Delhi

New Delhi, Dec 20 (PTI) A bill to link electoral rolls with the Aadhaar ecosystem to weed out duplication was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday.

Introducing The Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021, Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said the legislation will end bogus voting in the country and make the electoral process more credible.

The bill seeks to allow electoral registration officers seek the Aadhaar number of people who want to register as voters "for the purpose of establishing the identity".

New Delhi, Dec 18(PTI) Delhi government is ready to tackle the Omicron variant of COVID, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Saturday.

He advised people not to panic saying even though the variant was said to spread faster than the previous ones, its symptoms were mild.

He said Delhi might not face another wave of infections, since according to the sero survey conducted by the Delhi government, 96 per cent of the state population was found to have antibodies and a majority of them were vaccinated.

New Delhi/Mumbai, Dec 19 (PTI) India's Omicron COVID count rose to 145 on Sunday after a 45-year-old NRI and a teenage boy, who recently arrived in Gujarat from the United Kingdom, tested positive for the variant.

According to central and state officials, omicron cases have been detected in 11 states and union territories -- Maharashtra (48), Delhi (22), Rajasthan (17) and Karnataka (14), Telangana (20), Gujarat (9), Kerala (11), Andhra Pradesh (1), Chandigarh (1), Tamil Nadu (1) and West Bengal (1).

New Delhi, Dec 18 (PTI) The government has received an undisclosed number of financial bids for sale of its stake in ailing helicopter operator Pawan Hans, moving the divestment process to the last stage.

"The financial bids for Pawan Hans disinvestment have been received by the transaction advisor. The process now moves to a concluding stage, DIPAM Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey tweeted.

He, however, did not disclose the number of bidders.

New Delhi, Dec 17 (PTI) The two-day nationwide bank strike called by United Forum of Bank Union ended on Friday, impacting normal operations across the country.

Lakhs (hundreds of thousands) of employees of public sector banks were on strike to protest against the proposed privatisation of banks by the government.

Banks will work as usual on Saturday, as it is a working day.

New Delhi, Dec 16 (PTI) The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Friday a plea challenging the setting up of a commission of inquiry by the West Bengal government to probe into the Pegasus snooping allegations.

The matter was mentioned on Thursday before a bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana by the lawyer appearing for the petitioner NGO who submitted that the commission was going ahead with the probe despite the fact that the top court has constituted an expert committee in the case.

New Delhi, Dec 17 (PTI) The Congress on Friday hit out at the government, alleging that it was treating the Election Commission as its "subservient tool".

Congress general secretary and chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala charged that the government has fallen to a new low in destroying institutions in the country.

New Delhi, Dec 14 (PTI) The Quad is a very contemporary arrangement having an open-minded and creative approach that has helped it in moving "very effectively" in addressing various problems, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Tuesday.

Talking about the importance of critical technologies and India's journey in acquiring them in the backdrop of the Indo-US nuclear deal around 15 years back, he said though Washington discovered a certain value in ties with New Delhi, there were others who were "dogmatic" in their views of the world and found it hard to do this.

New Delhi, Dec 14 (PTI) The Pakistan high commission on Tuesday said it has issued 112 visas to Indian pilgrims to visit Shree Katas Raj temples in Punjab province's Chakwal district.

It said the group will visit the Katas Raj temples, also known as Qila Katas or complex of Katas temples from December 17 to 23.

"Today, the high commission for Pakistan in India issued 112 visas to Indian Hindu pilgrims for their visit to a prominent Hindu temple in Punjab, Pakistan, " the high commission said in a statement.

New Delhi, Dec 14 (PTI) Jamia Millia Islamia has been ranked A++ in the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) review, according to a university statement issued on Tuesday.

The grading provided by the NAAC is crucial for funds and grants allotted to a university by the University Grants Commission (UGC).

Jamia Millia Islamia got a cumulative grade point average (CGPA) of 3.61. The CGPA for A++ accreditation is between 3.51 to 4.