🔴 In the third week (January 13-19), there were 71,537 Covid-19 infections in the Pune district, while there was a 25 per cent rise in infections during January 20-26 when 89,585 Covid cases were reported from the district.

🔴 On the successful completion of over two years by the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter, AS Kiran Kumar said that there was enough fuel required to continue operations and that the satellite is functioning well.

🔴 The nature of the Omicron wave has led many to proclaim that this might be the beginning of the end of the pandemic. Differing arguments have been put forward to support this line of thought.

🔴 Majithia alleged this has come to the light in the leaked audio tapes, in which Chattopadhaya is purportedly told by Sarabjit to affect recoveries of RDX, explosives and weapons and thereby “open eyes of [Prime Minister] Modi in four to five days”.

🔴 The minister, who holds the portfolios of ports and archeology in the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government, was the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations in Kasaragod district headquarters.

🔴 Hitting out at the Opposition, he said he had visited Noida several times during his tenure, unlike his predecessors who avoided the district because they were worried more about “their life and position” than the lives of people of Noida.

🔴 An alumnus of Mayo College, Ajmer, Sandeep studied for two years in Switzerland before graduating from Miami and working as head of Country Club in Florida. Abohar was then a speck on his horizon.

🔴 Workers of each party blamed the other for instigating the clash — while Congress alleged that SAD members came in huge numbers for the programme and got aggressive, SAD local leaders said Congress workers attacked them first.

🔴 While Tiwari said he is still "a BJP soldier", former state BJP vice-president Majumdar was not available for comment.

🔴 The development comes at a time Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wrote to PM Modi twice opposing the proposed changes to the IAS cadre rules by the Centre.

🔴 Banerjee said, "Near Digha (in Purba Medinipur), there is a bridge named Pichhabani Setu. Freedom fighter Matangini Hazra fought bravely against the British army on that bridge and never gave up even in the face of their bullets."

🔴 The state reported 38 deaths related to Covid-19 in the last 24 hours, taking the toll to 20,338.

🔴 Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee paid her tribute to Bose on his 125th birth anniversary. His family members, including Sugata, were also present at the state government event.

🔴 In a state where panth and religion have long dictated electoral politics, education has emerged as one of the core issues with the AAP and Congress, the two main contenders in the fray, indulging in politicking, discussions and debates.

🔴 The state government said it was highlighting the “selective outrage” of the petitioners “not... as a defence, but to satisfy” the court “that under the garb of 'public interest', the august forum” of the court “is used for apparently oblique purpose”.

🔴 People in the village who knew the family said they had flown to Canada last Monday on visitor visas and it was their first visit abroad.

🔴 Lakhimpur Kheri SP says 17-year-old’s uncle accused him of stealing a phone and assaulted him, but is now trying to pin blame on police.

🔴 The state said,“The loan under the 'West Bengal Building State Capability for Inclusive Social Protection' operation will strengthen the capability of this state to expand coverage and access to social assistance and targeted service for poor and vulnerable groups of the state.”

🔴 The young MP, who is the nephew of party supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, has been proactive in a bid to put a leash on the pandemic in his constituency.

🔴 The woman, who later lodged a complaint with the GRP, said she boarded the local on a down line on Friday night.

🔴 On January 14, Makar Sankranti, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath dropped in at the home of a Dalit BJP worker, Amrit Lal Bharti, at Manbela Basti in his fiefdom Gorakhpur for a khichdi bhoj. Gautam on what such visits mean:

🔴 A master’s in journalism student at the Central University of Kashmir, Gul worked with a local news outlet The KashmirWalla. He was arrested on January 6 by the J&K Police after complaints about a video he posted on social media showing the family of a slain militant raising anti-India slogans.

🔴 With schools officially opening in Maharashtra after a long Covid shutdown only on December 1 last year, Balaji Jadhav got around this by not taking attendance. Still, the students came, and kept coming.

DDC members, who were elected in 2020 during the first-ever DDC elections in Jammu and Kashmir, have been presented as a link between the people and the administration in the aftermath of the abrogation of J&K’s special status and its reorganisation into two Union Territories.