The Shiv Sena on Friday said there have been attempts to muzzle dissenting voices and this is one of the reasons for India slipping in the 2019 Democracy Index’s global ranking. An editorial in Sena mouthpiece Saamana said a slowdown in economy gives rise to unrest and instability, and this was getting reflected in the prevailing situation in the country.

Now (after an economic slowdown) there is a slide in (India’s) global democracy index ranking, the Marathi daily said.

Union minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday said Muslims in India are safer than most places in the world.

India is probably one of the most inclusive societies in the world, Goyal said here at a session on 'Strategic Outlook: India' at the WEF 2020.

A Delhi court judge who issued death warrants for all four convicts in Nirbhaya case has been transferred to the Supreme court registry.

Judge Satish Arora has been appointed as additional registrar in the Supreme Court on a deputation for a year.

Satish Arora had been hearing the petition of parents of Nirbhaya seeking to expedite the process of execution.

Clinical trials for a vaccine against the new virus sweeping China could be carried out in the summer, the head of an anti-epidemic coalition said on Thursday, as different companies announced research into the disease.

We can announce that we have three partnerships to develop vaccines against the novel coronavirus, Richard Hatchett, chief executive of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), said in Davos.

In another development in the Jamia violence, the Special Investigating Team (SIT) of Delhi Police that is probing the incident has issued notices to three people including former Congress MLA Asif Muhammad Khan, local politician Ashu Khan and AISA activist from Jamia Chandan Kumar Singh. The violence took place in last month during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

All three have been summoned to join the probe at 11 am on Friday. They have been named in two FIRs registered after the violence.

The government on Thursday said one Indian nurse working in Saudi Arabia was found infected by novel coronavirus that has so far claimed 17 lives in China.

Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan said Indian nurses were quarantined at Al-Hayat Hospital in Saudi Arabia's Khamis Mushait city and after testing, one was found to be infected with the virus.

President of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, will be on a state visit to India from January 24-27, and he will be the Chief Guest at the Republic Day celebrations on January 26. This will be the first high-level visit of the year to India. Bolsonaro will be accompanied by 8 Ministers, 4 members of the Brazilian Parliament, senior officials and a large business delegation.

This is the third time that a Brazilian President will be the Chief Guest at the Republic Day parade. The last time India had a Brazilian President as chief guest was in 2004.

A total of 10 cities in China's central Hubei province have suspended some public transportation over the coronavirus outbreak, the Hubei Daily reported on Friday.

Buses in cities of Chibi, Xiantao, Zhijiang, Qianjiang, Xianning, Huangshi and Enshi have suspended services.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has recommended to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman that the Union Budget should strive to shift the focus from macroeconomic parameters, such as reining in fiscal deficit and inflation, to real problems facing the economy.

The party has diagnosed that emphasis on meeting fiscal targets and controlling inflation needs to be overcome to spur growth.

Shares of cement companies were trading firm on the BSE on Thursday amid hopes of earnings improvement with Ramco Cements hitting a 52-week high, while Heidelberg Cement rallied 5 per cent intra-day.

In the past month, the share prices of JK Cements, Shree Cement, JK Lakshmi Cement, India Cements, Orient Cement, Birla Corporation, Ramco Cements and Heidelberg Cement have all soared over 10 per cent.

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