Breaking News, December 28

Nine children, who were illegally employed at a garment's factory in Noida, have been rescued by the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU) of the Gautam Buddh Nagar police, officials said on Wednesday. The children, including six girls and three boys, hail from different parts of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and were rescued on Tuesday following a tip-off received by the police. "The raid was carried out over a tip-off about child labour in the factory located in Sector 65 here. The raid team also comprised officials of the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) and the Childline," AHTU in-charge Vinod Panwar told PTI. After being rescued, the children were taken for their medical examination post which they were all admitted to the shelter home in accordance with the rules, Panwar said.

Researchers have detected an anti-inflammatory pattern in long Covid patients, which helps in understanding better what causes fatigue in patients with long term symptoms of the disease. The researchers at the University of Vienna, Austria, have now presented new evidence of triggers for fatigue following SARS-COV-2 infection. The team of researchers showed that an exaggerated anti-inflammatory response is likely to be responsible for long Covid syndrome (LCS). The study has been published in "iScience". Today, millions of people suffer from LCS, which significantly affects their quality of life. However, it is not easy to diagnose and treat due to a lack of understanding of the underlying disease mechanisms. The diagnosis and treatment of LCS is still very difficult, and there is only little knowledge about the factors causing accompanying symptoms. According to the study, the team of researchers, led by chemist Christopher Gerner, have now turned their attention to LCS using mass spectrometry-based post-genomic analysis techniques. The strength of these methods lies in the very comprehensive mapping of actual conditions, i.e. the traceability of disease processes taking place in a patient.

Most shops and establishments remained closed in Puducherry on Wednesday in response to the call given by the AIADMK for a day-long bandh to urge the Centre to grant statehood for the Union Territory. Secretary of the Puducherry unit of AIADMK (East) A Anbalagan, who gave the call for the shutdown, was taken into custody along with his supporters at his office in the early hours today. Anbalagan had earlier said that statehood was "absolutely necessary" for Puducherry. Privately-owned inter-state and intra-state buses went off the roads while state transport buses operated as usual. The Rajiv Gandhi bus terminal here remained forlorn with private operators not functioning. Auto-rickshaws and tempo travellers did not ply as well. Hotels and jewellery shops remained shut in and around Puducherry. Vegetable shops and fish vendors suspended their business in most of the areas. Police were deployed in strength at vantage points. Only two-wheelers could be seen on the main thoroughfares.

Maharashtra assembly on Wednesday passed the Lokayukta Bill 2022, which brings the chief minister and council of ministers under the ambit of the anti-corruption ombudsman. The bill was passed without discussion as the opposition had staged a walkout over the alleged scam in the Teachers Entrance Test. Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis termed the bill a historic legislation, adding Maharashtra is the first state to have such a law.

Work at landfill sites in Delhi need to speed up and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will ensure that once the MCD councillors take oath next month, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said on Wednesday. Sisodia, along with nominated AAP's mayor and deputy mayor candidates -- Shelly Oberoi and Aaley Mohammad Iqbal -- visited the Okhla Landfill site to inspect the progress of work there.

After raising investments of Rs 7.12 lakh crore from 16 nations, a group of ministers from Uttar Pradesh will now hold roadshows in seven major cities of the country to attract domestic investors. The roadshows, to be held from January 5-23, are a prelude to UP Global Investors Summit (GIS) in February. UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will personally meet prominent industrial organisations in Mumbai and invite them to invest in Uttar Pradesh. Separate teams have been prepared for the other six cities, a statement from the UP government said.

Women in a tribal area of Hiamchal Pradesh's Chamba district have started a campaign to save hazelnut trees. As many as 50 women, volunteers, villagers and school children took the oath to save hazelnut trees and planted around 500 saplings on Tuesday. The idea is to create awareness and save the forest wealth which supplements the income of the villagers besides conservation of heritage, a women's organisation said. Hazel is the heritage tree of tribal Pangi valley. Hazelnut trees have contributed to the economy of the tribal Phindru Panchayat of the Pangi region for centuries. It is a natural plant which is found abundantly in the area and the residents have been supplementing their earnings for years by selling its fruit.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's mother Hira Ben admitted at UN Mehta hospital in Ahmedabad today. 

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A woman from Jharkhand was shot dead after she thwarted a highway robbery attempt in West Bengal's Howrah district in the early hours of Wednesday, police said. Rita Kumari along with her husband Prakash Kumar and their two-year-old daughter were heading to Kolkata via the National Highway 16 by car, they said. Kumar stopped near Mahishrekha in Bagnan police station area to relieve himself. Soon, a gang of three men attacked him, trying to rob his belongings. When the woman rushed to rescue the husband, they shot her and fled the spot immediately, police said.

Central paramilitary forces have started arriving in Tripura as Assembly elections are due in the northeastern state early next year, a senior police officer said on Wednesday. Five companies of CRPF arrived on Tuesday and they will be deployed in the districts to perform election-related duties while 50 more companies are expected to arrive by the next 48 hours. As many as 100 companies of central paramilitary forces - CRPF, BSF, CISF, ITBP and SSB will be deployed in the northeastern state to ensure free and fair elections.  

An illegal arms factory was unearthed in Marauli village here and one person was arrested in this connection, police said on Wednesday. Superintendent of Police, Abhinandan, said the factory was unearthed on Tuesday following a tip-off, and raids were conducted in which one person identified as Amrit Vishwakarma was arrested. A number of arms, bullets and machines used in making arms were recovered from the spot. The accused admitted that he used to sell country-made pistols to criminals, he said, adding investigations are going on to ascertain how many arms have been sold till now. The accused has been sent to jail, the SP said.

An illegal arms factory was unearthed in Marauli village here and one person was arrested in this connection, police said on Wednesday. Superintendent of Police, Abhinandan, said the factory was unearthed on Tuesday following a tip-off, and raids were conducted in which one person identified as Amrit Vishwakarma was arrested. A number of arms, bullets and machines used in making arms were recovered from the spot. The accused admitted that he used to sell country-made pistols to criminals, he said, adding investigations are going on to ascertain how many arms have been sold till now. The accused has been sent to jail, the SP said.

The Bengal leg of the Congress' 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' was flagged off by state party chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury from Ganga Sagar Island in South 24 Parganas district on Wednesday morning. The yatra which has been renamed as 'Sagar Se Pahar Tak' in the state is scheduled to move through around 800 km in different districts of the state and end at Kurseong in North Bengal on January 23, the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee chief had criticised the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) for deciding to not join the Bharat Jodo Yatra, despite being invited by Rahul Gandhi. Chowdhury also said the Bengal leg of the yatra is open to all anti-BJP forces.

Bihar has witnessed a more than ten-fold rise in active COVID-19 cases, since last weekend, according to figures released by the state health department. The state, which had zero active case till Sunday, now has 14, with Gaya accounting for 12 of these. Notably, Gaya is witnessing an influx of pilgrims from abroad who are heading for Bodh Gaya, less than 20 km away, to attend the discourses of the Dalai Lama. The Tibetan spiritual leader is in Bihar after a gap of two years. On Monday, the international Buddhist pilgrimage centre had reported five COVID-19 cases, all of them foreign nationals.

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A joint team of the chief minister's flying squad and the Haryana health department raided a private hospital that was allegedly being run illegally at the Jamalpur chowk here and arrested two people, officials said on Tuesday. The operator of the hospital, a BAMS doctor, was arrested along with one of his associates, they said, adding that an X-ray machine, which was being used without following norms and without a radiologist, was also sealed. An FIR has been registered against the accused at the Bilaspur police station. According to a complaint submitted to police by Dr Pawan Chaudhary, SMO of Bhora Kalan, the flying squad team received information that the Vikas Hospital was being run illegally at the Jamalpur chowk. The raid at the facility was conducted on Monday evening.

A gunfight broke out between terrorists and security forces in the Sidhra area here early Wednesday morning, a police official said. The gunfight erupted around 7.30 am and reinforcements have been rushed to the area to neutralise the terrorists, he said. Confirming the incident, Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Jammu Zone, Mukesh Singh said two to three terrorists are believed to be trapped in the area. 

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un presented unspecified goals to further bolster his military power next year at a meeting of top political officials, state media reported Wednesday, in an indication he'll continue his provocative run of weapons displays. Kim's statement came as animosities with rival South Korea rose sharply this week as the South accused the North of flying drones across the rivals' border for the first time in five years. This year, North Korea already performed a record number of missile tests in what experts call an attempt to modernize its arsenal and increase its leverage in future dealings with the United States. During the Tuesday session at the ongoing plenary meeting of the ruling Workers' Party, Kim analyzed new security challenges in international politics and on the Korean Peninsula and clarified principles and directions to take in external relations and fights against enemies to protect national interests and sovereignty, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.

Authorities in northern Arizona have found the bodies of two men a day after they fell through ice while walking on a frozen lake. A woman walking with them also died after plunging into the frigid water. All three of them lived in the Phoenix suburb of Chandler but are originally from India, the sheriff's office said. The Coconino County Sheriff's Office said in a news release Tuesday that searchers located the bodies of 49-year-old Narayana Muddana and 47-year-old Gokul Mediseti. They also identified their female companion as Haritha Muddana. Her age was not immediately known.

A 26-year-old man was shot dead by unidentified assailants while he was returning home from his field in Uttar Pradesh's Sultanpur district, police said on Tuesday. The deceased was identified as Mohammad Akram, a resident of Sonbarsa village under Baldirai police station area, they said. Akram was returning from his field on Saturday evening when he was shot in the head by unidentified assailants. As he did not reach home, his family members started looking for him and found him bleeding in a field outside the village, Superintendent of Police Somen Barma said. Akram was rushed to a hospital from where doctors referred him to Lucknow for treatment. The victim died at a private hospital in Lucknow on Tuesday, he said. Barma said police teams have been formed to crack the case.

Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio on Tuesday asserted that 2022 has been “a good year” for Nagaland, with the National Crime Records Bureau declaring it as the “most peaceful” state. “The year 2022 has been good, and as declared by the NCRB that Nagaland is the most peaceful state in the country, which itself speaks volumes about the state... except for the Naga political issue, which could not be resolved this year,” Rio told reporters here. He, however, said the state government and the people of Nagaland have not given up hope for a solution to the vexed issue. “I hope the new year of 2023 will also be a peaceful and fruitful year,” the chief minister said.

A fire erupted in a ground-plus-two-storey building in an industrial estate in Marol Naka area of suburban Andheri on Tuesday evening, a civic official said, adding it was controlled but not doused completely. There were no reports of anyone getting injured, he added. The fire broke out in building number 5 at Mittal Industrial Estate on Andheri-Kurla road around 4.45 pm. Eight fire engines and other vehicles were rushed to the spot and dousing operation is underway, the official said.

An out-of-control car crashed into a crowd at a large street party in southern Nigeria on Tuesday, leaving seven people dead and many others injured, authorities told The Associated Press. The driver lost control of the car on a packed street in Calabar, Cross River State capital, just as people were gathering to watch a bikers parade at the Calabar carnival, Nigeria's Federal Road Safety Corps said. Tuesday's bikers show is one of the main highlights of the carnival event known as one of Africa's biggest street parties. The annual carnival has regularly drawn people from across Nigeria and beyond since it began nearly two decades ago.

When he ran for the White House, Joe Biden told voters his presidency would be a bridge to the next generation. His first two years on the job have revealed it to be a much more ambitious venture. As he nears the halfway mark on his first term, Biden is pointing to legacy-defining achievements on climate change, domestic manufacturing and progress on the COVID-19 pandemic — all accomplished with razor-thin majorities on Capitol Hill and rather dim views from the public.