Breaking news highlights: Rajasthan imposes new curbs amid surge in Covid cases

The Rajasthan government on Sunday imposed fresh curbs amid a surge in cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19). The curbs have been imposed on public gatherings, closing schools till class 8 among others. 

Chhattisgarh health minister TS Singhdeo tested positive for Covid-19. “I request that all of you who have been in contact with me in the past, please get your tested for Covid-19. All the residents of the state are urged to follow Covid appropriate behavior in view of the increasing cases of corona and stay at home unless necessary,” he tweeted.

With the Covid-19 vaccination drive set to include people between 15 and 18 years of age tomorrow (January 3), 679,064 beneficiaries in the age group have registered for their doses in the Co-WIN portal.

With 11,877 new Covid-19 cases and nine related deaths, the total caseload in Maharashtra reached 6,699,868 and the death toll climbed to 141,542. 

As many as 2,069 people recovered in 24 hours, taking the total recoveries to 6,512,610.

Maharashtra reported 50 new cases of the Omicron Covid-19 variant. Pune city added the most to the tally with 36 cases. Of the remaining, eight cases were from Pimpri Chinchwad, two each from Pune Rural and Sangli, and one each from Thane and Mumbai.

With this, the Omicron tally reached 510 in the state. 

With 8,063 new Covid-19 cases and no related deaths, the total caseload reached 799,520 and the death toll remained at 16,377, reports ANI citing data from the Mumbai civic body. 

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All government and private schools in Patna district, Bihar, to remain closed for upto class 8 till January 8 due to the severe cold wave conditions in the state, reports ANI citing an order from the Patna District Magistrate.

The Supreme Court said that all hearings to happen only through the virtual mode for the next two weeks and suspended the ‘hybrid model’ for physical hearing due to the Omicron Covid-19 variant, reports ANI. 

Dharavi in Mumbai reported 60 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours and the active caseload there stood at 179, reports ANI citing the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.

Delhi reported 3,194 new Covid-19 cases and one related death. Daily positivity rate at 4.59%. Active caseload jumped to 8,397.

An army chopper made an emergency landing in Jind, Haryana, due to a technical fault, reports ANI. The ALH Dhruv helicopter was on its way from Bathinda to Delhi and has now been repaired and flown back to Bathindaand landed there at 5.30 pm, army officials said. 

PM Modi will visit Manipur and Tripura on January 4 to inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of 22 developmental projects worth over ₹4800 crore in Imphal. He will also inaugurate the New Integrated Terminal Building at Maharaja Bir Bikram Airport in Agartala, reports ANI citing the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).

Goa health minister Vishwajit Rane said that the state government aims to inoculate all 72,000 beneficiaries in the 15 to 18 age group against Covid-19 with first dose in the next four days, after vaccination opens for them on January 3, reports ANI. 

Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, issued a public notice seeking information regarding the stampede at Vaishno Devi shrine on Saturday. Email ID and contact numbers were shared.  

“Any person who desires to meet in person, may appear before Enquiry Committee in person between 11am and 1pm on 05-01-2022 in the Office of Divisional Commissioner, Jammu,” the notice said. 

All schools, colleges, universities, spas, salons, beauty parlours, zoos, and entertainment parks to be closed in West Bengal to be closed from January 3, reports ANI citing state chief secretary HK Dwivedi.

Government and private offices to operate at 50% capacity and all administrative meetings will be conducted online, he also said. 

As many as 23 new cases of the Omicron Covid-19 variant have been reported from Odisha and the total number of cases in the state due to the variant reached 37, reports ANI citing Niranjan Mishra, director of public health.

PM Modi said that a new thought should be developed towards sports and a sports friendly ecosystem. “Khelo India scheme helps in recognizing young talents. In previous Olympics and paralympics players won many medals and It was awakening of India in sports,” he said. 

He also alleged that the previous governments did not give due recognition to sports. “Discrimination and no transparency was common in sports in previous government. Players talents were neglected, we reformed to revive hounour of sports,” he said.

With 2 lakh already promised to the injured in the stampede, an additional 5 lakh would be given to the next of kin who lost their lives at Mata Vaishno Devi, announced LG Jammu & Kashmir Manoj Sinha. 

PM Modi has laid the foundation stone of Major Dhyan Chand Sports University in Meerut. It will be furnished with various state-of-the-art amenities including hockey, football, volleyball and many more.

PM Modi inspects exhibition of sports goods in Meerut along with chief minister Yogi Adityanath, governor Anandiben Patel and deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya. He will lay the foundation stone of Major Dhyan Chand Sports University in the city shortly.

Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel on Sunday urged people not to panic as he asserted that Covid-19 cases are rising in a few cities including Raigarh and Raipur. 

“Since many samples have been sent to our genome sequencing centre at Odisha for Omicron, it's taking some time. No need to panic, all arrangements done by state govt,” news agency ANI reports Baghel as saying.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said that the city is expected to see 3,100 new Covid-19 cases during the day, but added people don't to panic. 

“Covid-19 cases are increasing rapidly in Delhi, but there is no need to panic. Currently, the active cases in the city are 6360. Today, 3100 new cases expected to be reported today. Only 246 hospital beds were occupied y'day. All cases are mild & asymptomatic,” he said while addressing the media.

A fire broke out Sunday in the South African parliament building in Cape Town, reports news agency AFP. Firefighters were present at the building as large flames and a huge column of smoke were seen at around 0530 GMT.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi offers prayers at Augurnath temple in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. He was accompanied by governor Anandiben Patel and chief minister Yogi Adityanath. 

Modi will lay the foundation stone of Major Dhyan Chand Sports University in Meerut shortly.

A Delhi-bound SpiceJet flight took off from Gujarat's Rajkot last week without the mandatory take-off permission from Air Traffic Control (ATC) Rajkot, reports news agency ANI. India's aviation watchdog, the Director-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), has launched a probe into the incident against SpiceJet pilots.