Top news of the day: Nearly 500 contacts of India’s first Omicron cases traced and tested; Health Ministry warns of COVID-19 clusters, and more

The major news headlines of the day, and more.

December 03, 2021 07:13 pm | Updated 07:13 pm IST

A health worker at Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. M.G. Ramachandran Central Railway Station in Chennai on December 3, 2021 collects a swab sample to test for COVID-19 from a passenger arriving from Bengaluru.

A health worker at Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. M.G. Ramachandran Central Railway Station in Chennai on December 3, 2021 collects a swab sample to test for COVID-19 from a passenger arriving from Bengaluru.

Nearly 500 contacts of India’s first Omicron cases traced and tested

Close to 500 primary and secondary contacts of the first two cases of Omicron , the most mutated variant of COVID-19 virus, detected in India have been traced and five have tested positive for COVID-19, according to a document viewed by The Hindu . The contacts have been isolated and further investigations are on.

Health Ministry warns of COVID-19 clusters in India

Cautioning that a few clusters of COVID-19 infection have been reported from the country, the Health Ministry has said some of the mutations reported on the spike gene of new COVID-19 variant Omicron may decrease the efficacy of existing vaccines.

Bills seeking to extend tenures of ED, CBI chiefs introduced in Lok Sabha

Minister of State for Personnel and Training Dr. Jitendra Singh introduced The Central Vigilance Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2021 and the Delhi Special Police Establishment (Amendment) Bill, 2021 to replace ordinances that had been brought in the recess period.

Low-pressure system intensifies into Cyclone Jawad

Heavy rains are expected in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal, Assam and Meghalaya from December 3 to 6.

Implement panel’s anti-pollution measures, Supreme Court tells Centre, Delhi

The Supreme Court has approved the measure taken by the Centre’s Air Quality Commission to create an ‘Enforcement Task Force’ and flying squads to prevent and penalise polluters in Delhi NCR.

Analysis | ₹1,000 crore spent on Poshan Tracker, but where is the data?

Nutrition indicators recorded in real-time are not in the public domain.

Australia’s special envoy to India accuses China of ‘trade weaponisation’

Tony Abbott says India and Australia were confident of sealing an early harvest trade deal by this month-end.

China launches its first cross-border BRI train with Laos

With a maximum operating speed of 160-km per hour, the travel time from Kunming to Vientiane takes about 10 hours.

Ukraine says Russia amassed over 94,000 troops at border

Russia and Ukraine have remained locked in a tense tug-of-war after Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and threw its weight behind a separatist insurgency in Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland, known as the Donbas. More than 14,000 people have died in the fighting.

Taliban release decree saying women should not be forced into marriage

The Taliban set out the rules governing marriage and property for women, stating women should not be forced into marriage and widows should have share in their late husband’s property.

India’s services sector activity in November registers second-fastest pace of growth since July 2011: Survey

The seasonally adjusted India Services Business Activity Index was at 58.1 in November, fractionally down from 58.4 in October. The November figure points to the second-fastest rise in output since July 2011.

World Tour Finals: Already qualified for semifinals, Sindhu loses final group match, Srikanth bows out

This was Sindhu’s third loss to the 2016 world junior champion Chochuwong in seven meetings.

Ind vs NZ second Test | Mayank makes statement with hundred despite Pujara-Kohli failure

Agarwal (120 batting, 246 balls), who is all but certain to sit out once Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul come back during the next series (if South Africa then away, if West Indies then home), added to a happy headache for coach Rahul Dravid, on a day when vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane had to be “dropped” because of a hamstring niggle.

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