R-Day celebrations to begin every year from Jan 23

Republic Day Celebrations will now begin every year from January 23 instead of 24th. According to sources, the step was taken to include the birth anniversary of freedom fighter Subash Chandra Bose. Birth anniversary of Subhas Chandra Bose is celebrated as Parakram Divas across the country. This is in line with Modi's Government focus on celebrating and commemorating important aspects of country's rich history and culture. Earlier, the Government took the decisions to mark 14th August as Partition Horrors Remembrance Day and 31st October as Ekta Divas-National Unity Day which is a Birth anniversary of Sardar Patel. Government had also decided to commemorate 15th November as Janjatiya Gaurav Divas which is birth anniversary of Bhagwan Birsa Munda. Constitution Day will be celebrated across the country on 26th November and 26th December will be commemorated as Veer Baal Divas to pay tribute to four Sahibzadas. 

-West Bengal State Election Commission (WBSEC) has decided to defer civic body polls to February 12, 2022 due to Covid rise. In a notification the WBSEC said today, the municipal elections in Asansol, Bidhannagar, Siliguri and Chandannagar, which were scheduled to be held on January 22, 2022, have been postponed to February 12, 2022. The Calcutta High Court had asked the state EC to consider postponing civic body polls by four to six weeks, in view of sharp Covid rise. WBSEC had asked the state government to make its stand clear on the issue and West Bengal government said that they have no objection to defer the civic body polls.

-Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain has said that Covid case peak has arrived in the National Capital. While briefing media in New Delhi, he said, the Covid cases have begun to slow down in the city. Jain said the Covid-19 cases in Delhi are expected to be reduced  and the positivity rate will be around 30 per cent. He said, hospital admission rate has not risen in past 5 to 6 days. This indicates that cases are going to be fewer in the coming days. The Minister said, 85 per cent of the hospital beds are vacant.

-In the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, amid increase in COVID-19 cases, the UT Government announced that there will be complete restrictions on non-essential movements during weekends in the entire Union Territory. The directive was issued by the Chief Secretary, who is also the chairman of State Executive Committee (SEC) of the J&K Department of Disaster Management, Relief, Rehabilitation & Reconstruction, after a detailed review of the current COVID-19 situation in J&K. The SEC directed that all efforts would be made by authorities through active involvement of PRIs, community leaders, market associations and federations to reduce the rate of transmission within the Union Territory. All Deputy Commissioners of the Union Territory were asked to intensify testing and ensure full utilisation of available RT-PCR and RAT capacities. The Chief Medical Officers of all districts shall submit a daily report regarding the utilisation of available RT-PCR capacities to the District Magistrates concerned. Besides, District Magistrates shall also go for capacity expansion of the RT-PCR testing as per the requirement. Besides, night curfew shall continue to remain in force in all the districts of Jammu and Kashmir from 9 PM to 6 AM with complete restriction on non-essential movement.

-Election Commission has issued notice to the Samajwadi Party over violation of Covid norms. In the notice, the Commission said, after considering the available material and extant instructions in the matter, the poll panel has decided to provide the party an opportunity to explain its stand regarding the violations. It has asked the General Secretary of Samajwadi Party to give an explanation over the alleged violation of Model Code of Conduct, Section 144, Covid protocols by the party yesterday by organising a public gathering at its Lucknow office. The Poll Body has asked for explanation within 24 hours of the reciept of the notice. Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh police have arrested Samajwadi Party MLA and candidate from Kairana assembly constituency Nahid Hasan in connection with a case imposed on him under the Gangster Act about a year ago. A local fast track court has sent him to 14-day judicial custody. The SP leader from Shamli district was absconding for about a year.