Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday issued orders to initiate strict measures, including a statewide night curfew from December 25, in view of a rise in Covid cases in several states.

A Dalit woman who served mid-day meal at a government secondary school in Uttarakhand's Champawat district was allegedly removed from her job after upper caste students refused to eat the meal cooked by her.

At least 36 people died and nearly 200 others were injured on Friday after a massive fire ripped through a packed passenger ferry on the Sugandha river in southern Bangladesh, officials said.

Award-winning legendary filmmaker K S Sethumadhavan, who helmed a handful of iconic and path-breaking movies in Malayalam, died at his residence in Chennai, film industry sources said here on Friday.

India recorded 122 cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus in a span of 24 hours, the highest so far, pushing its tally in the country to 358, 114 of which have either recovered or migrated, according to Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday.

 Hospitals in Maharashtra have so far refunded Rs 36 crore to COVID-19 patients after being found to have overcharged, health minister Rajesh Tope told the Legislative Council on Thursday.

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday reviewed the COVID-19 situation in the country amid fresh concerns sparked by the outbreak of highly transmissible Omicron variant and stressed the need to be 'satark' (vigilant) and 'saavdhan' (cautious).

Bhopal: Amid growing concern over the new coronavirus variant Omicron, the Madhya Pradesh government on Thursday imposed a night curfew in the state from 11 pm to 5 am as a precautionary measure and advised people to strictly follow COVID-19 protocols.