THE BIG story

'What is wrong with your mindset?': Madhya Pradesh HC tells Munawar Faruqui, reserves bail plea order
Government advocate Amit Singh Sisodia opposed Faruqui's bail plea. Local advocates Rajesh Joshi and Manish Gupta, too, opposed bail to the comedian, contending that he has hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus

Over 19.5L COVID-19 vaccinations, 348 AEFIs so far; Delhi heading to 'herd immunity', suggests sero-survey
India recorded the lowest number of coronavirus fatalities in over eight months, with 131 deaths being reported on Monday, the health ministry said

Nancy Pelosi to send impeachment article against Donald Trump to US Senate today, triggering trial
Republican lawmakers signaled over the weekend that Democrats may struggle to secure Trump's conviction over the storming of the US Capitol earlier this month

President Ram Nath Kovind, in address on Republic Day eve, says armed forces 'adequately mobilised' to thwart bid
The president's remarks come in the backdrop of India and China being locked in a nearly nine-month military standoff in eastern Ladakh

Premier League: Brendan Rodgers hopeful of Leicester City managing well without talisman Jamie Vardy
Vardy has had an operation on a long-standing hernia problem and last week Rodgers said he would be sidelined for "a few weeks".

Premier League: Bruno Fernandes says culture at Manchester United suits his winning mentality
The 26-year-old Portuguese international has transformed the fortunes of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side since joining from Sporting Lisbon in January 2020.

Shinzo Abe, late singer SP Balasubrahmanyam honoured with Padma Vibhushan; Gogoi, Paswan conferred Padma Bhushan
The president has approved the conferment of 119 Padma awards: seven Padma Vibhushan, 10 Padma Bhushan and 102 Padma Shri, the Union home ministry said on the eve of Republic Day

Republic Day 2021: Mouma Das, Sudha Singh among seven sportspersons honoured with Padma Shri
Mouma, who won the Arjuna Award in 2013, became only the second table tennis player after Achanta Sharath Kamal to win the Padma Shri. Sharath won the recognition in 2019.

I-League: Gokulam Kerala return to winning ways with 4-1 hammering of NEROCA FC
A Jiteshwor Singh own goal, strikes by Philip Adjah and Jestin Geroge and Mohammad Sharif's penalty were enough to hand the Malabarians three points and put them in the top half of the standings.

R Ashwin reveals Indian players were not allowed to enter the lift with Australians during Sydney Test
The seasoned spinner made the revelation during a YouTube video chat with India's fielding coach R Sridhar.

ICC pushes World Test Championship final back by eight days after taking IPL 2021 summit clash into consideration
Since the IPL final is also expected to be played around the same dates, it could have complicated the quarantine schedule of the participating players.

Premier League announces 50 percent drop in positive coronavirus tests
There were just eight positive findings from 2,518 Premier League players and club staff over two rounds of testing conducted last week.

Bundesliga: Struggling Hertha Berlin reappoint Hungarian Pal Dardai as coach in bid to avoid relegation
Dardai stood down as Hertha boss in June 2019 but replaces the sacked Bruno Labbadia with the side two points away from the relegation play-off spot after just two wins since December.

ISL 2020-21: Esmael Goncalves scores late equaliser as Chennaiyin FC hold league-leaders Mumbai City FC
However, the result meant the Islanders extended their unbeaten run to 12 games, matching FC Goa's record.

India vs England: All-rounder Ben Stokes arrives in Chennai, undergoing quarantine
Hero of the 2019 World Cup final, Stokes landed in the country along with players who were not part of the England Test squad in Sri Lanka, where they completed a 2-0 sweep on Monday.

Parents kill two daughters in Andhra Pradesh's Chittoor, tell police they will 'come back to life again'
Police detained the couple in their home and began questioning them while forensic teams examined CCTV footage to establish if someone else was also involved

2020 Padma Awards: Posthumous honour for SP Balasubrahmanyam; Bombay Jayashri, KS Chithra among artists recognised
The Padma awards were announced on Monday evening by the Ministry Of Home Affairs and included a total of 119 honours.

India successfully test-fires new-generation Akash missile at integrated test range off Odisha coast
The Akash-NG (new-generation) missile will be used by the Indian Air Force to intercept high-manoeuvring low radar cross-section aerial threats

'Believe in unity, not division': Yogi Adityanath dismisses possibility of splitting Uttar Pradesh
During Mayawati's term as chief minister in 2011, the Assembly had passed a proposal for a four-way split into Bundelkhand, Purvanchal, Awadh Pradesh and Paschim Pradesh

Sri Lanka vs England: Joe Root says visitors will take 'huge amount of confidence' from 2-0 sweep into India tour
Root, who led by example with match-winning knocks of 228 and 186 in the first and second matches respectively, said the team looks in good shape ahead of the four-Test series in India that starts in Chennai on 5 February.