Indian Sub-continent

Kanpur: Prime Minister Narendra Modi started off his address at the 54th convocation ceremony of the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur here today with a quip, "Is it necessary to be this serious at a convocation?" He launched blockchain-based digital degrees at the ceremony.

UP Governor Anandiben Patel and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath attended the function as guests of honour.

Mumbai, Dec 28 (PTI) Maharashtra School Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad on Tuesday said she has tested positive for coronavirus.

The minister, who contracted the viral infection last year also, had been attending the ongoing winter session of the state Legislature and replied to various questions pertaining to her ministry in the state Legislative Council on Monday.

New Delhi, Dec 28 (PTI) Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday said divisive ideologies anchored in hate and prejudice were making every effort to weaken the firm foundation laid down by party leaders over the years to develop a strong India.

In a message to Congress workers on the party's 137th Foundation Day, Gandhi said, "History was being falsified and detestable efforts were being made to erase the Ganga-Jamuni' culture of the country."

Kanpur: Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurates the completed section of Kanpur Metro Rail Project today. He boarded the metro train at IIT Kanpur metro station and thus becomes the first VVIP passenger of the service.

He was accompanied by Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

The Kanpur Metro Rail Project comprises two corridors and has a total length of 32.5 km.

The first corridor from IIT- Kanpur to Naubasta is 23.8 km long. The second corridor is 8.6 km long from Chandrashekar Azad Agriculture University to Barra- 8.

New Delhi, Dec 28 (PTI) A yellow alert has been sounded in Delhi and some restrictions imposed under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) in view of rising number of Covid cases in the city, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Tuesday.

The yellow alert entails restrictions like night curfew, closure of schools and colleges, opening of non essential shops based on an odd even basis, halved seating capacity in Metro trains and buses among others.

Kolkata, Dec 26 (PTI) Former union minister and Trinamool Congress leader Babul Supriyo, who joined TMC three months back, on Sunday took a swipe at his former party predicting five disgruntled saffron party MLAs who quit the BJP West Bengal's MLA WhatsApp group, may now sever their links with the party.

However, one of the five MLAs Ambica Roy on Sunday expressed his desire to rejoin the WhatsApp group stating he had made a mistake and wished to "remain a loyal soldier of BJP."

Lucknow, Dec 26 (PTI) The Congress on Sunday sought to dub Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Aditynath as "Bulldozernath" or the lord of bulldozers, allegedly out to trample the dreams of youths.

The Congress made the allegation a day after the Lucknow police denied the party to hold a five-km race in the city as part of Congress president Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's 'Ladki Hoon, Lad Sakti Hoon' poll campaign.

It accused the chief minister of crushing the dreams of girls who wanted to run a marathon organised by the party in Lucknow.

New Delhi, Dec 27 (PTI) Former Punjab chief minister and leader of the newly floated Punjab Lok Congress Amarinder Singh on Monday met with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national president J P Nadda here.

The BJP has announced that it will contest the Punjab assembly polls in alliance with Singh's party.

The meeting is underway at Shah's residence where all three are present.

Singh has been meeting various BJP leaders to chalk out a strategy for the Punjab elections.

Mumbai, Dec 27 (PTI) Former India coach Ravi Shastri has supported the splitting of captaincy in the red and white ball formats, saying it is the right way to go.

While Virat Kohli remains the Test skipper, one of the finest white-ball exponents and star opener, Rohit Sharma has been appointed as the T20 and ODI captain.

New Delhi, Dec 27 (PTI) Kerala has again emerged as the top ranking state in terms of overall health performance among larger states, while Uttar Pradesh is the worst, according to the fourth Health Index launched by Niti Aayog.

The fourth round of the Health Index took into account the period 2019-20 (reference year).

The report by the government think tank said Tamil Nadu and Telangana have emerged as the second and third best performers, respectively, on health parameters.