Morning Digest: England returns to full coronavirus lockdown; talks between Centre and farm unions end in stalemate, and more

A select list of stories to read before you start your day

Farmers sitting on their tractor-trolley during rain at the Singhu border in Delhi on Monday.

Coronavirus | U.K. PM announces nationwide lockdown

Nearly 56 million people in England will return to a full  coronavirus  lockdown, possibly until mid-February, to try to cut spiralling infection rates,  Prime Minister Boris Johnson  said on Monday.

Centre, farm union talks on farm laws end in stalemate

The seventh round of talks between Union Ministers and  protesting farm unions  on Monday failed to resolve the deadlock over three new agricultural reform laws.

Coronavirus vaccine | No EU decision on Moderna shot as blame game mounts

The EU’s drugs watchdog held off authorising 

Moderna’s coronavirus jab  on Monday despite bringing forward a special meeting, as criticism mounts of the bloc’s slow vaccine roll-out.

External Affairs Minister Jaishankar to interact with Sri Lanka leaders from January 5 to 7

In the first high-level visit by a foreign official to Sri Lanka this year, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar will be in Colombo from January 5 to 7 and hold bilateral talks with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and his counterpart Dinesh Gunawardena, official statements from both capitals said.

Central Vista: Supreme Court will pronounce judgment on January 5

The Supreme Court will on Tuesday pronounce judgment  on various petitions  challenging the re-development project of the Central Vista area here.

Fourth accused in the Ghaziabad roof collapse case held

Ajay Tyagi, the contractor responsible for the construction of the gallery of  the Muradnagar crematorium  whose roof collapsed on Sunday was arrested late on Monday night by the Ghaziabad police, official sources said.

Coronavirus vaccines | Adverse events must be reported fortnightly

Both Bharat Biotech and the Serum Institute of India (SII),  which have received approval from the Drugs Controller General of India  for manufacturing and distributing their COVID-19 vaccines, are expected to submit reports every 15 days on adverse events among those vaccinated, if any, for two months.

India to use UNSC tenure to foster ‘human-centric’ solutions

India was approaching its two-year term on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC)  with “a strong commitment to reformed multilateralism”, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN , T.S. Tirumurti said on Monday.

Farmers gear up for Republic Day tractor parade

While talks were underway between farmer leaders and Union Ministers in central Delhi on Monday, protesters at the Singhu border were gearing up  for the January 26 tractor parade .

'10 million Covaxin doses ready', says Bharat Biotech chairman

Krishna Ella,  Chairman of Bharat Biotech, the company that has made Covaxin  and got approval to market the vaccine in ‘clinical trial mode,’ said 10 million doses of the vaccine were ready and efficacy data, showing the vaccine’s ability to protect against COVID-19, would be available by March.

Australia vs India | When left is right for the Indians

The Indian team-management has been seeking a left-arm paceman as an option in Test cricket for quite some time now.It called Rajasthan’s Aniket Chowdhary to bowl at the Indian team nets. Aniket was sharp, held promise but was derailed by injuries.