TOP NEWS

Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi alleged Wednesday that a “political vendetta” ahead of polls is behind the raids conducted this week by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on several official and residential premises of his nephew Bhupinder ‘Honey’ Singh.

The federal financial investigation agency has so far said it has recovered about Rs 10 crore in cash along with gold and other valuables during the raids, which were carried out in connection to an illegal sand mining case allegedly involving Bhupinder Singh and his associates Kudratdeep Singh and Sandeep Kumar.

The case was registered by the Punjab Police in March 2018 against quarry-owner Kudratdeep Singh (and others) under sections of the Mining Act and several sections of the Indian Penal Code, including cheating and forgery. Bhupinder Singh was not named in this FIR.

At a press conference on Wednesday, BJP president JP Nadda announced that the ruling party will be fighting the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly election in alliance with Apna Dal (S) and Nishad Party.

"We are fighting polls together with Apna Dal (S) and Nishad Party. We have had detailed discussions. We are here to announce that we will fight polls together across all 403 seats in Uttar Pradesh," JP Nadda said.

The exact seat distribution within the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is yet to be announced.

Apna Dal (S) leader Anupriya Patel said, "The NDA has proven to be an effective cocktail of development and social justice."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is schedule to deliver the keynote address at the national launch ceremony of 'Azadi Ke Amrit Mahotsav se Swarnim Bharat Ke Ore' via video conferencing on Thursday (January 20, 2022). 

According to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), the programme will unveil year-long initiatives dedicated to Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav by the Brahma Kumaris, which include more than 30 campaigns and over 15,000 programmes and events.

PM Modi will deliver the keynote address at the national launch ceremony of 'Azadi Ke Amrit Mahotsav se Swarnim Bharat Ke Ore' on January 20 at 10:30 am.

Citing controversial Islamic cleric Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan's support to Congress in Uttar Pradesh assembly polls and Akhilesh Yadav-led SP nominating several Muslims accused of involvement in riots and making communal remarks, BJP on Tuesday alleged that the two parties appeared to be in a competition over patronising and encouraging those spewing venom against Hindus.

At a press conference, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra referred to Khan's recent speech targeting Hindus and said Congress had allied in the past with parties in states like Kerala, Karnataka and West Bengal, which drew support from Muslims and were accused of making communal remarks targeted at the majority community.

The government has included tuberculosis as a comorbidity that can put patients at "high risk" of severe coronavirus infection and also advised TB testing post Covid-19, if cough persists for more than two to three weeks, in new clinical management protocol for the disease.

Apart from TB, there are six other categories identified as "high risk" for developing severe disease or death due to Covid-19. These include people aged above 60 years, those with cardiovascular disease, hypertension and coronary artery disease (CAD), people suffering from diabetes mellitus or immunocompromised states (such as HIV), patients of active tuberculosis, patients of chronic lung, kidney or liver disease, people with cerebral vascular diseases, and those who are obese.