Indian Sub-continent

Patna, Jan 10 (PTI) Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has tested positive for COVID 19 and is in home isolation, his office said on Monday.

The chief minister's office shared the information on its Twitter handle, adding that the septuagenarian has urged people of the state to follow all measures which are part of the Covid protocol.

Saharanpur, Jan 10 (PTI) A former Congress MLA on Monday said he has joined the Samajwadi Party along with his supporters.

Imran Masood, a western UP leader, who is believed to be close to Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, said he decided to join the SP after consulting with his supporters at his residence.

Massod, meanwhile, was booked by the local police for amassing a large crowd of his supports without taking permission from the authorities amid the enforcement of the model code of conduct.

New Delhi, Jan 10 (PTI) BJP president J P Nadda on Monday said that he has tested positive for COVID-19.

Nadda said he has isolated himself on the advise of doctors and urged those who came in his contact recently to get themselves tested for the virus.

He underwent the test after having some symptoms for the disease and added that he has been feeling alright.

India has been seeing a surge in the number of infections as the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the virus fuels the spread.

Agra (UP), Jan 10 (PTI): A local leader here was arrested after a woman alleged that he, along with his friends, gang-raped her at least a couple of times on the pretext of giving her a job, police said on Monday.

The 23-year-old woman from Bulandshahr, in her complaint at the Tajganj police station, had alleged that she received a call from an unknown number about a couple of months ago and that the caller introduced himself as Lal Singh, block pramukh of Agra's Bah.

New Delhi, Jan 11 (PTI) India on Tuesday successfully test-fired a naval variant of the advanced supersonic BrahMos cruise missile from a stealth guided-missile destroyer of the Indian Navy.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) said the missile hit the designated target "precisely".

"Advanced sea to sea variant of BrahMos Supersonic Cruise missile was tested from INS Visakhapatnam today. Missile hit the designated target ship precisely," the DRDO tweeted.

New Delhi, Jan 11 (PTI) India logged 168,063 new coronavirus infections taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 35,875,790 which includes 4,461 cases of the Omicron variant, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday

The active cases rose to 821,446, the highest in 208 days, while the death toll climbed to 484,213 with 277 fresh fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated

Of the total 4,461 cases of the Omicron variant, 1,711 people have recovered or migrated so fa

SRINAGAR, Jan 9 (NNN-PTI) – Heavy snowfall hit plains and upper reaches of Indian-controlled Kashmir, leading to the closure of roads and cancellation of flights, officials said yesterday.

The snowfall began Friday afternoon and was intermittently going on.

JALALABAD, Afghanistan, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- An explosion rocked outside a school in Lal Pur district in Afghanistan's eastern province of Nangarhar on Monday, killing four students and injuring 10 others, a district official told Xinhua anonymously.

"So far, we have no more details, but we will try to get more information," the official added.

NEW DELHI (AP) — Healthcare and front-line workers along with people above age 60 with health problems lined up Monday at vaccination centers across India to receive a third dose as infections linked to the omicron variant surge.

The doses, which India is calling a “precautionary” shot instead of a booster, were given as new confirmed coronavirus infections rocketed to over 179,000 on Monday, nearly an eightfold increase in a week. Hospitalizations, while still relatively low, are also beginning to rise in large, crowded cities such as New Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata.

Jammu, 10 January 2022: Two Kashmiris were killed on Wednesday by Indian security forces in Hassanpora village of Kulgam district of the Indian Administered Kashmir, Indian officials said.