Highlights: Fully prepared to fight Omicron , says Haryana minister

Haryana health minister Anil Vij said on Friday that the state is fully prepared to fight the Omicron variant of Covid-19. 

"The health department has the experience of fighting the Coronavirus. The officers and employees of our health department have worked successfully in the last two waves of coronavirus," Vij told news agency ANI. 

Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar said on Friday that the minimum support price (MSP) for crops was “already there and will be there in the days to come.” “Besides, to make it more effective and transparent, PM [Narendra Modi] has constituted a committee,” he told ANI in Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh.

Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister KP Maurya at Vyapari sammelan' in Prayagraj asked the people if they remember the “lungi-clad goons” who used to roam before 2017 in the state. “Who in skull caps used to threaten the traders while carrying guns? Who used to encroach upon your land and threaten you to not go to [the] police? Remember all this,” he was quoted as saying by ANI.

The MBA (IB) 2022-24 of the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), which was scheduled for December 5, has been postponed in Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, Bhubaneswar, Sambalpur and Cuttack in Odisha, and Kolkata and Durgapur in West Bengal, ANI reported citing a release. The revised dates for the exam will be announced later.

US President Joe Biden said that the country is preparing 'set of initiatives' to protect Ukraine from Russian attack, AFP reported.

Five students aged between 13 and 14 test positive for Covid-19 in Uttar Pradesh's Mainpuri district.

France on Friday announced the signing of a USD 18 billion armaments mega-contract for the sale of 80 of its upgraded Rafale warplanes to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), reports the Associated Press. Read more here.

NDRF teams on Friday were seen marching at Kailasagiri in Andhra Pradesh's Visakhapatnam and make announcements for people, alerting them about cyclone Jawad. Notably, the IMD said that the cyclone is expected to make landfall near Odisha's Puri on Sunday noon.

Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut on Friday took to Instagram to claim that her car was attacked by farmers in Punjab. The incident happened in Anandpur Sahib as she was going to Himachal Pradesh to attend her sister's birthday celebration.

Karnataka government has ordered an inquiry on India's first Omicron Covid-19 patient over RT-PCR test reports. State minister R Ashoka told ANI that the person, “stayed at a hotel and held some meetings there.” “After that, he went away to Dubai, so there're two reports, one positive and [another] negative, which is doubtful, lab must be investigated,” the minister added to ANI.

The patient is a South African national, who has already returned to his home country. India detected Omicron cases on Thursday after two were found to be infected with the strain.

Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Friday said that a total of16,000 passengers from 'at-risk' countries have been tested for Covid-19 in India, and 18 have been found positive. “Genome sequencing for Omicron underway,” PTI reported quoting him.

Odisha Tourism has called off the Konark Festival and International Sand Art Festival held in Konark due to the cyclonic storm Jawad. 

Ukraine urges NATO to reject Russian demand for 'guarantees', reports AFP. 

Kerala governor Mohammad Arif Khan said, “Any kind of violence is a threat to democracy. These matters should be settled in a civilized manner. The law enforcement agencies must do everything to bring the culprits to trial,” regarding the murder of a local CPI (M) leader, reports ANI.  

Health minister Mansukh Mandaviya said that 3.46 crore Covid-19 cases have been reported in India and 4.6 lakh people have died so far. He also said that 25,000 cases and 340 deaths per million have been reported in India, reports ANI. “This is one of the lowest in the world,” he said.

Delhi environment minister Gopal Rai wrote to the Centre for calling a meeting of the environment ministers of the states in the National Capital Region (NCR) states in view of pollution, reports PTI. 

Meeting underway in Karnataka as chief minister Basavaraj Bommai discusses the Covid-19 situation in the state and the two cases of the Omicron variant that have been detected so far, reports ANI. 

In view of cyclone Jawad, director general of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) said that 46 teams have been sent to Odisha, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh and are prepositioned there, reports ANI. 

“IDS is on alert if the situation arises to airlift any of the teams. 18 more teams are on standby,” he added. 

The Bombay High Court has rejected the anticipatory bail plea filed by former Shiv Sena MP Anandrao Adsul in a money laundering case, reports ANI. 

Jagdish Thakor appointed as president of Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee ahead of the state assembly polls next year. 

The Haryana government has ordered the closure of schools in Gurgaon, Faridabad, Sonepat and Jhajjar, the four national capital region (NCR) districts, due to the deterioration of air quality.

Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar said that the Chinese navy has been present in the Indian Ocean Region since 2008 and there were seven to eight warships in the region, reports ANI. 

“There is constant surveillance by our aircraft and ships and their activities are kept under close watch,” he said.

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal said that 140,000 CCTV cameras would be installed in the city, reports ANI. So far, his government has installed 275,000 CCTV cameras, he added. “Today, Delhi is world number 1 in CCTV coverage per square km,” he added.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said that the people of Uttar Pradesh will “very soon” change the Yogi Adityanath government in the state, reports ANI. 

“Yogi (Adityanath) government has only changed the names of places, very soon people in UP are going to change their government. Young people, farmers and businessmen in UP have decided to get rid of the Yogi government. Farmers in UP are going to benefit if Samajwadi Party comes here,” he said.

Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya said that the Centre wrote to all states asking for data regarding deaths due to oxygen shortage during second wave. 

“19 States responded, only Punjab reported four 'suspected' deaths due to oxygen shortage,” he said.