Live: Arvind Kejriwal holds door-to-door campaign in poll-bound Goa

Live news: HDFC Bank reports an 18 per cent rise in profit, year-on-year, for the third quarter; Maruti increases vehicle prices.

7:27 PM

Amit Shah likely to hit campaign trail in UP after January 22

BJP leader and Home Minister Amit Shah is likely to hold a series of meetings in Uttar Pradesh from next week as the party looks to intensify its election campaign to retain power in the state.

 

With the Election Commission having been extended the ban on public meetings and roadshows till January 22 and the BJP leadership being busy in finalising its candidates for the assembly polls in five states, Shah will start his tour after Saturday and hold meetings, including with organisational leaders, to cover the entire stretch of Uttar Pradesh.

 

With several party leaders in the five poll-bound states seeking tickets for their kin, a senior BJP leader said any relation of a party member who is already holding an elected position like an MP or MLA is unlikely to be fielded.

 

However, this rule will not apply to those who are already MLAs, he added.

7:26 PM

Mumbai reports 7,895 new Covid cases and 11 deaths in a day

7:24 PM

Delhi weekend curfew: Over 1,300 booked for Covid violation

Delhi Police have booked as many as 1,320 people in the national capital for violating Covid norms on the first day of the second weekend curfew in the national capital, an official said on Sunday.

 

"A total of 1,320 Covid challan were issued on Saturday, January 15," the official said.

 

To curb further spread of Covid-19, the national capital currently remains under a stringent curfew from 10 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Monday.

 

Apart from Covid violation, the official said, FIRs were registered against 479 people under section 188 (Disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the Indian Penal Code.

7:02 PM

Happy to partner with Tesla, T'gana Minister asks Musk to set up shop in state

A day after Tesla chief Elon Musk tweeted that the electric car major is working through a lot of challenges with the union government to launch its products in India, Telangana Industries Minister KT Rama Rao asked the US-based auto maker to set up shop in the southern state.

Hey Elon, I am the Industry & Commerce Minister of Telangana state in India Will be happy to partner Tesla in working through the challenges to set shop in India/Telangana Our state is a champion in sustainability initiatives & a top notch business destination in India, Rama Rao tweeted on Friday.

Last year, Tesla had sought a reduction in import duties on electric vehicles (EVs) in India.

The heavy industries ministry had asked the electric car major to first start manufacturing its iconic electric vehicles in India before any tax concessions can be considered.

The central government sources had noted that they were not giving such concessions to any auto firm, and giving duty benefits to Tesla will not send a good signal to other companies that have invested billions of dollars in India.

6:56 PM

Union minister, disgruntled BJP MLAs attend Matua community meeting

Union minister Shantanu Thakur and three BJP MLAs of the Matua community, who had earlier quit from the WhatsApp groups of the party, on Sunday attended a meeting in which 40 other leaders of the backward Hindu community took part and discussed issues such as implementation of the CAA, one of the legislators said.

The meeting took place a day after the Union minister of state for ports, shipping and waterways presided over another meeting of disgruntled party MLAs who were upset as, they claimed, the newly constituted state committee overlooked the sacrifice of the dedicated and loyal leaders.

BJP MLAs Asok Kirtania, Subrata Thakur and Mukutmani Adhikari - all prominent leaders of the Matua community - attended the meeting at Thakurnagar in North 24 Parganas on Sunday.

Subrata Thakur told reporters that the deliberations were solely focused on the issues concerning the Matua community, especially speedy implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) as promised by central leaders before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

 

6:49 PM

Dharma Sansad case: Yati Narsinghanand sent to 14-day judicial custody

A Haridwar court on Sunday sent Yati Narsinghanand, organiser of the controversial Dharma Sansad in Haridwar, to 14-day judicial custody.

He has been booked under Sections 295 (A) and 509 of the Indian Penal Code and sent to Roshnabad Jail, Haridwar police station SHO Rakinder Singh Kathait said.

Section 295 (A) deals with deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs while section 509 deals with word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman.

Yati Narsinghanand, the head priest of the Dasna temple in Ghaziabad, was picked up on Saturday night from Sarvanand Ghat of the Ganga, where he was staging a 'satyagraha' against the arrest of another accused in the case Jitendra Narayan Tyagi, earlier known as Waseem Rizvi.

Tyagi is already in jail, Kathait said.

6:47 PM

UP polls: SP candidate's list has names of criminals, says Adityanath

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday said while the BJP's list of candidates for the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls has given representation to different sections of society, the Samajwadi Party's list consists of names of criminals.

Elections for the 403-member state assembly will be held in seven phases, beginning February 10, while counting of votes will be held on March 10.

Speaking to reporters after reviewing the King George Medical University's preparedness to deal with Covid cases, Adityanath said, "The BJP yesterday released its list of candidates. You have seen that it symbolises social justice, and has given representation to different sections of society."

Every person, who has seen the BJP list, feels that the essence of 'sabka saath, sabka vikaas' has been incorporated in it, the chief minister, who will be contesting the polls from Gorakhpur, said.

"But, if you have seen the list of the Samajwadi Party (SP)-alliance, then tickets have been given to people responsible for the exodus of Hindu traders from Kairana and riots in Muzaffarnagar, and to a history sheeter from Loni," Adityanath said.

This shows the character of the SP and its alliance partners, he said.

"They want to make a government a medium to exploit (people) through criminals and mafia. This is their social justice, and this was clearly visible in their ticket distribution," Adityanath said.

6:33 PM

WEF's online Davos summit begins Monday; special addresses by Modi, Xi

With its high-profile annual meeting getting deferred due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Economic Forum's five-day online Davos Agenda summit will begin on Monday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping scheduled to deliver their special addresses on 'state of the world' on the first day itself.

The Forum has been hosting its annual meeting in the Swiss ski resort town of Davos for 50 years, but it could not take place in 2021 due to the pandemic and has been deferred till early summer for this year as well.

However, an online 'Davos Agenda' summit would be held for the second consecutive year on the dates originally scheduled for the physical annual meeting.

The week-long digital summit will begin with a special address by Jinping on Monday, followed by two virtual sessions -- the first on COVID-19 and the second on technology cooperation in the fourth industrial revolution.

Modi will deliver his special address on Monday evening, which would be followed by the address of United Nations' Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

6:29 PM

Delhi court rejects bail plea of 'Sulli Deals' app creator Aumkareshwar Thakur

A Delhi court on Sunday rejected the bail plea of Sulli Deals app creator Aumkareshwar Thakur.

Metropolitan Magistrate Vasundhra Chhaunkar has dismissed the bail plea of Sulli Deals app creator Aumkareshwar Thakur.

The IFSO unit of Delhi Police's Special Cell arrested the mastermind of the Sulli Deals app from Indore last week after receiving information about him from Bulli Bai app case mastermind Neeraj Bishnoi during the investigation.

The Court noted that the investigation in the case is at an initial stage and the accused has been arrested after great and time-consuming efforts following the MLAT process.

"The accused had consciously used Top Browser to disclose his identity and various complaints have been received against the 'Sulli Deals' app throughout the country. The investigation is at a nascent stage where crucial evidence and further chain of events are yet to be conclusively unearthed," the Court observed.

According to the Court, granting bail to the accused at this juncture will prejudice a fair investigation. "Therefore, in the opinion of the Court, the accused is not entitled to bail at this stage, " the court said.

6:28 PM

Pakistan: Ruling PTI's internal turmoil rattle Imran Khan govt

The internal turmoil among the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmakers is apparent with each passing day causing discomfort to the Imran Khan government at a time when the opposition is trying to build up pressure on the government.

Earlier this week, two leaders of the PTI became defiant against their own federal government's policies and performance with one of them holding his own party responsible for 'present chaos' in the country. Before this, a PTI ticket holder from Sargodha in Punjab joined Pakistan People's Party (PPP) following his meeting with the party leader Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, according to the Nation.

At the same time, Islamabad is rife with rumours that over two dozen lawmakers of PTI are either in contact with opposition's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) or Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) before formally joining either of these two parties, according to the Nation.

On last Thursday, Defence Minister Pervez Khattak who is also the central leader of PTI and former chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) in the parliamentary party meeting of ruling party had entered into hard argument with Prime Minister Imran Khan over shortage of natural gas and ban on new connections of the utility in north-western province.

A day after, PTI Member of National Assembly from Peshawar Noor Alam Khan also became critical of his own government and while speaking on the floor of National Assembly, accused the cabinet members including PM himself for 'present chaos' in the country and proposed to place their names on the no-fly list to get the country out of this situation.

5:40 PM

Akhilesh ready to throw western UP in communal fire by giving tickets to criminals: Yogi

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday took a swipe at the Samajwadi Party, which ruled the state from 2012 to 2017, and said that it has joined hands with Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) but is again encouraging hooliganism, mafias and anarchy.

"The SP and RLD alliance showed its character from its first list released for the upcoming assembly elections. Once again, SP has given tickets to criminals and rioters in the UP polls," he said.

The Chief Minister alleged that Madan Bhaiya who will contest elections from the Loni assembly constituency is counted in the list of mafias.

"Madan Bhaiya's name comes under the list of mafias, but Akhilesh Yadav and Jayant Chaudhary have forgotten it. There are a total of 31 cases registered against him from 1982 to 2021 including murder cases," he said.

Hitting out at SP for giving a ticket to Nahid Hasan from Muzaffarnagar, he said that a total of 17 cases were registered against him in Shamli and Saharanpur districts.

"Similarly, a total of 23 criminal cases are registered against Haji Yunus, who was given ticket from Bulandshahr," he added.

Adityanath said that Akhilesh Yadav has made it clear that SP is ready to throw western Uttar Pradesh into the communal fire once again by giving tickets to such people.

5:37 PM

Alliance with BJP final, Nishad party will contest 15 seats in UP: Sanjay Nishad

Nishad party president Sanjay Nishad on Sunday said they will contest in 15 assembly constituencies in Uttar Pradesh as part of an alliance with the BJP, but the seats are yet to be finalised.

Nishad said he will meet senior BJP leaders, including Amit Shah, in Delhi on Monday to finalise the constituencies where the party will field its candidates.

"We have got 15 seats (out of 403 seats) to contest in alliance with the BJP. The seats are almost final. Most of the seats are in 'Purvanchal' (East UP) and some are in 'Paschimanchal' (West)."

"There are some seats which we want to change due to changing equations. We are focusing not only on seat but 'jeet' (victory)," Nishad told PTI when asked about his proposed meeting with Union Home Minister Shah.

The Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aaam Dal, or Nishad party, was formed in 2016 and its leaders claim to enjoy support of the Nishad community, which is one of the Other Backward Classes (OBC).

5:33 PM

Arvind Kejriwal holds door-to-door campaign in poll-bound Goa

Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday held a door-to-door campaign in Cortalim village of Goa, which is scheduled to go to polls this February.

As a part of the campaign, Kejriwal along with other party members was seen interacting with voters in Cortalim. Pamphlets were distributed to the voters during the campaign.

Kejriwal said while talking to ANI, "We just did a door-to-door campaign. People are very excited to vote for Aam Aadmi Party, as they require a change and are tired of the other two parties (Congress and BJP). They have also heard about the work our party has done in Delhi."

Kejriwal is currently on a two-day visit to Goa.

Goa will go to the assembly polls on February 14. The counting of votes will take place on March 10.

4:41 PM

Indian Navy to make submarines using Rourkela Steel Plant output

The Rourkela Steel Plant, a unit of Maharatna public sector undertaking SAIL, has received a certificate from the Indian Navy for producing high-strength steel for making submarines, a statement said on Sunday.

A high-level navy delegation led by Rear Admiral R Vishwanathan interacted with SR Suryavanshi, executive director (works) and other senior officers of the Odisha-based RSP here on January 13 for commercial production of DMR grade speciality steel, it said.

Senior officers of the chief minister's office and SAIL headquarters also attended the meeting virtually.

During the interaction, Vishwanathan said, "As a policy, the Indian Navy is using indigenous steel for its ship and submarine manufacturing. The RSP is fulfilling the needs of a tough and meticulous customer like the Indian Navy for the last 10 years...commencement of commercial production of the submarine grade steel will further strengthen our association."

He also hailed the RSP for its efforts in the field of environment and corporate social responsibility.

4:34 PM

ISL clubs call urgent meeting to discuss Covid-19 situation: Sources

The Indian Super League (ISL) clubs are facing problems on multiple fronts due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases and have called an urgent meeting on Sunday to discuss their concerns, sources in the know of things told IANS.

After a spurt in COVID-19 cases in different clubs, several players have locked themselves up in their rooms and are not even coming out for training.

"Every club is worried about their players and support staff. The way COVID-19 is spreading and affecting the players' mental and physical health, it would be very difficult for any club to field 11 players. One has to be realistic about the situation," said a source.

ISL had already postponed some games including ATK Mohun Bagan's match against Bengaluru FC on Saturday, hours before the start. This was ATKMB's second successive match to be postponed.

Earlier, their match against Odisha FC was postponed after an unnamed player reported positive for COVID-19.

Despite reporting three positive cases in their bio-secure bubble on the day of the match, Odisha FC played their match against Kerala Blasters on January 12.