Breaking News December 5 | Highlights

As many as 1.46 lakh children or 64 per cent of those in childcare institutions have been sent back to their families as a precaution against the coronavirus pandemic following directives from the Supreme Court, the UNICEF said on Saturday.

Former deputy speaker of Uttarakhand Assembly and Congress leader Anusuya Prasad Maikhuri died at the Max Hospital in Dehradun on Saturday. He was 59.

Maikhuri had been under treatment at the hospital for more than a month. Sources at the hospital said he died of post COVID-19 complications.

Maikhuri was the deputy speaker of the state assembly from 2012 to 2017.

Condoling his death, Pradesh Congress Committee president Pritam Singh said it was a big loss for the party.

The state election commission on Saturday announced that the Zilla Panchayat elections in Goa will be held on December 12, while the counting of votes will take place on December 14.

A voter turnout of 62 per cent was recorded till 5 pm in the fourth and final phase of the election for zila parishad and panchayat samiti members in Rajasthan on Saturday. Voting was held for 908 members of 46 panchayat samitis in 21 districts and their respective zila parishad members.

In the fourth phase, 52.55 lakh people are eligible to vote and there are 7,346 polling stations, a State Election Commission spokesperson said.

He added that 62.16 per cent of the votes were cast till 5 pm. The counting will be held on Tuesday at the district headquarters, the spokesperson said.

About 18,000 electronic voting machines (EVMs) were used, while more than 36,000 security personnel were deployed for smooth conduct of the elections, the spokesperson said.

Thousands of doctors, teachers and others in high-risk groups have signed up for COVID-19 vaccinations in Moscow starting Saturday, a precursor to a sweeping Russia-wide immunization effort.

The Banks Board Bureau (BBB), the headhunter for state-owned banks and financial institutions, on Saturday recommended S Ramann and Shivendra Tomar for the posts of CMD and MD of SIDBI and IFCI, respectively.

The members of the Banks Board Bureau interviewed 20 candidates on December 4 and 5, 2020 for the vacancy of chairman and managing director (CMD) of Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), the BBB said in a statement.
 
"Keeping in view their performance in the interview and their overall experience, the bureau recommends S Ramann for the position of chairman and managing director in SIDBI," it said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone for a new Parliament building on December 10, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said on Saturday. READ MORE 

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday said the first phase of the Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi Expressway from Nagpur to Shirdi will be thrown open to public on May 1, 2021.

Former Karnataka minister Roshan Baig granted bail by a special CBI court in the IMA scam case. 

Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik summoned by Enforcement Directorate for the third time in connection with raid conducted at his residence, asked to appear on Thursday.

An IAS officer on election duty for the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council polls died due to a heart attack, an official said on Saturday.

District Magistrate of Varanasi Kaushal Raj Sharma said that IAS officer Ajay Kumar Singh (50), who was deployed as an observer in Varanasi, died at around 9.30 am while on his way to the counting centre.

Telangana recorded 596 fresh coronavirus cases, taking the tally to over 2.72 lakh while three related fatalities pushed the toll to 1,470. Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) accounted for the most number of cases with 102, followed by Medchal Malkajgiri 47 and Rangareddy 46.

Thirteen more people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, raising the tally in the Union Territory to 4,742. The death toll remained at 61 as no new fatality due to the infection was reported. Of the fresh cases, five were detected during contact tracing, while eight have travel history.

More than one hundred history-sheeters have been detained ahead of Karnataka bandh: DCP (West), Bengaluru