Indian Sub-continent

New Delhi, Jan 26 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi ditched his traditional turban look on Republic Day this year and wore a traditional cap from Uttarakhand with an image of the brahmakamal, the state flower, and sported a stole from Manipur.

Official sources said Modi uses the brahmakamal whenever he offers prayers at Kedarnath.

Turbans have been a highlight of the prime minister's sartorial choices at Independence Day and Republic Day events.

ISLAMABAD, Jan 25 (APP): Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi Tuesday appreciated Tunisia’s vision for making OIC a substantive platform for advancing interfaith harmony as well as cooperation on addressing international issues such as Jammu and Kashmir and Islamophobia.

The foreign minister, in a meeting with Ambassador of Tunisia Borhene El Kamel here, Pakistan’s historical and fraternal ties with Tunisia predating the latter’s independence.

ISLAMABAD, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan has reported 6,357 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) said on Tuesday.

The country's number of overall confirmed cases has risen to 1,381,152, according to the NCOC, the department leading Pakistan's campaign against the pandemic.

Another 17 people lost their lives over the past 24 hours in Pakistan, taking the death toll to 29,122, according to the NCOC, adding that 1,200 are in critical condition.

24 Jan 2022; MEMO: A delegation of senior Taliban officials and representatives has travelled to Norway to hold talks in an effort to free $10 billion of Afghanistan's frozen assets.

The delegation, led by acting Foreign Minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, arrived in Norway's capital, Oslo, yesterday to begin the three days of talks with Western government officials and Afghan civil society representatives.

New Delhi, Jan 25 (PTI) After being over three lakh for five consecutive days, the single day rise in COVID-19 infections was recorded at 2,55,874, taking India's total tally of cases to 3,97,99,202, according to Union health ministry data updated on Tuesday.

The death toll has climbed to 4,90,462 with 614 daily fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated.

The ministry said that active cases have decreased to 22,36,842 and comprise 5.62 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has decreased to 93.15 per cent.

Prayagraj, Jan 24 (PTI) A saint cannot be a chief minister as after taking the oath of secularism as a constitutional dignitary, he cannot stay "religious", a prominent seer said here on Monday, in an apparent reference to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

The claim was made by Swami Avimukteshwaranand in his reply to a query on Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's status as a saint and the mahant of Gorakhnath temple in Gorakhpur.

Aligarh (UP), Jan 24 (PTI) The "Dharam Sansad", which was earlier scheduled for January 22 here, will now be held in the first week of April, an organiser said on Monday.

Puja Shakun Pandey, who is the national general secretary of the All-India Hindu Mahasabha, said the decision was taken at a meeting.

"The Dharma Sansad, which was earlier scheduled to be held in Aligarh on January 22, will now be organised in the first week of April. It was postponed due to the Covid pandemic and the state elections," she said.

Kolkata, Jan 24 (PTI) BJP Monday suspended its senior West Bengal leaders Ritesh Tiwari and Jaiprakash Majumdar, who were show caused on January 23, for violating the party discipline.

A statement issued by the West Bengal BJP unit said Tiwari and Majumdar have been suspended till the party's disciplinary committee completes its investigation under instructions of BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar.

New Delhi, Jan 25 (PTI) An overwhelming 86 per cent people want voting to be made mandatory in the country, according to a survey released on Tuesday on the occasion of the 12th National Voters' Day.

The pan-India survey, conducted with a sample size of over four lakh people by location-based social network platform Public App, also found that over 80 per cent of respondents trust the current voting process in the country.

New Delhi, Jan 25 (PTI) Congress leader and former union minister RPN Singh on Tuesday resigned from the party and is likely to join the BJP.

He announced on Twitter that he was starting his new political journey.

Singh is also the in-charge for Jharkhand affairs of the party, where the party is in power along with the JMM.

"Today, at a time, we are celebrating the formation of our great Republic, I begin a new chapter in my political journey. Jai Hind," Singh said on Twitter.