Delhi on Saturday reported 11,486 new COVID-19 cases and 45 deaths in the last 24 hours while the positivity rate dropped to 16.36% as opposed to 18.04% on Friday. The death count is reportedly the highest in the third wave. Over 14,000 patients recovered in the last 24 hours and the active caseload in Delhi stands at 58,593.

Mumbai on Saturday reported 3,568 new COVID-19 cases and 10 deaths in the last 24 hours while 84% of the new patients are asymptomatic. The city had reported 5,008 fresh infections on Friday, nearly 1,400 higher than today. As per the bulletin, 485 patients were hospitalised today and the active caseload stands at 17,497. All patients who died had co-morbidities.

The Delhi State Legal Services Authority has moved Delhi HC seeking payment of ₹20 lakh imposed on Juhi Chawla and others in June 2021 in connection with their petition on 5G rollout. The lawyer who appeared for Juhi said he wasn't served with the petition copy and that she recently moved a division bench of the court regarding the case.

A 57-year-old woman from the Kudige village of Shivamogga district in Karnataka has contracted Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD), also called monkey fever. District Health Officer Dr Rajesh Suragihalli said, "(The) patient was suffering from fever for a few days, following which her blood sample was collected and tested for KFD." The fever causes fever and body ache for 5-12 days.

Amid a surge in COVID-19 cases, a video of Madhya Pradesh BJP leader Imarti Devi throwing away a mask handed to her by AAP volunteers on Friday has surfaced online. The video showed her sitting in a car without a mask when she is given a mask by a volunteer, which she threw out of the window soon after.

The Election Commission on Saturday extended the ban on physical rallies and roadshows for five poll-bound states till January 31, 2022. The EC introduced relaxations in Phase 1 and 2 by permitting physical public meetings of political parties in open spaces with a maximum of 500 people. The limit for door to door campaigning increased from 5 to 10 persons.

A 28-year-old mechanical engineer allegedly robbed a State Bank of India branch in Bengaluru's Madiwala after he lost his savings in stock trading. The engineer barged into the bank on January 14, brandished a knife at the staff and robbed ₹3.76 lakh cash and 1.80-kilogram gold ornaments. However, he was later arrested on January 18 and sent to judicial custody.

Mahatma Gandhi's favourite hymn 'Abide with Me' (written by Henry Francis Lyte) has been dropped from the list of songs to be played during the Beating Retreat ceremony scheduled for January 29. 'Ae mere watan ke logon' (written by Kavi Pradeep) will replace it this year. 'Abide with Me' was dropped in 2020 but was reinstated in 2021 following backlash.

Hearing a motor accident claim case, Gauhati High Court observed, "To tag a house wife as a 'skilled worker' alone doesn't do complete justice to her multifarious role as a home manager." The court was hearing an appeal filed by minor daughters and widowed mother of the deceased against Motor Accident Claims Tribunal order which had awarded ₹4,25,000 as compensation.

The Indian Army said in a statement that this year's Republic Day will have 17 military bands, 25 tableaux and 16 marching contingents of various states, departments and armed forces. The six marching contingents of the Indian Army will be of Rajput Regiment, Assam Regiment, Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry, Sikh Light Infantry, Army Ordnance Corps Regiment and Parachute Regiment.

All schools and colleges in the Pune district will remain closed amid rising cases of coronavirus in the district, Pune Mayor Murlidhar Mohol said. However, parks and gardens can remain open in the morning hours for double-vaccinated persons. The decision over the same was taken during Pune Guardian Minister Ajit Pawar's review meeting over the COVID-19 situation in the district.

AAP's CM candidate from Punjab, Bhagwant Mann, on Saturday invited Congress leader and Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi to contest against him from Dhuri seat. "I can't fight from Chamkaur Sahib [constituency of Channi]...it's...reserved seat, but he can fight from Dhuri...I welcome him," Mann said. Notably, Mann on Saturday visited the Shri Ram Tirath Mandir and Golden Temple in Amritsar.

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Saturday released a list of 51 candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh. Addressing a press conference, she also announced the new party slogan, 'Har polling booth ko jitana hai, BSP ko satta mein lana hai’. She said the names of the remaining four candidates will be disclosed soon.

Congress leader Harish Rawat on Saturday said that Congress is slightly out of form nationally. Ex-Uttarakhand CM Rawat said, "Sometimes batsman is out of form, Congress' form is slightly low now...We'll regain it, want to assure people of the country." Rawat, however, added that the party’s form is good in Uttarakhand, which's scheduled to go on polls on February 14.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said that the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir will be restored once the situation in the Union Territory normalises. He further said the delimitation process has started in J&K, adding, "After its completion, we'll hold the [Assembly] elections in the Union Territory." J&K is a priority for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he added.

A petition has been filed in Supreme Court against political parties promising or distributing "irrational" freebies from public funds before elections, claiming that such actions can influence voters. It sought that the apex court should direct the Election Commission to seize election symbols and deregister political parties that do so. This comes ahead of Assembly elections in five states.

The Mumbai Customs has seized 1.8 kg gold in paste form worth ₹75 lakh from a Sudanese national. The gold was hidden in a pouch and was kept between rods of a trolley that is used for transporting the baggage. As per police officials, he was arrested right after his arrival from Sudan.

Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation has increased the number of AC Vajra bus services on specific routes of the city. While bus services on the KR Market-Magadi route and KR Market-Harohalli route have been increased to nine each, the services on Kempegowda bus station-Anekal route have been increased to eight. The services have also been increased on the Banashankari TTMC-ITPL route.

The bodies of two Indians who were killed in a suspected drone attack in UAE's capital Abu Dhabi reached Punjab on Friday. The deceased have been identified as 28-year-old Hardeep Singh and 35-year-old Hardev Singh. Hardev Singh's body was taken to his native Baghapurana village in Moga district while that of Hardeep Singh was taken to Mehsampur village near Amritsar.

Five people, including a father-daughter duo, were killed and five were seriously injured in a accident in Odisha's Sonepur district on Friday, police said. Sonepur SP Sitaram Satpathy said they were returning from a marriage function when the jeep they were travelling in collided with a truck. The injured persons were rescued from the mangled vehicle with gas cutters' help.

A 42-year-old spa owner was allegedly assaulted and threatened after she asked a customer to wear a face mask and show his vaccination certificate in Gurugram on January 13. "When I said he cannot enter without showing the certificate, he started assaulting me and punched my right eye and stomach," the owner alleged. "[He] was under...influence of alcohol," she added.

The police on Saturday said a 45-year-old police informer was killed and three vehicles engaged in road construction were torched allegedly by Naxals in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh. The deceased has been identified as Ando Ram, an official told PTI, adding that the three vehicles were set afire in a separate incident at Cherkanti Patelpara village in the district.

A massive fire broke out at a thermocol factory in West Bengal's Howrah district on Saturday afternoon. "[200-250] people were working inside...factory when the fire broke out," a factory worker said. However, Sunetra Chattopadhyay, the company supervisor said that all the workers have been rescued, adding, "one part of...factory completely burned and we've incurred a loss of about ₹1 lakh."

Central Railway has completed rail electrification work on a 173-kilometre route during the 2021-22 financial year, an official statement said. Central Railway had set a target of 418 kilometres for electrification work for the current financial year. The work on the remaining stretch of 245 kilometres is expected to be completed by March 2022.

A Pakistani flag was recovered along the International Border in Jammu and Kashmir’s Samba district on Saturday. The development comes days ahead of Republic Day celebrations in the country. Tied to a balloon, the flag landed at Raguchak village of the Ghagwal sector in the Indian territory, PTI quoted officials as saying.