vote after a brief discussion.

The Rajya Sabha had cleared it on December 12. Responding to the debate, Law Minister Meghwal said the 1991 Act on the service conditions of the CEC and ECs was a half-baked attempt that left out the key aspect of appointments and the present Bill covers such areas.

He also rejected suggestions that the proposed law was against the directions of the Supreme Court, which had asked the government to put in place a law on the appointments of the CEC and ECs.

He noted that the top court had said in March this year that till the time a law is in place, a three-member panel, headed by the prime minister and comprising the leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha and the Chief Justice of India, will select the CEC and ECs.

Meghwal said the bill is in consonance with the SC ruling and not against it. He said the committee mentioned in the judgement was a "stop-gap" arrangement. Before the SC ruling, the CEC and ECs were appointed by the President on the recommendation of the government.

Referring to points raised by some members during the course of the debate, the minister said as per the doctrine of separation of powers, appointments to the poll panel come under the domain of the Executive and the prime minister has to be a part of it.

When the Bill came up for consideration in the Rajya Sabha earlier this month, the government had moved several amendments against the backdrop of protests by opposition parties and former CECs on various provisions.

Now, once the amended bill becomes a law in the coming days, a search committee headed by the law minister and comprising two Union secretaries will shortlist five names for consideration of the selection committee for appointment as the CEC and ECs.

Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun

17:12 Pannun case: MEA gets consular access to Nikhil Gupta

India received consular access on at least three occasions to Nikhil Gupta, who is detained in a Czech prison following charges by the US relating to a foiled assassination attempt on a Sikh extremist.

"We received consular access to him at least on three occasions," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said at a media briefing.

The US federal prosecutors have charged that Gupta was working with an Indian government employee in the foiled plot to kill Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who holds dual citizenship of the US and Canada. India has already constituted a probe committee to investigate the allegations. PTI

Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia during the protests

17:08 Sakshi Malik retires, won't work with Brij loyalist

Reactions: -- Sakshi Malik announces retirement from wrestling, says she won't compete under presidency of Brij Bhushan loyalist.

-- "Upcoming women wrestlers will also face exploitation," says Vinesh Phogat.

-- It's unfortunate that government did not stand by its word that no Brij Bhushan loyalist will contest WFI election: Bajrang Punia.

Sakshi Malik says, "We slept for 40 days on the roads and a lot of people from several parts of the country came to support us. If Brij Bhushan Singh's business partner and a close aide is elected as the president of WFI, I quit wrestling..."

Sanjay Singh on Thursday became the new President of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) with his panel comfortably winning most of the posts in the delayed polls as outgoing chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh gained indirect control over the sports body.

Sanjay, who is a Brij Bhushan loyalist and UP Wrestling Association Vice President, secured 40 votes as against seven that his rival Anita Sheoran got.

The outcome of the polls gives top wrestlers Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik the feeling that their protest against Brij Bhushan has come to naught as they could not get the fraternity behind them despite aggressively pushing for a change of guard.

A close associate of the BJP MP is now at the helm.

They had accused Brij Bhushan of sexually harassing women wrestlers, including juniors, and managed to mobilise huge support from different sections of society but the protest fizzled out the day they planned a march towards new Parliament building on May 28 when Delhi police removed all the protesters from Jantar Mantar for rioting.

Amid the controversy triggered after Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Kalyan Banerjee was seen mimicking Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi filming the same, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders on Thursday staged a protest at Jantar Mantar against the opposition MPs and demanded an apology from them.

During the protest, BJP leader Manoj Tiwari came down heavily on the opposition over the insult to the Vice President of India.

"This was an insult to farmers, his (Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar) community, and those sitting in Constitutional posts. Rahul Gandhi, Congress, and their alliance will have to bear its brunt," Tiwari said.

Top Congress leaders met in New Delhi on Thursday to discuss the party's plans on seat-sharing with INDIA bloc partners and strategy for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls as well as assess the reasons for its defeat in assembly elections in three states.

The discussions took place at a meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), which was attended by party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi and senior leader Rahul Gandhi among others.

The meeting of the Congress' highest decision-making body is the first after the party lost Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh to the BJP. The Congress has maintained that its morale is not down, even though the results of the assembly polls have been very disappointing and not according to expectations.

The party has held one round of analysis of the poll results, and the CWC is likely to hold further discussions on the issue. -- PTI

The Delhi High Court on Thursday asked the Election Commission of India to take a decision as expeditiously as possible, preferably within eight weeks, on a notice sent it has issued to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his alleged "pickpocket" jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi made during a speech delivered last month.

The court was hearing a public interest litigation seeking action against Gandhi as well as formulation of guidelines to prevent such "malpractice" by political leaders.

A bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Manmohan observed that although the alleged statements are "not in good taste", the Election Commission (EC) was examining the matter and has even issued a notice to Gandhi.

"Considering that deadline for filing reply is over and no reply has been received, the court directs EC to decide the matter as expeditiously as possible preferably within 8 weeks," the bench, also comprising Justice Mini Pushkarna, ordered.

The court noted that in the notice sent on November 23, the poll panel itself said it will take appropriate action in the matter.

Petitioner Bharat Nagar told the high court that Gandhi made a speech on November 22 levelling "heinous allegations" against individuals holding "highest governmental positions", including the prime minister and referred to him as a "pick-pocket". PTI

15:36 3 Cong LS MPs suspended, total count 146

Congress MPs Deepak Baij, D K Suresh and Nakul Nath suspended from Lok Sabha for unruly behaviour. As many as 143 Opposition members from both Houses were suspended for raising a ruckus and disrupting proceedings over their demand for a statement from Union Home Minister Amit Shah over the December 13 Parliament security breach incident. The suspension of these three MPs raises the total suspensions to 146. So far 97 MPs from Lok Sabha and 46 from Rajya Sabha were suspended.

Brij Bhushan has been accused of molesting women wrestlers

15:31 Brij Bhushan loyalist becomes new WFI President

Sanjay, who is UP Wrestling Association Vice President, secured 40 votes as against seven that his rival Anita Sheoran got.

The CWG gold medallist panel though managed to win the post of secretary general as Prem Chand Lochab beat Darshan Lal.

The outcome of the polls would give top wrestlers Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik the feeling that their protest against Brij Bhushan has come to naught as they could not get the fraternity behind them despite aggressively pushing for a change of guard. A close associate of the BJP MP is now at the helm.

15:06 Three criminal law bills tabled in Rajya Sabha

The government on Thursday moved three bills in the Rajya Sabha for consideration and passage to replace the colonial-era criminal laws.

Home Minister Amit Shah moved the motion for passage of the three redrafted bills -- the Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha (Second) Sanhita and the Bharatiya Sakshya (Second) Bills in Rajya Sabha.

The Lok Sabha had passed these bills on Wednesday. These bills will replace the Indian Penal Code-1860, the Code of Criminal Procedure Act-1898, and the Indian Evidence Act of 1872, respectively. Initiating a debate on them, BJP's Brijalal said they will end the colonial legacy. -- PTI

15:02 Hope and despair for Opposition

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, one of 143 suspended MPs tweets, "I had genuinely hoped to participate fully in the parliamentary discussions on the draconian bills that Government was intending to bulldoze through during the session. Instead, to my dismay, I found myself outside the House, spending my time entirely occupied in protesting the disrespect shown to parliamentary democracy by this government. I was at Vijay Chowk today speaking to the press. These pictures are from the Opposition protests outside Parliament yesterday and the day before."

Neelam Devi protesting outside Parliament on December 13

14:45 Police get custody of 4 Parl accused till Jan 5

Update: A Delhi court on Thursday extended till January 5 the police custody of four accused arrested in the Parliament security breach case. Special Judge Hardeep Kaur extended the custody of the accused Manoranjan D, Sagar Sharma, Amol Dhanraj Shinde and Neelam Devi by 15 days on an application moved by the city police.

Neelam Devi (in head scarf) brought to court

14:24 Delhi police produce four Parl accused in court

The Delhi Police on Thursday produced four accused arrested in the Parliament security breach case before a court here on expiry of their seven-day police custody.

The accused -- Manoranjan D, Sagar Sharma, Amol Dhanraj Shinde and Neelam Devi -- were produced before Special Judge Hardeep Kaur. The court is likely to take up the matter shortly.

In a major security breach on the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament terror attack on December 13, two of them -- Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan D -- jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the public gallery during Zero Hour, released yellow gas from canisters and shouted slogans before being overpowered by some MPs.

Around the same time, two others -- Amol Shinde and Neelam Devi- also sprayed coloured gas from canisters while shouting "tanashahi nahi chalegi" outside the Parliament House premises. PTI

14:04 With MPs suspended Parl passes CEC, EC Bill

Lok Sabha passes the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Bill, 2023.

The highly contentious bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha last week, even as the opposition staged a walkout.

The bill was passed in the Lok Sabha with 97 MPs suspended from the lower house.

This bill aims to establish procedures for the appointment of the three members of the Election Commission of India (ECI).

This bill directly conflicts with the Supreme Court's direction that the Election Commission should be selected by a panel comprising the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, and the Chief Justice of India (CJI). After this bill is passed, it will nullify the Supreme Court's direction.

13:57 Never in history: Cong MP on 143 suspensions

Hitting out at the Centre over the bulk suspension of opposition MPs from Parliament, Congress leader Pramod Tiwari said on Thursday that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government should be ashamed of 'tarnishing history.'

The Congress leader was part of the suspended MPs' march from the Parliament building to Vijay Chowk to protest against the suspension of opposition lawmakers, who were demanding Union Home Minister Amit Shah's statement on the December 13 security breach incident.

Tiwari, one of the suspended Rajya Sabha MPs, said that 143 Members of Parliament have never been suspended in the country's history before.

"The suspension of 143 members has never happened in the history of India. BJP should be ashamed, which has tarnished history. We were only demanding a discussion on such an incident which never happened before in history. If this shameful incident has happened, will the Home Minister not even answer?.. Keeping all these things in mind, we tried our best there (inside Parliament) but were suspended (from the house). That is why we have come among the public," he said.

The suspended lawmaker said that the Centre wants to create an opposition-less Parliament. -- PTI

13:19 Deve Gowda, Kumaraswamy meet Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday met former prime minister and Janata Dal (Secular) president H D Deve Gowda and lauded his "exemplary" contribution to the nation's progress.

Deve Gowda's two sons, former Karnataka chief minister H D Kumaraswamy and MLA H D Revanna, as well as grandson Prajwal Revanna, who is an MP from Hassan, accompanied him for the meeting with Modi at his residence in New Delhi.

"It is always a delight to meet them," the prime minister said in a post on X.

13:18 More suspensions? Speaker warns three Cong MPs

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Thursday warned Congress MPs DK Suresh, Deepak Baij and Nakul Nath against protesting in the House.

As the House met this morning, opposition MPs continued their protest against suspension of MPs from the House, and demanded a discussion on the Parliament security breach issue and a statement by Home Minister Amit Shah.

Opposition MPs could be heard raising slogans as the Question Hour was taken up. Soon after the Question Hour concluded, the Speaker warned the protesting members, and named the three Congress MPs.

"I have not suspended any MP without any reason. You are tearing and throwing papers in the House. MPs are coming to me and asking me to suspend them," the speaker said. "I don't want to suspend anyone but you bring placards in the House...this is not right," he said.

Two more opposition members in Lok Sabha were suspended on Wednesday for displaying placards, taking the total number of members of the lower House against whom such action has been taken to 97.

With these fresh suspensions, the total number of members suspended from the Lok Sabha as well as the Rajya Sabha since December 14 has gone up to 143

Social media platform X suffered an outage for over one hour on Thursday, as users complained about non-accessibility of posts on the platform. The services were back and posts became visible after sometime, but some users were unable to see several of their posts in recent past on the platform, formerly known as Twitter.

According to Downdetector, the complaints started surfacing around quarter to 11 am IST with over 4,000 users reporting about the glitch. Globally, 73,800 problem reports poured in on the outage. Around 64 per cent of the users reported about the glitch on X app and 29 per cent on the website, according to Downdetector. -- PTI

Hitting out at the Centre over the bulk suspension of opposition MPs from Parliament, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Thursday said that the moment has come to start writing 'obituaries for the Parliamentary democracy' in our country.

Tharoor, the suspended Lok Sabha MP said, "The message is very simple, in a Parliamentary democracy we are looking at a situation in which the government, whose responsibility is to run the Parliament, is not taking its responsibility seriously."

He said that the Centre showed no willingness to honour the convention of Parliamentary democracy.

"A major security breach occurs, instead of fulfilling his duty as a minister, (Shah), insults Parliamentary democracy by not only refusing to appear in the House, which is his duty, but also going outside and issuing press statements, saying all the things that he could have said in the House," Tharoor said.

"In the conventions of Parliamentary democracy that is the rule. But it wasn't done. So from our point of view, what the government did was unacceptable and showed no willingness to honour the convention of Parliamentary democracy. Secondly, when Parliamentarians demanded the presence of the Home Minister and discussion on the issue, they were instead suspended," he added. -- ANI

12:34 JN1 Covid has low public health risk: Experts

The emergence of the JN.1 Covid variant and India reporting 21 cases is neither surprising nor particularly worrying, say scientists while allaying fears but also advising adherence to existing precautionary measures.

The announcement on Wednesday about the increasing numbers of the new sub-variant, detected in three states, came as the Union Health Ministry reported a spike in cases.

On Thursday, the count was 594 new coronavirus infections, marginally lower than Wednesday's 614, which was the highest daily count since May 21.

As panic spread and Covid came under the spotlight again, experts stepped in to say there is no need to panic available treatments are effective, the infection is mild and all viruses mutate.

As it happens with most respiratory viruses, including the influenza viruses, the circulating viruses keep changing.

Therefore, a sub-variant of SARS CoV-2 is not a surprise at all, Chandrakant Lahariya, a senior consultant physician and public health expert, told PTI. The SARS-CoV-2 virus is circulating in all settings, he said. -- PTI

The message that appears on X

12:09 X (Twitter) down all over the world

The users of microblogging platform 'X' and X Pro were not able to access the platform after it suffered a global outage on Thursday, Reuters reported citing the Downdetector.com, an outage tracking website.

The users on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) were not able to view posts on the site.

They were not able to access the platform with a message that said, "Welcome to X!", according to Reuters.

On X Pro, the old TweetDeck, users experienced loading problems and ran into a pop-up display, "Waiting for posts."Access problems with X and X Pro were reported by over 47,000 US customers, based on data from Downdetector.

12:06 Review: Dunki Goes Nowhere

Dunki is high on ambition but its flimsy premise renders this nearly three hours long journey into farfetched adventures hard to believe, harder to buy into, says Sukanya Verma. Read the review here.

A software engineer in a Karnataka-based firm, said to be a friend of one of the Lok Sabha intruders, has been detained by Delhi Police for questioning in connection with the Parliament security breach case, police said on Thursday.

The Delhi police says the person identified as Saikrishna, a native of Bagalkote and son of retired Deputy Superintendent of Police, Vithala Jagali, is a friend of Manoranjan D-- who with Sagar Sharma jumped into the Chamber of Lok Sabha and released yellow-coloured smoke canisters inside the House, triggering panic among MPs on December 13.

The security lapse case has been at the centre of discussion in the political aisle of the country since then. A team of Delhi Police detained Saikrishna from his house in Bagalkote on Wednesday evening.

He was interrogated for some time at Navnagar police station before being taken to the national capital.

"Saikrishna was a friend of the accused Manoranjan (a native of Mysuru) and was a classmate at BIT Engineering College, Bengaluru," police said, adding that the duo were roommates during 2008-2009. Manoranjan, who went to Delhi in 2012, wrote Saikrishna's name in his diary, they added.

The security breach happened on the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament terror attack. Two people--Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan D--jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the public gallery during Zero Hour, released yellow gas from canisters and shouted anti-establishment slogans before being overpowered by the MPs. -- ANI

Security personnel at Parliament. File pic

11:25 Govt hands over Parliament security to CISF

The government has decided to hand over the "comprehensive" security of the Parliament building complex to the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) in the wake of the recent breach of the safety ring, official sources said Thursday.

The CISF is a central armed police force (CAPF) that currently guards many central government ministry buildings in Delhi apart from installations in the nuclear and aerospace domain, civil airports and the Delhi Metro.

The sources told PTI that the Union home ministry on Wednesday directed for a survey of the Parliament building complex so that a "regular deployment of the CISF security and fire wing on a comprehensive pattern" could be done.

Experts drawn from the government building security (GBS) unit of the CISF, that guards central government ministries, and fire combat and response officers of the force along with officials from the current Parliament security team will undertake the survey beginning later this week.

Both the new and the old Parliament complex and their allied buildings will be brought under a comprehensive security cover of the CISF which will also have the existing elements of Parliament Security Service (PSS), the Delhi Police and the Parliament Duty Group (PDG) of the CRPF, the sources said.

The Counter Intelligence Unit (CIU) of the Special Cell of Delhi Police brought all the six accused in the Parliament breach case to check if the sequence of events as claimed by each of them earlier matches, officials said on Thursday.

According to Delhi Police, all 6 were kept at five different units of the Special Cell where they were subjected to sustained grilling. Earlier, on Wednesday, the accused were handed over to the CIU (Counter Intelligence Unit) where they faced joint interrogation.

Meanwhile, the seven-day custody of four of the accused -- Manoranjan, Amol, Sagar and Neelam -- is set to expire on Thursday. Coming on the 22nd anniversary of the terror attack on Parliament in 2001, the security breach sent shockwaves throughout the country on December 13.

Two youths -- Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan D -- jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the public gallery during Zero Hour, setting off smoke cans and raising slogans before being overpowered by some members in the Upper House.

In a separate incident that unfolded simultaneously, two more protestors -- Neelam (42) and Amol (25) -- protested outside the Parliament holding similar gas canisters.

All four were arrested from the scene and produced before a court, which remanded them in the custody of the Special Cell for seven days.

According to sources privy to the ongoing probe into the incident, the security breach accused created a WhatsApp group with 7-8 members to flesh out their plan.

The accused shared the entire conspiracy to breach multi-levels of security and enter Parliament on this WhatsApp group. Sources said the Special Cell was in touch with all persons who were part of the social media group.

Delhi Police said it was also trying to have the SIM card destroyed by the accused reissued so that they could access the email used by the former. Police said they will seek the help of the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) to retrieve the email through the reissued SIM card.

According to sources, to hunt for more leads in the case, the Special Cell has put together six teams that will visit locations linked to the accused in Lucknow, Mysuru, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Haryana.

The probe revealed further that two pairs of shoes were made on a special order, in Lucknow, as the accused learned that the shoes of visitors to the new Parliament are not checked and they could hide their smoke cans under their footwear, sources said.

10:48 Court grants, stays bail to Gautam Navlakha

Following a concerning trend, a Bench of Justices A.S. Gadkari and Shivkumar Dige has allowed a stay of three weeks on the bail order. Read the report here.

The Delhi Police has questioned two more people in connection with the Parliament security breach case, sources said on Thursday.

While one of them is said to be a close friend of accused Manoranjan D and belongs to Karnataka, the other hails from Uttar Pradesh, police sources said.

A team of the Special Cell questioned the duo on Wednesday, they added. They are suspected to be a part of the now-deleted Facebook page 'Bhagat Singh Fan Club', which was created by the accused before the security breach incident, said sources.

In a major security breach on the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament terror attack last Wednesday, two men -- Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan D -- jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the public gallery during Zero Hour, released coloured smoke and shouted slogans, before being overpowered by the MPs.

Two others -- Neelam and Amol Shinde -- were detained outside the Parliament complex for staging a protest. The four were arrested and charged under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. They will be produced before a court as their seven days of police custody ends on Thursday. The Special Cell is likely to seek their further custody.

Two more people -- Lalit Jha and Mahesh Kumawat -- were arrested later in connection with the case and they have also been interrogated, police said. PTI

10:29 300 Covid cases in Kerala, 3 deaths

Kerala reported 300 new active cases of COVID-19 and 3 deaths on December 20, as per the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The total number of active cases of Covid-19 in the country stood at 2,669.

Amid rising concerns over the emergence of the new variant of the Coronavirus, a Kerala-based health expert said on Wednesday that Covid is like any other communicable disease that cannot be wiped out completely adding that the strike rate of the disease has come down.

"Covid is just like any other communicable disease that cannot be wiped out completely. However, the strike of the disease has come down, and the mortality that means the people who succumbed to the disease is not as high as what it used to be. It is now just like any other influenza or any other common cold," said Dr Sreejith N Kumar told ANI.

10:12 Ruined Bengal's culture: BJP MP on mimicry

Launching a scathing attack on the Trinamool Congress over the mocking of Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar by suspended MP Kalyan Banerjee on the Parliament premises, BJP leader Saumitra Khan on Thursday said the ruling party in West Bengal has put the state's age-old culture to shame.

Speaking to ANI on Thursday, the BJP Lok Sabha MP from Bishnupur, West Bengal, said, "First, it was (TMC MLA) Akhil Giri who made an offensive remark against our President and now we have one of their MPs mimicking the mannerisms of our Vice President and Rajya Sabha chairman.

They ruining and putting a stain on Bengal's proud cultural tradition. It's a matter of shame not just for the Bengali community but the entire country." Also voicing his anger over Banerjee's crude impression of the Rajya Sabha chairman, Haryana Home Minister and BJP leader Anil Vij demanded earlier that the TMC leader's membership of the Lok Sabha be cancelled in light of this incident.

"Considering the way MP Kalyan Banerjee made fun of our Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on the Parliament premises, I feel that he should be stripped off his membership of the Lok Sabha and sent to a zoo," Vij said.

Also weighing in on the mimicry row, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, who was pictured filming the act on his phone, accused the media on Wednesday of giving more play to the incident as opposed to focussing on the suspension of Opposition members from both Houses.

09:54 Neighbours reached moon but we... Nawaz Sharif

Pakistan's former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has once again lauded India and said that the countries around have reached the moon but Pakistan has still 'not risen' from the earth.

The former Pakistan PM was addressing PML-N cadre in Islamabad on Wednesday. Pointing out the dire economic situation of the country, the Pakistan Muslim League_ Nawaz (PML-N) supremo asserted that Pakistan is responsible for its own downfall.

"Our neighbours have reached the moon but we haven't even risen from the ground so far. It can't keep going on like this," Sharif said.

"We have been responsible for our own downfall, otherwise this nation would have reached a different place," he added.

Nawaz Sharif, who is running for Prime Minister a fourth time, remarked in his address on Wednesday, "In 2013, we were facing severe load shedding of electricity, we came and ended it, ended terrorism from all over the country, restored the peace of Karachi, highways were built, CPEC came, and a new era of development and prosperity began."

As per ARY News, Nawaz Sharif, pointed out that he was ousted from power three times: in 1993, 1999 and 2017. Sharif asked, who to blame now for the present crises in Pakistan, "We shot ourselves in our foot".

A teacher paints a Covid awareness picture. Image: Sahil Salvi

09:40 One JN1 case in Maha, govt says don't panic

Amid rising Covid cases in the state attributed to the new sub-strain JN.1, Maharashtra Health Minister, Tanaji Sawant has advised people to not panic saying that the healthcare system of the state was fully prepared and geared to deal with any possible situation.

However, he did confirm that one patient in the state has been detected with the new Covid sub-strain.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Sawant said, "The state's healthcare system is fully prepared to deal with the new Covid variant JN.1. There's no reason for panic. If people develop any symptoms, they should consult a doctor and take the necessary medications. They must also abide by the Covid protocols in the interest of public safety."

The state Health Department, meanwhile, informed that regular genome sequencing was being conducted after the detection of the new sub-variant in the state.

"Genetic Sequencing (WGS) is being done regularly in the state. So far, only one patient with JN.1 variant has been found in the state. The patient is a 41-year-old man from Sindhudurg. All people should wear masks where necessary, wash hands frequently and practice Covid-appropriate behaviour," the state health department said.

The department informed further that as per the instructions of the Union government, a mock drill was conducted from December 15 to 17 at all secondary and tertiary-level health institutions in the state to assess their preparedness for a fresh Covid wave.

"All the districts, municipal corporations and government medical colleges of the state participated in this important mock drill. The review was conducted in terms of beds, ICUs, facilities, equipment, oxygen facilities, medicine stocks, manpower, manpower training, and telemedicine facilities available in the hospitals of the state," the Health Department stated in a release. -- ANI

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has appealed to people not to dump garbage in drains and said it is planning punitive action against violators.

The city civic body collected 1,042 metric tonnes of debris and 139 tonnes of solid waste in the last fortnight under the 'deep cleaning' campaign.

It has been observed that people are frequently throwing garbage in drains of Mumbai after the deep cleaning drive, a BMC release on Wednesday said, adding that dumping waste in a drain blocks the wastewater drainage.

"People should not throw garbage again in the area where the cleanliness drive has been carried out, otherwise the cleaning efforts become futile. People should not throw waste in drains at any place," it said.

The civic administration is considering taking strict punitive action against violators, the BMC said.

Around 3,700 workers were employed for the deep cleaning drive, besides 33 earth-moving machines, 148 dumpers, 21 compactors, 69 water tankers, nine road sweeping machines, seven misting machines, six suction machines, and three litter picker machines.

Roads, footpaths, gutters and drains are being cleaned under this campaign. -- PTI

Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind President Maulana Arshad Madani on Wednesday said the Muslim side will approach the Supreme Court after pleas challenging the maintainability of a 1991 suit seeking the "restoration" of a temple where the Gyanvapi mosque now stands in Varanasi were dismissed by Allahabad high court.

He also asserted that he had hoped such issues in Kashi and Mathura would not arise in light of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act but this has been continuing unabated at the behest of "divisive forces".

Allahabad high court on Tuesday dismissed pleas challenging the maintainability of a 1991 lawsuit seeking the "restoration" of a temple where the Gyanvapi mosque stands and observed that the "religious character" of a disputed place can only be decided by the court.

Asked about the verdict while speaking with journalists, Madani said, "In the Gyanvapi case, the (mosque's) committee is preparing to go to the Supreme Court and, as far as I know, they have also talked to some lawyers."

"We will present our case in the highest court of the country and will accept its decision because the Supreme Court is the highest court in our country and there is no legal option left after that," he said.

On the recent decision allowing survey of the Gyanvapi mosque, Madani said, "We have no objection to the survey. We believe that if the survey is conducted honestly, nothing will come out of it."

But the manner in which such controversies are being raised goes against the 1991 law on the protection of places of worship in which it has been clearly stated that no such controversy will be raised with respect to any place of worship, except the Babri Masjid where the dispute dates back to pre-Independence, he added.

Asked about the silence of secular parties on such issues, Madani said the political party which brought this law and was in its favour should speak on it.

"After the enactment of the Places of Worship Act, we had hoped that no issue on any mosque would arise but communal-minded forces did not allow this and they started raising the issue of Gyanvapi mosque and the Idgah of Mathura," he said.

Madani also said there is not a single Muslim minister in the ruling party who can present the problems of the community. -- PTI

An Air India aircraft flying from the national capital to Mumbai had a fire warning indication in one of its engines, the airline said on Wednesday.

The flight AI 814 that took off from here on Tuesday was operated with a A320 aircraft.

In a statement on Wednesday, an Air India spokesperson said the flight landed uneventfully and no signs of fire or smoke were detected upon inspection.

"AI814 operating Delhi to Mumbai on 19 December 2023 experienced a fire warning indication on one of its engines. As a precaution, an emergency was declared and air traffic control informed," the spokesperson said. -- PTI

Breaking his silence over his colleague Devendra Fadnavis's open letter over Nawab Malik, Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Wednesday said Chief Minister Eknath Shinde intervened to defuse the issue.

Fadnavis wrote to Pawar earlier this month saying the Bharatiya Janata Party was opposed to former minister Nawab Malik's inclusion in the Nationalist Congress Party faction led by Pawar.

Malik, facing ED probe for alleged real estate dealings with gangster Dawood Ibrahim's associates, attended the assembly for the first time during the winter session in Nagpur after getting bail on medical grounds.

Asked about the letter during a media interaction after the session ended, Pawar said, "I did receive the letter. Chief minister Eknath Shinde intervened and said to me that no one needs to get upset."

"Yeh mera prem patra padhkar, koi naraj na hona," Pawar quipped further, tweaking the words of a famous film song.

Notably, Malik had not made it clear which NCP faction he was siding with. -- PTI

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