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Active Covid-19 cases continue to slide
Active Covid-19 cases in India continued to slide for the fifth straight day and daily cases remained below 40,000 for the fourth consecutive day on Wednesday even as the total caseload of the country breached the 9.5 million mark.
Active cases fell by more than 6,000 on Wednesday as discharges outnumbered fresh cases for the fifth day in a row.
Since Nov 27, active cases have dipped by nearly 33,000, belying fears of a second wave of the pandemic after Deepavali.
ICMR to probe complaint against vaccine
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is assisting an inquiry into an alleged adverse reaction during AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine trial but has found no reason to recommend halting it, a senior official at the regulator said.
A 40-year-old man said in a complaint seen by Reuters news agency that he had suffered serious "neurological and psychological" symptoms after receiving the vaccine in a trial being run by the British drugmaker's partner, the Serum Institute of India (SII).
Supreme Court rejects Kocchar's appeal against sacking Former ICICI Bank
CEO Chanda Kochhar faced a setback on Tuesday as the Supreme Court rejected her appeal against her sacking as the bank's chief executive and managing director.
Ms Kochhar, who faces charges of alleged money laundering, had approached the top court after the Bombay High Court dismissed her petition against her sacking.
Delhi court unhappy over delay in Chidambaram case probe
A Delhi court on Wednesday expressed displeasure over the delay in completion of the probe in the Aircel-Maxis case against former Union minister P. Chidambaram and his son Karti while granting two more months to the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate to investigate.
Special Judge Ajay Kumar Kuhar allowed both the agencies' plea for more time to obtain reports on Letters Rogatory from the United Kingdom and Singapore in relation to the probe but said it is lingering on unnecessarily.
Former High Court judge arrested in Chennai
The Chennai city cyber crime police on Wednesday arrested C.S. Karnan, a former judge of the Madras and Calcutta High Courts, for passing defamatory remarks against women and several judges of the Supreme Court and high courts in his online videos.
He was arrested from his house in Avadi.
A division bench of the Madras high court is hearing the case against Karnan.
Brothers arrested for parading man naked
Five brothers were arrested on Wednesday after they paraded a man naked in the streets of Khambhaliya, a a town in Gujarat, allegedly in punishment for a social media post.
Police said the 38-year-old victim was kidnapped on Tuesday by the brothers, assaulted and made to walk for 45 minutes with no clothes on.
"An investigation revealed that the victim used to do Facebook Live videos on a regular basis," police spokesman Hirendra Chaudhary said. "On Sunday, in a Facebook Live video (the man) made serious allegations against the five brothers and claimed that they were involved in criminal activities."
Plan to build big dam in Arunachal Pradesh
India is considering a plan to build a 10-gigawatt hydropower project in Arunachal Pradesh, an Indian official said on Tuesday, following reports that China could construct dams on a section of the Brahmaputra river.
The river, also known as the Yarlung Tsangbo in China, flows from Tibet into Arunachal Pradesh state and down through Assam to Bangladesh.
Indian authorities are concerned Chinese projects could trigger flash floods or create water scarcity.
Wendy's to open 250 cloud kitchens in India
Wendy's has struck a deal with India's Rebel Foods to open about 250 so-called cloud kitchens across the country.
The United States company is experimenting with a new format as the Covid-19 outbreak makes many consumers unwilling or unable to visit traditional stores.
Cloud kitchens, which derive their name from cloud computing, are remote facilities without seating or cashiers that prepare food exclusively for delivery.
Infosys signs strategic partnership with Rolls-Royce
Indian IT services firm Infosys and Rolls-Royce, an aerospace and defence technology major, on Wednesday announced they had signed a strategic partnership for sourcing engineering and R&D services for the latter's civil aerospace business.
As part of the overall partnership, Rolls-Royce will "transition a significant part of its engineering centre capabilities for civil aerospace in Bengaluru to Infosys", a statement said.
Two killed as pipe pierces bus window
Two people lost their lives on Tuesday while travelling in a private bus in Pali, Rajasthan, when a 30m-long pipe pierced one of the window panes and hit them.
The impact chopped off a woman's head and injured a male passenger sitting next to her. He later died in hospital. The pipe was being placed at the side of the Jaipur-Ahmedabad highway when the bus passed.
Indian to head Bata
For the first time in footwear maker Bata's 126-year history, an Indian will lead the firm to "shoe the world".
Mr Sandeep Kataria, 49, who is currently Bata India's CEO, has been elevated as global CEO of the company. He takes over from Mr Alexis Nasard, who is stepping down after almost five years in the role.
Six killed in car crash
At least six members of a family were killed and five others injured when the car they were travelling in collided with a truck in Telangana on Tuesday.
The accident took place near Chevella Mandal in Ranga Reddy district, about 50km south of Hyderabad. Police have registered a case and ordered an investigation.
Unique bridge for small animals
Forest officials in Uttarakhand have built a unique bridge for reptiles and other small animals to cross a busy highway deep inside a jungle area.
The bridge, made of bamboo sticks, jute and grass, has come up at Ramnagar forest division in Nainital district, about 225km south-east of Dehradun, the capital city of Uttarakhand.
According to forest officials, the Eco Bridge is the first of its kind in North India and is 27 metres long.
