Breaking News December 21 | Highlights

US President-elect Joe Biden on Monday named Indian American Bharat Ramamurti as one of the three new members of the National Economic Council that coordinates domestic and international economic policymaking process for the administration.

Meghalaya was connected with the national capital by direct flight services on Monday, coinciding with the state reopening for tourists after remaining closed for nine months due to COVID-19 outbreak, an official said.

State Transport Minister S Dhar took the Flybig.in flight from Delhi which landed at Shillong airport, 25 km from the state capital, in the afternoon.

Flybig. in is a new entrant in the aero industry and will be operating the flights twice a week, the official said.

The Maharashtra government on Monday announced night curfew from 11 pm to 6 am in state's municipal corporation areas from December 22 to January 5. READ MORE

Nagpur Mayor Sandip Joshi on Monday resigned from the post and announced the name of senior BJP corporator Dayashankar Tiwari as his successor for the remaining tenure of 13 months.

Joshi tendered his resignation to Nagpur Municipal Corporation Commissioner Radhakrishnan B.

The Dharamshala Airport Authority is planning to run more flights to the tourist city, including new ones from Amritsar, BJP MP Kishan Kapoor said Monday. The new service has been planned to facilitate tourists from Amritsar, Kapoor told reporters after chairing the meeting of the Airport Advisory Committee.

The Dharamshala airport, officially known as Gaggal Airport, is located in Gaggal, 12 km from Dharamshala.

Kapoor, who represents Kangra constituency in the Lok Sabha, said special care will also be taken for cleanliness in the airport and guidelines have been issued to take appropriate steps for waste management.

We have to ready for everything. It won't be a big deal if Bihar experiences election again and we need to be ready even for it: Tejashwi Yadav, RJD leader.

The Panchayati Raj Institution (PRI) elections in Himachal Pradesh will be held in three phases in the next month, the state election commissioner said on Monday.

Issuing the election schedule, State Election Commissioner Parthasarthi Mitra said that the polls to the PRI would be held on January 17, 19 and 21.

Union minister Ramdas Athawale on Monday said a COVID-19 vaccine will be available in the country in one or two months. Once the vaccine comes, "corona will go from here (the country)", he told reporters in Panaji. A vaccine against COVID-19 will be introduced in the country in next one or two months, he said.

Indian-American physician Vivek Murthy, US President-elect Joe Biden's pick for Surgeon General, has said there is no evidence to suggest that a new and more contagious coronavirus variant reported in the UK is any deadlier. READ MORE

West Bengal BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari reaches state legislative assembly to meet Speaker in his chambers. Speaker Biman Banerjee had asked Suvendu Adhikari to appear before him today after his resignation from TMC.

Odisha recorded 363 new COVID-19 cases, 338 recoveries, and 3 deaths on December 20, as per State Health Department.

• Total cases: 3,26,596
• Total recoveries: 3,21,647
• Active cases: 3,057
• Death toll: 1,839

Himachal Pradesh recorded 30 new COVID-19 cases today, taking total cases to 52,359 including 46,510 recovered patients and 866 deaths. The number of active cases stands at 4,936. 

On being asked about his party surviving alone against BJP and Congress JDS leader HD Kumaraswamy said, Everyone, is seeing, how both national parties (BJP and Congress) want to come to us. Everybody needs JDS when they want...but then they backstab JDS after getting their fruits.

Reacting on reports of BJP offering him CM post Kumaraswamy said, Political activities are BJP's internal matter. I don't want to interfere with their party's decision...I'm not thinking about a merger or coalition... I want to work hard for the next 2.5 years to get a clear majority.

Nepal PM KP Sharma Oli today held talks with members of the House of Representatives which was dissolved by the President yesterday. Oli is scheduled to address the Himalayan nation later in the day. Yesterday, Nepal announced to hold national polls in April-May next year.

West Bengal BJP MP Saumitra Khan's wife Sujata Mondal Khan joins Trinamool Congress in Kolkata.

India International Science Festival-2020 will start December 22 on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Ramanujan and will culminate on December 25, on the occasion of the birth anniversary of AB Vajpayee, said Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan. 

Modi government is doing its best to bring about emerging technologies in agriculture by upgrading the National e-Governance Project for Agriculture (NeGPA). The welfare of farmers and the agriculture industry is at the core of all these initiatives by government, said Union Minister Prakash Javadekar.

Puducherry reported 14 new COVID-19 cases, 26 discharges, and one death in the last 24 hours, according to the Puducherry government. 

• Active cases: 332
• Death toll: 627

Minimum temperature of minus 2 degrees Celsius recorded in Mount Abu during the last 24 hours, said IMD.

Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac said that the Kerala Cabinet has decided to convene a special Assembly session on December 23 before the scheduled budget session to discuss and reject the three controversial farm laws. Kerala stands in solidarity with the agitating farmers. 

Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) chief Kamal Haasan said that there will no alliance with Kazhagam parties in the forthcoming Assembly election in Tamil Nadu. 

A total of 316 new COVID-19 cases, 612 discharges, and 2 deaths were reported in Telangana yesterday, said State Health Department. 

• Total cases: 2,81,730
• Total recoveries: 2,73,625
• Active cases: 6,590
• Death toll: 1,515

Dense fog engulfs the Muzzafarpur district, Bihar.

"Earlier administration used to arrange bonfires during such cold weather. Now, they no longer make such arrangements, leaving us shivering in such harsh weather," said a local.

A total of 16,20,98,329 samples tested for COVID-19 up to December 20. Of these, 9,00,134 samples were tested yesterday: ICMR

The magnitude 3.7 earthquake hit Jammu and Kashmir at 8:33 am today, according to National Center for Seismology

PM Narendra Modi will address the India-Japan Samvad conference at 9:30 am today, through video conferencing.

Puri-Surat Express Train derailed after hitting an elephant between Hatibari and Maneswar railway stations of Sambalpur division at 2.04 am today. 

Italy has detected a patient infected with the new strain of coronavirus found in Britain. The patient and his partner returned from the United Kingdom in the last few days. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a meeting with PM of Vietnam Nguyen Xuan Phuc today, through video conferencing.