Breaking news highlights: Punjab adds 419 new Covid-19 cases

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said that a building or a wing can be sealed if more than 20% of the occupied number of flats in them have Covid-19 patients in them, reports ANI. 

A PIL has been filed in Calcutta High Court today for cancelling the Ganga Sagar Mela this year due to the surge in Covid-19 cases, reports ANI. The matter will be heard on January 5. 

“@MumbaiPolice has got a breakthrough.Though we cannot disclose the details at this moment as it may hamper the ongoing investigation, I would like to assure all the victims that we are proactively chasing the culprits & they will face the law very soon,” said Maharashtra minister of state for home (urban) Satej Patil. 

The cyber cell of the Mumbai Police detained a 21-year-old man from Bengaluru in connection with the controversial 'BulliBai' app, reports ANI. 

The Union government announced that the physical attendance of government employees below the level of under secretary has been restricted to 50%, with the remaining asked to work from home, due to Covid-19, reports PTI. 

Maharashtra reported 12,160 new Covid-19 cases and 11 deaths as the state's total confirmed cases so far reached 6,712,028 and the death toll climbed to 141,553. 

The state also reported 68 new Omicron cases, taking the tally to 578. 

Of the new cases 40 are from Mumbai, 17 from Pune, four from Nagpur, three from Panvel, one each from Navi Mumbai, Raigad, Satara and Kolhapur. So far, 259 people have been discharged following a negative RT-PCR test.

Union home minister Amit Shah held a high level national security meeting today with the heads of security forces and intelligence wings of the armed forces.

With 8,082 new Covid-19 cases and two more related fatalities, the total caseload in Mumbai reached 807,602 and the death toll climbed to 16,379, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said. 

“A member of my family and one of my staff have tested positive for COVID-19 yesterday.

I have tested negative today however the doctor has advised that I remain isolated and test again after a few days,” Priyanka Gandhi said. 

West Bengal extended the timings of local train services in Kolkata to function until 10pm, reports ANI. On Sunday, the state announced that local train services will function only till 7pm as part of its Covid-19 restrictions. 

The West Bengal State Election Commission (SEC) has banned roadshows and bike rallies ahead of the upcoming municipal polls, reports ANI. 

Also, five people are allowed for door-to-door campaigning while political meetings at indoor locations can have only 50% capacity. 

A maximum of 500 people are allowed for political rallies in open space.

TMC MP Sushmita Dev,the only woman member of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports wrote to Committee Chairperson Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, requesting him to invoke rule no 84(3) to allow all women MPs to testify before the committee regarding the Child Marriage(Amendment) Bill 2021.

On the first day the national immunisation program against Covid-19 was open to those belonging to the 15 to 18 years age group, 234,175 beneficiaries in Tamil Nadu received their first dose as of 5.30pm.

As the daily positivity rate in Delhi reached 6%, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority is set to meet on Tuesday morning to review the prevailing Covid situation in the national capital.  The positivity rate in the city has breached 6% after 4100 new cases were reported in last 24 hours.

The DDMA is likely to discuss if more restrictions are needed in the city to tackle the spread.

Delhi reported 4,099 new Covid-19 cases and one death in the last 24 hours. Active caseload stood at 10,986 and the daily positivity rate is at 6.46%, reports ANI. 

Schools in Mumbai for classes 1 to 9 will be closed till January 31, in view of rising Covid-19 cases, while classes 10 and 12 will continue as scheduled, reports ANI citing the city's civic body. 

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has been urgently hospitalised, reports AFP.

Kashmir police said that terrorist Salim Parray of Lashkar-e-Taiba outfit has been killed following the encounter at Srinagar.

Film director and producer Ekta Kapoor tested positive for Covid-19, reports ANI.

As many as 14 people, including three police constables, who were to attend the ‘Janta Darbar’ by Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, tested positive for Covid-19, reports ANI. 

Delhi health minsiter Satyendar Jain said that 84% of the Covid-19 cases reported in the city in the past 2 days were of the Omicron variant, reports ANI.

“Delhi's expected to report around 4,000 cases today with the positivity rate rising to 6.5%. Currently, 202 patients are admitted to Delhi hospitals,” he said.

The election commission of India has written to chief secretaries of five poll-bound states asking them to 'accelerate' the pace of Covid-19 vaccination. The poll body has also expressed concerns over low percentage of first dose inoculation in Manipur, reports news agency ANI, citing sources.

Sudan's civilian Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok resigned Sunday, more than two months after a coup and following another deadly crackdown on protesters, with the military now firmly in control. Read more

The Karnataka government is considering more containment measures to control the spread of the Coronavirus disease and the state cabinet is likely decide in this regard later this week after consulting experts, reports news agency PTI.