Top 10 Headlines: India's Omicron tally at 38, row over Kashi Vishwanath Corridor & more

Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Chandigarh report their first Omicron variant case; tally goes up to 38

Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Chandigarh reported their first Omicron case on Sunday, while Maharashtra and Karnataka each recorded one more case of the COVID-19 variant, taking the tally in the country to 38.

All the five persons in the cases reported on Sunday had arrived from foreign countries.

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IAF chopper crash probe: Police seek weather details; STF conducts intensive search ops

In an ill-fated chopper crash on Wednesday, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat and 12 others lost their lives in Tamil Nadu's Coonoor. The Nilgiris Police department has sought details of weather and temperature in the region on the fateful day from Chennai's Meteorological department.

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Chopper crash: Punjab village bids adieu to Naik Gursewak Singh; 3-year-old son lights pyre

Naik Gursewak Singh, who was among the 13 people who lost their lives in the IAF chopper crash in Conoor in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday, was cremated at his village Dode Sodhian in Punjab's Tarn Taran district with full military honours as his villagers chanted 'Amar Rahe'. His three-year-old Fatehdeep lit the funeral pyre. Fatehdeep was dressed in clothes similar to the Indian Army uniform as his mother had recently brought for him as Naik Gursewak had earlier expressed the wish to see his son in Army fatigues.

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Mortal remains of Army havildar killed in chopper crash reach hometown in Bengal

The mortal remains of Army Havildar Satpal Rai, who died in the helicopter crash along with Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika and 10 others, arrived at Bagdogra airport here on Sunday.

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Kashi Vishwanath Corridor Inauguration: Check out PM Modi's full schedule in Varanasi

The city of Varanasi is decked up to welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is all set to inaugurate the historic Kashi Vishwanath Temple Corridor on December 13. The Shri Kashi Vishwanath Dham project will be flagged off by PM Modi at a special programme in Kashi which will be followed by other functions to celebrate the momentous occasion. 

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Akhilesh Yadav claims credit for Kashi Vishwanath Corridor ahead of inauguration by PM

Ahead of the inauguration of the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor in Varanasi by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday claimed that the project was approved during his tenure and there was documentary evidence of it. He also alleged that the BJP government is starting the corridor just to deviate attention from the Centre's failure to double the income of farmers. Earlier, he had made similar claims on Purvanchal Express and Saryu Canal Nation Project.

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'Akhilesh Yadav built Taj Mahal too': BJP mocks SP over Kashi Vishwanath Corridor claim

Mocking Samajwadi Party's Akhilesh Yadav for taking credit for the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor, Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday said that the party must have got made the Taj Mahal along with the Great Wall of China, Statue of Liberty and Eiffel Tower among other world heritages. Taking to his official Twitter handle, party spokesperson Amit Malviya further mocked the party saying that the first person to go on Moon also must be a member of Samajwadi.

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Owaisi weighs in on 'lal topi' faceoff, says 'BJP attempting to communalise UP polls'

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi weighed in on the face-off between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Samajwadi Party (SP) on Sunday alleging that BJP was attempting to 'communalise' elections through jibes like 'topiwaale' and 'lungiwaale'. Speaking exclusively to Republic TV, Owaisi remarked that these kinds of statements by the saffron party would continue since it wanted to make the elections 'communal'. 

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Oppn concerned over hacking of PM Modi's Twitter, says 'chinks in cybersecurity exposed'

Opposition parties on Sunday flagged concern over the hacking of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Twitter account saying that the incident had exposed 'chinks' in cybersecurity. Dubbing the occurrence as a cause for 'big concern', Congress leaders remarked that cybersecurity was as important as border security for the nation. 

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73rd Republic Day: All 5 Central Asian countries to be Chief Guests on January 26

To India's 73rd Republic Day, India is contemplating inviting all five Central Asian countries - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan - as Chief Guests.  People familiar with the developments said that the option of inviting the leaders of Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan as chief guests is being pursued. At the same time, they said there is no finality on the guest list yet while not ruling out other options as well.

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Image: Republic World