Breaking News, January 12

In an attempt to ease down continued tensions with its neighbours, especially with India, Pakistan's Imran Khan-led government is gearing up to unveil its new National Security Policy with an aim to normalise tensions with New Delhi and work towards opening gateways of economic diplomacy. The National Security Policy, a 100-page document carries with it a new change of policy Islamabad will be looking to adopt towards India, shifting its principal stance over the dispute of Jammu and Kashmir from primary to a secondary pending dispute. As per the new security policy details, Pakistan will be looking forward to having more deliberations and engagements with New Delhi over trade and economic opportunities. "We are not seeking hostility with India for the next 100 years. The new policy seeks peace with immediate neighbours. If there was a dialogue and progress in it, there would be a possibility of normalising trade and commercial ties with India as it had happened in the past," said an official with knowledge of details of the new security policy. While the country's new security policy showcases a clear shift in its approach from geo-strategic to geo-economics; the change is being seen with optimism over the relationship between the two nuclear powered arch-rivals. "Economic security will be the central theme of the new security policy," said the government official.

A manager of the Bank of Baroda was gunned down in Shyam Nagar in the Mill area in Uttar Pradesh's Rae Bareli district. The incident came to light on Wednesday morning when his body was found. Jai Prakash Pal, resident of Bhavani Nagar in Kanpur, was posted as manager in the Bank of Baroda. On Tuesday, at around 8.30 p.m., he returned in his car to Shyam Nagar where he was staying on rent. As he got out of his car, he was fired upon. When the manager fell on the ground on his back, the assailant pumped five bullets into his chest. 

The Tamil Nadu government has announced January 17 as a holiday for government offices and educational institutions. The offices and educational institutions will have to work on January 29, Saturday as a compensatory working day. Based on representations and petitions from employee unions seeking a holiday on Monday, the government issued the order on Tuesday evening. January 18 is already a government holiday in the state due to the Thaipoosam festival and with a total lockdown on January 16, the state will not function till coming Wednesday.

Sprawling quarantine camps with rows upon rows of cramped metal boxes to house people suspected of having Covid-19 have sprung up in China, social media videos show, Daily Mail reported. The Communist country is attempting to eradicate the virus despite warnings that the more infectious Omicron variant makes a Zero Covid strategy impossible, even with the draconian measures used by Beijing, the report said. There are now a total of 20 million people confined to their homes in China after the cities of Anyang and Yuzhou joined the 13 million in Xi'an under quarantine and banned from leaving their home even to buy food. Anyang, home to 5.5 million people, was locked down late Monday after two cases of the the Omicron variant were reported- and some residents of the locked-down cities have told the BBC that they were part of a 'big transfer' of thousands of people to the camps. Pregnant women, children and the elderly are believed to be among those sent to the Xi'an camps, with insiders sharing the horrors of their detention in the Zero Covid state, the report said.

Supreme Court issues notice to Uttarakhand and Delhi Governments on a petition seeking an independent inquiry into the Haridwar Dharm Sansad hate speeches. 

The Congress has questioned the government increasing its share in Vodafone Idea which has risen to about 35.8 per cent. The party alleged that the government is selling PSUs and buying stakes in private sector which is not a sensible move. Leader of opposition Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday said, "Central govt now owns 36 per cent of Vodafone-Idea. Why are stakes being taken up in struggling private companies when PSUs like Air India are being sold and divested?" He said, "Real estate assets of MTNL and BSNL are being sold but the Modi govt buys stakes in Vodafone! Does it make any sense?" As per reports, the Centre will hold around 35.8 per cent of the total outstanding shares of the company, and that the promoter shareholders would be around 28.5 per cent (Vodafone Group) and around 17.8 per cent (Aditya Birla Group), respectively.

Night temperature dropped several notches below freezing point in J&K and Ladakh on Wednesday due to clear night sky even as the India Meteorological department (IMD) forecast further drop in minimum temperature in the coming days. "Minimum temperature remained below the freezing point in J&K and Ladakh on Wednesday due to clear night sky. "We are expecting further drop in these temperatures during the coming days as the weather is likely to remain dry till January 16", an official of IMD said. Srinagar recorded minus 3.6 degree, Pahalgam minus 11.6 and Gulmarg minus 11.5 as the minimum temperature on Wednesday. Drass town of Ladakh was at minus 27.7 degree, the coldest there so far this season. Leh town had minus 9.6 and Kargil minus 14.7 as the night's lowest temperature. Jammu city had 5.8, Katra 5.7, Batote minus 0.3, Banihal 1.0 and Bhaderwah minus 3.4 as the minimum.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has directed officials to recover the dues of cane growers by immediately liquidating "other assets of these mills that have failed to clear the arrears". As many as 20 sugar mills, all in the private sector, still owe over Rs 1,600 crore in dues from the previous crushing season to farmers across 50 Assembly constituencies in Uttar Pradesh. The move is aimed at ensuring that non-payment of dues does not adversely affect the BJP in the Assembly elections. Most of these mills are based in west UP, the sugar bowl of the state, spanning Lakhimpur Kheri, Bijnor, Muzaffarnagar, Shamli, Pilibhit, Saharanpur, Baghpat, Meerut, Hapur and Bulandshahr, among other districts.

After a brief encounter, Delhi Police Special Cell (Southern Range) arrested Rakesh Tajpuria, who was carrying a reward of Rs 50,000, from Narela area last night on charges of providing weapons used in the murder of gangster Jitender Gogi in Rohini court last year: Police.

A Palestinian was arrested after he allegedly carried out a car-ramming attack in the Israel-occupied West Bank, injuring a soldier, the Israeli military said. The incident took place outside the Israeli settlement of Halamish on Tuesday. The driver "accelerated his car toward a number of soldiers who were securing the route," a military spokesperson added in a statement, adding the car "hit a soldier who has been evacuated to a hospital by an Israel Air Force helicopter that was dispatched to the scene." Israel's Magen David Adom emergency health service said in a statement that the 19-year-old soldier sustained moderate injuries in his legs, Xinhua news agency reported.

Gujarat: Ahead of Makar Sankranti, sellers in Surat say they witness a drop in kite sales compared to last year amid a surge in Covid cases. "Traders who earlier placed orders are now cancelling them due to the Covid restrictions. Sales are down by almost 25%," says a wholesaler. 

Light to moderate intensity rain would occur over and adjoining areas of Kurukshetra (Haryana) Saharanpur, Deoband, Muzaffarnagar (UP) during next 2 hours (issued at 7:21 am): IMD. 

Punjab: Sweets being prepared ahead of 'Lohri' festival, visuals from Amritsar.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the 25th National Youth Festival today in Puducherry via video conferencing on the National Youth Day which is observed to mark the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda. 

The global economy is on track to grow by 4.1 per cent in 2022, down 0.2 percentage point from a previous projection, the World Bank Group said in its latest Global Economic Prospects release. "The global recovery is set to decelerate markedly amid continued Covid-19 flare-ups, diminished policy support, and lingering supply bottlenecks," the semiannual report added on Tuesday. The global outlook is "clouded by various downside risks," including renewed Covid-19 outbreaks due to new virus variants, the possibility of unanchored inflation expectations, and financial stress in a context of record-high debt levels, according to the report. After rebounding to an estimated 5.5 per cent in 2021, global growth is expected to decelerate markedly to 4.1 per cent in 2022, the report noted. The latest projection for 2021 and 2022 is 0.2 percentage point lower than the June forecast, respectively.

Supreme Court to hear today a petition seeking an independent inquiry into the Haridwar 'Dharm Sansad' hate speech case. A bench headed by Chief Justice of India NV Ramana will hear the matter.

Delhi's air quality deteriorates to 'moderate' from the 'satisfactory' category, with the city recording an overall Air Quality Index (AQI) of 193, according to SAFAR-India.