Jan 23 news LIVE | Bike taxi are back in Bengaluru after HC order

Bike taxis are back in Bengaluru!

The Karnataka High Court on Friday (January 23) permitted bike taxi services to operate across the state, offering relief to aggregators and riders after months of uncertainty over the legality of such services following state government restrictions.

All flights cancelled at Srinagar airport due to heavy snowfall

The air traffic to and fro Kashmir was suspended on Friday after flight operations were cancelled at the Srinagar airport due to heavy snowfall in the valley, which has rendered the runway unsafe for aircraft operation, officials said.

"In view of continuous snowfall, accumulation of snow on operational areas, and the prevailing forecast of adverse weather en route, all flight operations at Srinagar airport stand cancelled for the day in the interest of passenger safety," officials at the airport said.

They said the passengers are advised to contact their respective airlines for updates and re-accommodation.

"Due to adverse weather conditions and snowfall in Srinagar, the runway is currently not available for safe aircraft operations. In the interest of passenger safety, all flight operations to and from Srinagar have been cancelled for the day," an official of Airport Authority of India (AAI) said.

He said the airlines and airport authorities are closely monitoring the weather situation and will resume operations as soon as conditions improve and the runway is declared operational.

PM Modi holds road show in Thiruvananthapuram

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday held a road show in this capital city of poll-bound Kerala. The road show was organised from the Thampanoor overbridge to the Putharikandam Maidan, where the PM will launch various projects and flag off new trains.

Following that, he will also address around 25,000 workers who are expected to converge there to greet him. Standing on the footboard of his vehicle Modi waved to the thousands of people, including party workers and supporters holding BJP flags and wearing saffron colored caps, gathered on either sides of the road.

They welcomed the PM by showering flowers on him. Party workers and supporters also carried 'Vikasita Keralam' (developed Kerala) placards. People, attired in colorful costumes, performed local dance forms to the tune of drum beats along the PM's road show route.

BJP flags and boards carrying Modi's image were set up along the entire route that the PM's road show took.

Basant Panchami puja held at Bhojshala in MP's Dhar amid heavy security

The Basant Panchami puja began at the 11th-century Bhojshala-Kamal Maula Mosque complex in Madhya Pradesh's Dhar district in the early hours of Friday under a heavy security cover, as faithfuls gathered in large numbers for worship at the disputed site.

Around 8,000 police and paramilitary forces have been deployed in the city to prevent any untoward incident, as the Hindu festival and Friday prayers of the Muslim community have fallen on the same day.

The Supreme Court on Thursday issued a specific time-sharing formula to prevent communal friction, ruling that the Hindu community will be permitted to perform prayers from sunrise to sunset, and the Muslim side will be allowed to offer namaz between 1 pm and 3 pm.

Devotees began gathering at the historic site, decked in saffron flags and flowers, at sunrise.

Members of the Bhoj Utsav Samiti, a local organisation, began the puja by installing an image of Goddess Saraswati, also known as Maa Vagdevi, amidst chanting of Vedic mantras, and the 'Akhand Puja' (a continuous sequence of prayers from sunrise to sunset) was initiated by offering oblations in the 'havan kund'.

Security personnel have covered every corner of the disputed complex.

Jamieson replaces injured Adam Milne in NZ squad for T20 World Cup

New Zealand has drafted pacer Kyle Jamieson into their T20 World Cup squad after Adam Milne was ruled out of the marquee event with a torn left hamstring.

Milne suffered the injury in the first over of the SA20 clash between Sunrisers Eastern Cape and MI Cape Town last Sunday, and scans have revealed the extent of the damage, according to New Zealand Cricket.

“Jamieson, who is currently part of the Blackcaps white-ball tour of India, has been added to the T20 World Cup squad after originally being named as the traveling reserve for the February-March tournament in India and Sri Lanka,” NZC said on their website.

New Zealand head coach Rob Walter said Milne, who wasn’t a part of the squad touring India, was getting himself ready for the T20 World Cup.

“We’re all gutted for Adam. He’d worked so hard to get himself ready for the tournament and was looking back to his best in his eight games for the Eastern Cape Sunrisers,” Walter said.

Putin meets Trump's envoys as Kremlin says Ukraine settlement hinges on territory

Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the settlement in Ukraine with US President Donald Trump's envoys during marathon overnight talks, and the Kremlin insisted that the territorial issue needs to be resolved to reach a peace deal.

The Kremlin meeting, which lasted past 3 a.m. Friday, came hours after Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sharply criticized his European allies Thursday for what he cast as their slow and fragmented response to Russia's nearly four-year full-scale invasion that he said has left Ukraine at the mercy of Putin amid an ongoing U.S. push for a peace settlement.

Kremlin foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov, who participated in Putin's meeting with Trump's envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, said "it was reaffirmed that reaching a long-term settlement can't be expected without solving the territorial issue,” a reference to Moscow's demand that Kyiv withdraws its troops from the areas in the east that Russia illegally annexed but never fully captured.

PM Modi to launch development projects, flag off four new trains in Kerala

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will arrive in the Kerala state capital on Friday to launch various developmental projects and flag off new train services in the poll-bound state, with the BJP planning a grand welcome, including a massive road show, for him.

Modi will flag off four new train services, including three Amrit Bharat Express trains, to enhance regional rail connectivity between Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

In addition to that, he will lay the foundation stone for a CSIR-NIIST Innovation, Technology and Entrepreneurship Hub in Thiruvananthapuram and launch the PM SVANidhi Credit Card -- UPI-linked, interest-free revolving credit facility.

Besides these, he will also lay the foundation stone for a state-of-the-art Radiosurgery Centre at the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology here and inaugurate the new Poojappura Head Post Office.

As this is Modi's first visit after the BJP won the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, ending over four decades of Left rule, the party has planned a massive road show from the Thampanoor overbridge to the Putharikandam Maidan where the PM will address around 25,000 workers who are expected to be gathered there to greet him. 

PM Modi offers tributes to Balasaheb Thackeray on birth centenary

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday offered rich tributes to Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray on his birth centenary, and hailed him as a towering figure who profoundly shaped Maharashtra's socio-political landscape.

Thackeray, he noted, was known for his sharp intellect, powerful oratory and uncompromising convictions and commanded a unique connect with the people.

"On the birth centenary of the great Balasaheb Thackeray, we pay tribute to a towering figure who profoundly shaped Maharashtra's socio-political landscape," Modi said in a post on X.

"In addition to politics, Balasaheb was deeply passionate about culture, literature and journalism. His career as a cartoonist reflected his keen observation of society and his fearless commentary on various issues," the prime minister said.

Federal officers detain 5-year-old boy allegedly used as ‘bait’

A 5-year-old boy arriving home from preschool in Minnesota was taken by federal agents along with his father to a detention facility in Texas, school officials and the family's lawyer said, making him the fourth student from his Minneapolis suburb to be detained by immigration officers in recent weeks.

Federal agents took Liam Conejo Ramos from a running car in the family's driveway Tuesday afternoon, Columbia Heights Public Schools Superintendent Zena Stenvik told reporters Wednesday. The officers told him to knock on the door to his home to see if other people were inside, “essentially using a 5-year-old as bait," she said.

The father told the child's mother, who was inside the home and has not been named, not to open the door, Stenvik told reporters Thursday.

School officials said the agents wouldn't leave Liam with another adult who lives at the home or an official from the school district. But on Thursday, Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in an online post that the father asked for the child to stay with him and that they are together at an immigration lockup in Dilley, Texas.

The family, who came to the U.S. in 2024, has an active asylum case and had not been ordered to leave the country, Stenvik said.

Trump administration halts use of human fetal tissue in NIH-funded research

The Trump administration announced Thursday that human fetal tissue derived from abortions can no longer be used in research funded by the National Institutes of Health.

The policy, long urged by anti-abortion groups, expands restrictions issued during President Donald Trump's first term.

The government has funded research involving fetal tissue for decades, under both Republican and Democratic administrations. The tissue, which otherwise would be thrown away, has been critical for certain research, including ways to fight HIV and cancer. Opponents of fetal tissue use say there are now alternatives, although many scientists say there aren't always adequate substitutes.

In a statement on Thursday, NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya acknowledged the agency “has long maintained policies governing the responsible and limited use of human fetal tissue in biomedical research.” Its use has declined since 2019. The USD 47 billion agency counted just 77 projects funded in 2024 that included fetal tissue.

The first Trump administration ended the use of fetal tissue on NIH's campus and set up additional hurdles for non-government scientists seeking NIH funding, restrictions that were subsequently lifted by the Biden administration. Thursday's new policy covers all NIH-funded research.