A look at the top headlines right now:

  1. Mumbai clocks over 20,000 Covid cases for first time, Delhi registers 15,097 new infections: Mumbai civic chief Iqbal Singh Chahal said had that ‘stringent measures’ may be implemented in the city if daily Covid-19 cases cross the 20,000-mark.  
  2. India is ‘closely monitoring’ construction of bridge by China across Pangong lake, says MEA: The ministry said that the bridge is being constructed in an area that is under China’s illegal occupation.  
  3. Supreme Court to hear plea seeking probe into PM Modi’s ‘security lapse’ on Friday: He was stuck on a flyover for over 15 minutes on Wednesday as protestors in Punjab blocked the road, which the Centre called a serious security lapse.  
  4. NEET PG counselling should begin in ‘national interest’, says SC on EWS quota, reserves verdict: The court is hearing petitions challenging the criterion of Rs 8 lakh annual income limit to give reservation under the Economically Weaker Section category.  
  5. Creator of app used for ‘online auction’ of Muslim women arrested from Assam, say Delhi Police: Neeraj Bishnoi, the fourth person to be arrested in the case, is a 20-year old engineering student in Bhopal.  
  6. Increase Covid testing, Centre tells nine states, UTs amid spread of Omicron variant: A decline in testing in Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Odisha, UP, Uttarakhand, Mizoram, Meghalaya, J&K and Bihar was a ‘cause of concern’, said the government.  
  7. Novak Djokovic’s visa revoked on landing in Australia, world No 1 to appeal decision: After reaching Melbourne, based on having an exemption permission, defending Aus Open champion Djokovic never made it past border control.  
  8. Dalit women’s right activist Bindu Ammini assaulted in Kerala, blames RSS for the attack: The accused person has been arrested.  
  9. India launches plan to translocate cheetahs nearly 70 years after extinction: The animal will be translocated from South Africa, Namibia and Botswama to Kuni National Park in Madhya Pradesh.  
  10. Kazakhstan security forces kill dozens of agitators as protests against rising fuel price intensify: The cost of LPG in the country has doubled after a price hike at the beginning of the year.