The big news: Centre asks states to immediately increase Covid testing, and nine other top stories
Other headlines: Delhi reported a fall in coronavirus positivity rate, but rise in deaths, and AAP announced that Bhagwant Mann is its CM candidate for polls.
A look at the top headlines right now:
- Centre expresses concern about decrease in coronavirus testing in several states: The health ministry asked states to increase testing in a strategic manner.
- Delhi reports fall in Covid positivity rate, rise in number of deaths: Meanwhile, Mumbai reported 6,149 new coronavirus cases and seven deaths in the past 24 hours.
- Bhagwant Mann is AAP’s chief ministerial candidate: The party had last week urged the voters in the state to recommend a candidate.
- Punjab chief minister’s nephew raided in relation to alleged illegal sand mining weeks before polls: The Enforcement Directorate is investigating a money laundering case.
- Lewd comments made about Muslim women on Clubhouse app, Delhi women’s panel asks police to file FIR: The Delhi Commission for Women took cognisance of the matter after a social media user posted on Twitter a recorded video from the audio chat app.
- Former Maharastra minister Anil Deshmukh’s default bail plea rejected in money laundering case: In his plea, the NCP leader argued that the special court had not taken cognisance of the chargesheet before remanding him to further judicial custody.
- Rajnath Singh responds to letters by Tamil Nadu, Bengal CMs on rejection of Republic Day tableaux: The defence minister said that only 12 out of 29 tableaux were approved for this year’s celebrations.
- Explain why only 19 women will be inducted in NDA, Supreme Court tells Centre: The court remarked that the intake of 19 women candidates was an ad hoc measure and could not be in place ‘for all times to come’.
- Tamil Nadu CM transfers probe into alleged custodial death of Dalit man with disability to CB-CID: The police had picked Prabhakaran and his wife from their home in Salem on suspicion of theft on January 8.
- Britain freezes the BBC funding for two years, Opposition calls it ‘cultural vandalism’: Households that watch BBC are every year charged a flat fee, which is used to fund shows and services offered by the public broadcaster.