LIVE: 8 more Omicron cases in Maharashtra, 6 in Karnataka, 4 in Kerala

Of the six cases in Karnataka, one is a passenger from the UK, while five others have been detected from Covid clusters that have emerged from two educational institutions in Dakshina Kannada district

8:31 PM

India’s Covid vaccination coverage crosses 1.37 bn

8:30 PM

Maharashtra reports 8 more Omicron cases

8:16 PM

Interaction with the CEC and two ECs was an informal one: Law & Justice Ministry

8:07 PM

A prohibitory order has been extended under Sec 144 CRPC from 6AM on Dec 19 to 6AM on Dec 20 in Belagavi

8:01 PM

Confirmed Omicron cases in UK now total nearly 25,000

7:45 PM

Only those who are fully vaccinated will be allowed at public places: BMC

7:17 PM

Karnataka records 6 more Omicron cases, tally now 14

Karnataka Health Minister K Sudhakar on Saturday said six more cases of Omicron variant of coronavirus have been detected in the state.

 

Of six cases, five have have been detected from COVID clusters that have emerged from two educational institutions in Dakshina Kannada district.

 

This takes the state's tally of Omicron cases to fourteen.

7:11 PM

86 new Covid cases in Delhi today; highest in 5 months

6:57 PM

As Christmas-New Year season nears, Mumbai civic chief tells people to adhere to norms strictly

Mumbai civic chief IS Chahal on Saturday said ward-level squads will be formed to take action against COVID-19 protocol violators.

 

Amid the scare from the new Omicron variant of coronavirus and the Christmas-New Year festival season round the corner, he said people in the metropolis must avoid crowding in hotels, restaurants, cinemas, malls and asserted that attendance caps in place for marriages and other functions will have to be adhered to strictly.

5:57 PM

Prior permission required for a gathering of more than 1,000 people: BMC

5:20 PM

What's PM Modi's problem with marriage?: Asaduddin Owaisi in Meerut

4:48 PM

BJP national president J P Nadda takes out 'Vijay Sankalp Yatra' in Haridwar

4:44 PM

Amit Shah offers prayers at Sai Baba temple in Shirdi

4:43 PM

'I will tell you the meaning of Hindu...': Rahul in Amethi

3:44 PM

Ten killed, scores injured in an explosion at a building in Karachi

3:41 PM

Naqvi hits out at 'Talibani mentality' opposing women empowerment

3:34 PM

18 out of 950 students of a school in Ghansoli, Navi Mumbai, have tested Covid positive

3:08 PM

Responsible people shouldn't provoke anybody: Karnataka CM

3:00 PM

People now say UP plus Yogi bahut hai upyogi: PM Modi

2:54 PM

Unemployment and inflation are the biggest questions that neither the UP CM nor PM will answer: Rahul

2:47 PM

Delhi converts four private hospitals as Omicron dedicated centres

2:22 PM

The Expressway will bring numerous jobs for thousands of youth: PM Modi

2:02 PM

PM Modi lays the foundation stone of Ganga Expressway in Shahjahanpur

2:01 PM

Cold wave conditions to prevail till Dec 21: IMD

1:44 PM

PM Modi greets the crowd in Shahjahanpur

1:29 PM

Akhilesh compares Lakhimpur violence with Jallianwala Bagh, says BJP will be swept away in elections

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday sought to equate the Lakhimpur Kheri violence with Jallianwala Bagh massacre, and said the British had fired bullets from the front, while the the BJP ran over a jeep from behind.

Yadav, who is in Rae Bareli on a two-day tour as part of the seventh leg of 'Samajwadi Vijay Yatra', claimed that the BJP will be wiped out in the upcoming 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.

Speaking to reporters here, the former chief minister said, "In Uttar Pradesh, the incident of a jeep being run over on farmers took place. If the pages of history are turned back, then one is reminded of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, when the British fired (at people) from the front.

1:24 PM

Foxconn Technology India workers stage protest

Hundreds of workers of Foxconn Technology India Pvt Ltd staged a protest on a highway demanding to know the status of colleagues who were affected by food poisoning earlier this week.

About 14,000 men and women are employed in the Foxconn Technology unit that makes electronic components, iPhones for Apple and others.

Many of the women workers are staying in the nearby dormitories.

1:24 PM

Delhi's minimum temperature may dip to 5 degrees

Amid the biting winter chill, the minimum temperature in the national capital might further dip to 5 degrees Celsius on Sunday, according to the India Meteorological Department's (IMD) forecast on Saturday.

The minimum temperature in Delhi-NCR on Saturday will be 7 degrees Celsius, while the maximum temperature is pegged at 20 degrees.

Delhi will continue to witness colder weather in the coming days, the IMD said, adding that "snowfall in many areas of Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh is having an impact on the plains".

12:59 PM

Reinfection risk with Omicron is 5.4 times greater than Delta: Study

Amid various studies claiming that Omicron causes only mild disease, a new study shows that there is "no evidence" that Omicron is less severe than the Delta variant of Coronavirus (Covid-19).

 

The new study led by the UK's Imperial College London showed that the risk of reinfection with the Omicron variant is 5.4 times greater than that of the Delta variant.

 

"This implies that the protection against reinfection by Omicron afforded by past infection may be as low as 19 per cent," said the researchers.

 

12:55 PM

WHO urges nations to scale-up measures, vax to limit Omicron spread

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Saturday urged countries in the South-East Asia Region to urgently scale-up public health and social measures as well as vaccinations to curtail further spread of the new Covid-19 variant Omicron.

According to the global health body, the hyper mutant variant has spread to 77 countries so far.

"Countries can, and must, prevent the spread of Omicron with the proven health and social measures. Our focus must continue to be to protect the least protected and those at high risk," said Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia Region, in a statement.