Breaking News, November 24

Accusing Congress and National Conference leaders of encroaching large tracts of government and forest land in Jammu and Kashmir, senior BJP leader and Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Tuesday demanded a thorough probe into the alleged 'Roshni scam'. READ MORE

A cyclone will come rolling into Tamil Nadu and Puducherry as a severe storm on Wednesday, bringing the state to a halt. Chhristened 'Nivar', the cyclone was very likely to cross the coast between Karaikal in Puducherry and Mamallapuram over 50 kilometers from Chennai late Wednesday evening as a severe cyclonic storm with a wind speed of 100-110 km per hour gusting to 120 kmph, the India Meteorological Department said. READ MORE

Ahead of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) polls, war of words between political competitors is also getting intense. In one such incident, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi has hit out at a BJP leader who in a statement talked about conducting a surgical strike in old city if they wins polls. READ MORE

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday asked the Chief Ministers of all the states and UTs to work on developing the infrastructure required for the distribution of the Covid vaccine. READ MORE

The third meeting of Central Election Authority committee of Congress party headed by senior Congress leader Madhusudan Mistry took place on Tuesday at the AICC headquarters in New Delhi. READ MORE

Uttar Pradesh Cabinet clears proposal to rename Ayodhya airport as Maryada Purushottam Sri Ram Airport, reports ANI.

The government has blocked at least 43 mobile apps for access in India. MangoTV, AliSuppliers Mobile App, Alibaba Workbench, WeTV - TV version, WeTV - Cdrama, Kdrama&More, WeTV Lite are among the apps banned in India. READ MORE

The Uttar Pradesh government has passed a bill against 'Love Jihad'. The Unlawful Conversion bill has provisions that can land offenders in jail for upto five years. The law against forced religious conversions was approved days after Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath issued a warning. READ MORE

Nivar Cyclone is currently 50km south-west of Chennai and is moving north-westward. The prediction is that it is likely to move towards Tamil Nadu coast & cross close to Puducherry at around 5pm tomorrow. It will intensify further: RK Jenamani, senior scientist, IMD.

Puducherry District Magistrate orders imposition of Section 144 from 9 pm tonight till 6 am, 26th Nov in entire Puducherry region, in wake of Cyclone Nivar. All shops & establishments will remain closed. Only milk stations, petrol stations & pharmacies are allowed to operate.

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal informed PM Modi that Delhi saw a peak of 8600 COVID-19 cases on 10 November in the third peak. Since then cases and positivity rate are steadily decreasing. The high severity of the third wave is due to many factors including pollution. 

 Petrol and diesel prices at Rs 81.59/litre (increase by Rs 0.06) and Rs 71.41/litre (increase by Rs 0.16), respectively today.

Rain or thundershowers very likely at many places over south coastal Andhra Pradesh & Rayalaseema on 25 & 26 November: Cyclone Warning Centre, Visakhapatnam.

India today testfired a land attack version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands territory. The target of the missile was on another island there, news agency ANI reported quoting sources.

The supersonic cruise missile was testfired at 10 AM today and it successfully hit its target. The test was conducted by the Indian Army which has many regiments of the DRDO-developed Missile system. The strike range of BrahMos missile has now been enhanced to over 400 km.

Coastal parts of Chennai on alert ahead of Cyclone Nivar.

Nivar Cyclone is very likely to cross Tamil Nadu and Puducherry coasts between Karaikal and Mamallapuram around Puducherry during 25th November 2020 evening as a severe cyclonic storm with a wind speed of 100-110 kmph gusting to 120 kmph: India Meteorological Department (IMD)

With 37,975 new COVID-19 infections, India's total cases rise to 91,77,841. With 480 new deaths, toll mounts to 1,34,218 . Total active cases at 4,38,667 . Total discharged cases at 86,04,955 with 42,314 new discharges in last 24 hrs

Special cell of Delhi Police arrested two criminals following an encounter in Rohini area. The acussed are wanted in murder and extortion cases. Arms and ammunition recovered, Delhi Police informed.

Air Quality Index (AQI) is at 400 (very poor) in Patparganj area, as per Central Pollution Control Board data. 

Mercury level also dips in the national capital, with an IMD forecast of 10° Celsius minimum & 25° Celsius maximum temperature for today.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a meeting with Chief Ministers of States over COVID-19 situation, through video conferencing today

The COVID-19 death toll in West Bengal rose to 8,072 after 47 more people succumbed to the disease on Monday, while 3,557 new cases of infection took the tally to 4,59,918, the state health department said in a bulletin.

Assam reports 169 new COVID-19 cases today.

Total cases in the State now at 2,11,682 including 2,07,525 recoveries, 3,179 active cases, and 975 deaths: Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma