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In a setback to Kishore Biyani's Future Group, the Delhi high court on Tuesday dismissed pleas filed by Future Retail (FRL) and Future Coupons (FCPL) that sought to end arbitration proceedings with Amazon before the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC).

This gives a new lease of life to the US e-tailer's efforts to block the asset sale by Future Group, which includes supermarket chain Big Bazaar, to Reliance Retail in a Rs 25,000-crore deal.

Justice Amit Bansal, who had reserved the order on January 3 on the petitions filed by the two Future companies, observed that it is not for the court to interfere with scheduling of arbitration proceedings.

According to an official release, 992 new cases were detected on Tuesday in Uttar Pradesh. The number of active cases in the state stood at 3,173, the release said, adding that the highest 174 cases were found in Ghaziabad, followed by 165 in Gautam Buddh Nagar, 150 in Lucknow and 102 in Meerut.

No death was reported in the state in the past 24 hours. The death toll stood at 22,916. So far, more than 3.5 lakh teens have got the coronavirus vaccine in the state. A drive in this regard started on January 3. The chief minister said there is no need to panic.

All international passengers landing in Mumbai will now be asked to take a rapid RT-PCR Covid test, say a set of fresh guidelines released Tuesday night, as the state recorded over 18,000 fresh coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, 50 per cent higher than Monday.

Those who test positive will then have to take a routine RT-PCR Covid test at the airport.

Mumbai logged 10,086 fresh cases in a 34 per cent jump from the cases registered the previous day. The fresh uptick in cases in the city, and across Maharashtra, is said to be driven by the new variant - Omicron, also prompting the governments worldwide to introduce new measures in the fight against Covid. 

More than 41 lakh children received the first dose of Covid-19 vaccines on Monday, the first day of the vaccination drive for those in the age group of 15-18 years, according to provisional data.

While 41,27,468 doses of Covaxin were administered to the 15-18 years age group, the total vaccination figure touched 146.71 crore, according to provisional data. With 33,750 new cases being reported in the last 24 hours, the active caseload has touched 1,45,582; the daily positivity rate is 3.84 per cent.

The Punjab Congress is once again tackling internal turmoil as state party chief Navjot Singh Sidhu attacked his own government and its chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi.

Congress top brass is miffed over the internal feud and has asked state leaders to unite before the elections and refrain from hitting out at each other, sources said.

Sidhu has lambasted state home minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, who reportedly has offered to quit, for sparing SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia in a drug case and accused him of complacency. He is yet to be arrested and only an FIR has been lodged as Congress leaders assure that the government will take appropriate actions against him.