LIVE: RT-PCR to be mandatory for passengers from China, Japan, S Korea, HK

Live news updates: Any passenger from these countries found symptomatic or testing positive for coronavirus would be quarantined, Mandaviya said

9:22 AM

China provinces warn of blood shortage as Covid infections surge

China’s fast-spreading Covid infections is causing blood shortages at hospitals across multiple provinces and cities, underscoring challenges faced by the nation’s healthcare system.

 

The Blood Center of Shandong Province, the second most populous in China, issued red alert warnings for insufficient inventory for two blood types in recent days, China National Radio reported. Less people went on the streets due to Covid situation and the cold weather, while early holiday at universities also reduced the pool of student donors, the state-owned media said, citing officials.

 

Red alert is the highest level of warning, which means the blood in store can only meet the dosage of acute and critically ill patients for three days, according to the report.

 

9:21 AM

Fiji elects Sitiveni Rabuka as new prime minister, ends Bainimarama’s 16-year grip on power

Fiji has elected Sitiveni Rabuka as the nation’s prime minister, ending the 16-year rule of Frank Bainimarama.

 

Rabuka gained 28 ballots to his predecessor’s 27 to become the new leader in a parliamentary vote on Saturday, more than a week after a national election where no party held a majority of seats. While Rabuka’s party won fewer seats than Bainimarama’s, he struck a deal with the minor parties to form government.

 

8:47 AM

Ivanka Trump testified father’s call with Pence saddened her

Ivanka Trump told investigators for the Jan. 6 House committee that she was saddened by an Oval Office phone call she overheard in which her father tried unsuccessfully to convince Vice President Mike Pence to help overturn their election loss.

 

Former President Donald Trump’s daughter, who served as an adviser to him in the White House, said it was a “pretty heated phone conversation” about Pence’s role in the electoral vote certification in the Senate.

 

8:47 AM

Ivanka Trump testified father’s call with Pence saddened her

Ivanka Trump told investigators for the Jan. 6 House committee that she was saddened by an Oval Office phone call she overheard in which her father tried unsuccessfully to convince Vice President Mike Pence to help overturn their election loss.

 

Former President Donald Trump’s daughter, who served as an adviser to him in the White House, said it was a “pretty heated phone conversation” about Pence’s role in the electoral vote certification in the Senate.

 

8:46 AM

Bharat Jodo Yatra enters Delhi, gets warm welcome at Badarpur border

The Congress' Bharat Jodo Yatra, led by party leader Rahul Gandhi, entered Delhi early Saturday morning and was accorded a warm welcome at the Badarpur border.

 

A large number of workers from Delhi Congress-led by Delhi unit chief Anil Chaudhary welcomed Gandhi and the Yatris at the Delhi border in Badarpur. The yatra entered Delhi from the Faridabad side in Haryana.

 

Senior party leaders, including former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Kumari Selja, Randeep Surjewala, Shaktisinh Gohil and others accompanied Rahul Gandhi as part of the yatra.

8:41 AM

Leading firms in oil-rich Gulf region propose to invest $6 billion in UP

Leading companies in the oil-rich Gulf region have proposed to invest nearly $6 billion (about Rs 50,000 crore) in Uttar Pradesh, according to state cabinet minister Rakesh Sachan. The investment is expected to flow in a bouquet of sectors including energy, retail, real estate, electric mobility, logistics, tourism, health, food processing, etc.

 

Some of the top firms and investment agencies which will invest in the state include the Lulu Group, Abu Dhabi Global Market, Transnational Computer LLC, Burjeel Hospital, etc. For example, Lulu Group will invest Rs 4,500 crore to set up shopping malls and hypermarkets in different cities, including Noida, Kanpur, and Ayodhya.

 

Sachan, who holds the UP MSME portfolio, led a high-level delegation to the Gulf countries, and held parleys with top investors and businesses during his recent three-day stopover.

 

8:40 AM

Hotels and restaurants step up vigil, take steps to keep Covid at bay

Hotels and restaurants have stepped up vigil and some have asked their staff to wear masks and gloves to keep the Covid virus at bay.

 

“We have once again placed sanitizers at restaurant entrances. Our staff members have been advised to wear masks during peak hours. These are proactive and precautionary measures,” said Anurag Katriar, founder of Indigo Hospitality, which runs eight restaurants in Mumbai.

 

Pradeep Shetty, executive committee member, Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India, said hotels and resorts are sold out for Christmas and New Year. “As of now, there are no cancellations,” he said.

8:40 AM

Govt committed to welfare of armed forces personnel: PM Modi on OROP scheme

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday asserted that his government is committed to the welfare of armed forces personnel, after the Union Cabinet approved revision of pension of ex-servicemen under the 'One Rank One Pension' scheme with retrospective effect from July 1, 2019.

 

The decision will benefit around 25 lakh pensioners.

 

"Our military, engaged in the service of the nation, is a symbol of people's pride. Our government is committed to their welfare. Keeping this in mind, the Union Cabinet has approved pension revision under OROP for ex-servicemen and their families," Modi said in a tweet.

 

The decision taken at a meeting of the Union Cabinet presided over by Prime Minister Modi will result in an additional annual expenditure of Rs 8,450 crore, according to the defence ministry.

8:39 AM

Want to end war, 'the sooner, the better', says Russian President Putin

The Kremlin accused Kyiv and Washington of turning a deaf ear to its concerns and charged that the US was using Ukraine as a ground to weaken Russia.

 

It came as President Vladimir Putin insisted Russia was aiming for a speedy end to the fighting.

 

“Our goal is to end this conflict. We are striving for this, we will seek to make sure that it all ends, and the sooner, the better”. “All conflicts end, some way or another, with talks. The faster our adversaries (in Kyiv) understand that, the better it will be,” Putin said.

  

8:39 AM

China reports 37 mn infections a day, rings Covid-19 alarm bells

Nearly 37 million people in China may have been infected with Covid-19 on a single day this week, according to estimates from the government’s top health authority, making the country’s outbreak by far the world’s largest. 

 

As many as 248 million people, or nearly 18 per cent of the population, likely contracted the virus in the first 20 days of December, according to minutes from an internal meeting of China’s National Health Commission held on Wednesday, confirmed with people involved in the discussions. If accurate, the infection rate would dwarf the previous daily record of about 4 million, set in January 2022. 

 

Beijing’s swift dismantling of Covid Zero restrictions has led to the unfettered spread of the highly contagious omicron variants in a population with low levels of natural immunity. More than half the residents of Sichuan province, in China’s southwest, and the capital Beijing have been infected, according to the agency’s estimates.