Republic top 10 headlines: Punjab elections; WHO warns against beta coronaviruses & more

Punjab Elections: Amarinder Singh Says Centre & State's Shared Vision Is 'need Of The Hour'

Speaking on the 'need of the hour' ahead of Punjab elections, former Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Wednesday said that both Centre and State have to coordinate on every step. The Punjab Lok Congress Chief also hailed his party's partnership with the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) and added that it is the only alliance that will put the state on the 'right track'. Taking an indirect dig at the ruling Congress, the Captain said that 'rest fight over being the face of their respective parties!'

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Rahul Gandhi To Open Debate On Motion Of Thanks From Oppn At President's Address In LS

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will be the first speaker in the debate on the motion of thanks to the President’s address on Wednesday in Lok Sabha. According to sources, 12 hours have been allotted to opposition parties to express their reply to the Presidential address in the Lok Sabha. With the ongoing parliament session being held under COVID-19 protocols, the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) has allocated the time for debates on the Motion of Thanks to President and on the Union Budget 2022-23, starting from February 2, while PM Modi is likely to reply to it on February 8, reported ANI.

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Congress Decides To Not Field Candidate Against Akhilesh Yadav In UP Polls; Sparks Buzz

In a fresh twist in the lead-up to the Uttar Pradesh election, Congress decided to not field any candidate against SP chief Akhilesh Yadav as well as his uncle Shivpal Yadav. The ex-UP CM is contesting the Assembly polls for the first time and filed his nomination papers from Karhal on Monday. Falling under the Mainpuri Lok Sabha constituency which is considered Mulayam Singh Yadav's turf, the Karhal seat has been won by SP since 1993 barring 2002 when BJP's Sobaran Singh Yadav emerged victorious. The latter joined SP subsequently and has been the winning candidate of the Akhilesh Yadav-led party since 2007. 

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'India To Boost Infrastructure In Villages Along Chinese Border Areas' Says FM Sitharaman

In a bid to develop and improve connectivity in the areas along the border of Indo-China, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced a scheme to strengthen the infrastructure under the new Vibrant Villages Programme. Nirmala Sitharaman who was presenting the Union Budget 2022 on Tuesday announced this program in the backdrop of recent activities of lingering border standoff in the Eastern Ladakh area and further security establishment concerning setting up of villages by China close to the Line of Actual Control (LAC). 

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1,000 Gelatin Sticks, Detonators Seized Near Mumbai, 3 Suspects Arrested

Three people allegedly with 1,000 gelatin sticks and an equal number of detonators were arrested on Tuesday from Bhiwandi in Maharashtra's Thane. According to the police, they acted on a tip of and stopped the car near Mumbai's Nadi Naka at 3 pm and seized the products. The three accused have been identified as Alpesh alias Balya Hiraji Patil (34), Pankaj Acchelal Chouhan (23) and Sameer @ Samya Ramchandra Vedga (27), all residents of Vikramgad in neighbouring Palghar district, an official said.

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Omicron Sub-variant Found In 57 Nations, 'premature' To Declare Victory Over COVID-19: WHO

The World Health Organization (WHO) chief on Tuesday warned that it is “premature” for nations to either declare victory over the COVID-19 pandemic or lift the restrictions to halt the transmission. WHO Secretary-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the reporters, "It is premature for any country to either surrender or to declare victory.”“This virus is dangerous, and it continues to evolve before our very eyes,” the WHO chief had added. 

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WHO Warns Against Beta Coronaviruses, Stresses On Importance Of Vaccines To 'save Lives'

As the Wuhan scientists raised an alarm that NeoCov, a type of coronavirus that spreads among bats in South Africa, was just one mutation away from jumping on to humans, the World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday said that there’s a reservoir of beta coronaviruses and the new crossovers to humans can likely occur in the future. “If we prepare now, the time required for large-scale vaccine manufacture will be reduced and lives will be saved,” the global health body’s Chief Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during his remarks on Tuesday.  

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FBI Warns US Athletes Participating In Beijing Olympics 2022 Of 'malicious' Cyberattacks

With Beijing Winter Olympics 2022 just around the corner, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on Tuesday warned the US athletes participating in the event of “malicious” cyberattacks. Warning the entities associated with both Beijing Winter Olympics and March 2022 Paralympics, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) said in a statement that the FBI has called on the athletes not to use their personal cell phones and instead use a burner phone while attending the events. 

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Russia Shows Willingness To Mediate Talks Between Taliban And NRF To Prevent War In Afghan

In a major development, the Russian envoy for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov on Tuesday said that Moscow is now ready to receive delegates from Afghanistan to discuss the situation in the Taliban-ruled country. The envoy informed that Russia is ready to welcome both Afghanistan’s authorities and opposition forces to conduct talks in order to prevent a war in Afghanistan if they were interested. The announcement came only a day after supporters of the Afghan National Resistance Front (NRF), organised a rally in front of the White House to oppose any moves by UN member nations to recognise the Taliban government in Afghanistan.

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Putin Says 'US Trying To Drag Russia Into War'

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday accused the United States of trying to draw his country into a war in Ukraine. In his first significant comments on the ongoing crisis, the Kremlin leader said that America's goal was to use a confrontation as a pretext to impose more sanctions on Russia. Speaking at a news conference following a meeting in Kremlin with Hungarian PM Viktor Orban, Putin said that the US was ignoring Russia’s concerns about NATO alliance forces in Europe. 

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