A look at the headlines right now:

  1. Jharkhand withdraws general consent to CBI to conduct investigations: Kerala, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh have also revoked the consent.
  2. China temporarily suspends entry of Indians with visas or resident permits: The Delhi government banned firecrackers amid a rise in cases. An ICMR scientist, meanwhile, said covaxin could be available as early as February, while a NITI Aayog member said there has been no unusual surge in coronavirus cases over the last couple of weeks amid the festival season.
  3. Joe Biden holds lead in US elections; Donald Trump says he will legally challenge states won by ex-VP: Joe Biden is one state short of clinching the White House after flipping Michigan and Wisconsin. Earlier in the day, he had said that it was clear his campaign was ‘winning enough states’.
  4. As Poonam Pandey is arrested for ‘obscenity’ in Goa, Twitter asks why model Milind Soman got away: Pandey and her husband were arrested on Thursday for an allegedly vulgar video, while Soman did not face action despite running naked on a beach.
  5. ‘I need Nitish Kumar’s rule to ensure development doesn’t hit a roadblock,’ Modi tells voters in Bihar: In a proverbial last throw of dice, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said that the ongoing Assembly elections in the state would be his last. Meanwhile, LJP leader Chirag Paswan claimed Nitish Kumar was greedy for power and would even bow before Opposition leader Tejashwi Yadav if necessary after the results.
  6. Farmers put up road blockades in Punjab and Haryana day after agreeing to leave Railway premises: The protestors called the new farm legislations ‘black laws’ and expressed fear that they would destroy the farming community.
  7. Karnataka will end religious conversion in name of ‘love jihad’, says BS Yediyurappa: State Home Minister CT Ravi had said that the government would bring a new law banning religious conversion in line with the Allahabad High Court’s order.
  8. Bombay HC refuses to grant interim relief to Arnab Goswami, to hear matter again tomorrow: The court said it wanted to hear all parties in the case before making any decision.
  9. WhatsApp launches new disappearing messages feature: When the feature is enabled, chats will be deleted after seven days.
  10. India opposes transfer of Kartarpur Gurdwara management to non-Sikh body, says it exposes Pakistan: Anurag Srivastava, the official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, asked Islamabad to reverse its ‘arbitrary decision’.