02 February 2026
West Bengal recorded 567 fresh Covid-19 cases on Thursday, with Kolkata topping the caseload at 165 and the neighbouring North 24 Parganas trailing at 95 new infections.
According to a bulletin issued by the health department, the state logged 7 deaths over the last 24 hours, taking the overall toll to 19,575.
North 24 Parganas topped the single-day toll at 3 deaths while Kolkata, South 24 Parganas, Birbhum and Cooch Behar recorded one death each.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Thursday issued notice to Haryana and another respondent over a petition filed by Faridabad Industries Association challenging the government’s law providing 75% reservation in industries to the local’s of the state.
The division Bench of Chief Justice Ravi Shanker Jha and Justice Arun Palli also issued notice regarding stay as well. The matter will be heard next on January 12.
The Bench, at the same time, dismissed as withdrawn another petition in the matter by Gurgaon Industrial Association. The counsel for the petitioner prayed for withdrawal of the writ petition with liberty to file a “properly constituted petition”. “Dismissed as withdrawn with the aforesaid liberty,” the Bench asserted.
A recent incident in Nagaland resulting in the death of 13 civilians and one soldier has been extremely unfortunate. The Indian Army and the central government have accepted it as a result of an error of judgement during a special forces operation and have regretted the incident. The union home minister made a similar statement in Parliament regretting the incident and assuring the citizens of Nagaland and the families of the deceased of an impartial inquiry followed by action against those found guilty. Loss of innocent lives can never be reconciled; however, a prompt acknowledgement of the unfortunate incident and assurance of action are welcome steps. The entire nation stands with the families of the deceased in sharing their pain.
Stating that past wrongs cannot be the basis for disturbing the peace in the present and future, a Delhi court has rejected a civil suit seeking restoration of Hindu and Jain deities and the right to worship within the Qutub Minar complex.
The Court was hearing a suit filed on behalf of Jain deity Tirthankar Lord Rishabh Dev and Hindu deity Lord Vishnu, seeking the restoration of Hindu and Jain deities inside the Quwwat-Ul-Islam, a huge temple complex which was declared as a protected monument under Section 3 of the Ancient Monuments Preservation Act, 1904.
According to the petition, 27 temples were partly demolished by Qutubdin Aibak, a general in the Army of Mohamad Gauri, and Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque was raised inside the complex by reusing the material.
Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday dropped big hint at issuing fresh set of COVID guidelines as the COVID cases are on the rise in certain areas of the state. It was reported that the state government may also impose fresh restrictions if the cases continue to rise. However, the chief minister said decision regarding the guidelines and restrictions will be taken in a state cabinet meeting on Thursday.
Giving further details, the chief minister said he will collect details about COVID situation in November from officials, which would be presented before the cabinet tomorrow.
