A look at the headlines right now:

  1. ‘India was saddened to witness insult of tricolour on Republic Day,’ says PM Modi: The prime minister made the comment in his monthly radio programme Mann Ki Baat. However, fact-checking websites have pointed out that the tricolour was not taken down by the protestors.
  2. Journalist Mandeep Punia’s bail plea rejected, sent to 14 days’ judicial custody: Punia was detained Delhi Police from the Capital’s Singhu border on Saturday evening for allegedly manhandling a constable. Meanwhile, journalists in Delhi staged a demonstration in front of the police headquarters, seeking his release.
  3. Cinema halls, theatres allowed to operate at 100% seating capacity from February 1: Following the nationwide lockdown in March last year, cinema halls were first allowed to reopen in October, at half their capacity.
  4. ‘Mamata Banerjee will be left alone by the time elections are held,’ says Amit Shah: The Union home minister’s comment came a day after former West Bengal minister Rajib Banerjee joined the BJP, along with five other Trinamool Congress leaders.
  5. Delhi Congress passes resolution to make Rahul Gandhi party president: Last week, the Congress had said that it will have a new elected president by June.
  6. FIR against ‘The Wire’ editor Siddharth Varadarajan in UP for tweeting article on farmer’s death: The news website, citing the family members of the protestor, reported that he died due to police firing during the tractor rally on January 26. The Delhi Police, meanwhile, on Saturday became the fifth one to file a case against Congress MP Shashi Tharoor and six journalists for allegedly sharing unverified news about Singh’s death.
  7. FIR against two websites for reports claiming Army forced school to celebrate Republic Day: However, days before the FIR was filed, on January 30, the school management put out a statement denying begin forced to celebrate and had named both websites –The Kashmir Walla and The Kashmiriyat.
  8. Dr Kafeel Khan named in list of 81 history-sheeters in UP’s Gorakhpur district: Khan said that the situation in Uttar Pradesh had taken such a turn that “criminals are not monitored, but the history-sheet of innocent persons is opened”.
  9. State officials now need Centre’s permission to attend online seminars on India’s ‘internal matters’: Additionally, state government ministers, government officials, including doctors and scientists, will have to first seek the permission of the foreign ministry, if they wish to participate in any such online events.
  10. Court dismisses plea against Serum Institute’s use of ‘Covishield’ as trademark: Earlier this month, Nanded-based pharmaceutical products manufacturer Cutis Biotech in Maharashtra had filed a civil lawsuit asking Serum Institute of India to stop using the trademark.