LIVE: India to include concerns of Global South in G20, says LS Speaker

India will make efforts to include concerns of the Global South in the G20 framework during its ongoing presidency of the grouping, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said on Monday.

Birla, who is leading an Indian Parliamentary Delegation to Kenya, made the remarks as he met Kenya’s Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua.

With an eye on the upcoming Assembly election which is less than four months away, the Bharatiya Janata Party will launch ‘Vijaya Sankalpa Yatra’ from January 21 to 29. The BJP national president J P Nadda will flag off the campaign from Vijayapura in north Karnataka on January 21. Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, BJP State president Nalin Kumar Kateel, former chief minister B S Yediyurappa and local MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal will attend the event.

The number of cases of COVID-19’s XBB.1.5 variant, responsible for the rise in cases in the US, has gone up to 26 in India, according to INSACOG data on Monday.

The cases of XBB.1.5 variant have been found across 11 states and Union territories till now, including Delhi, Maharashtra and West Bengal, the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be leading a mega roadshow in New Delhi today ahead of the BJP’s national executive meeting that kicks off at the NDMC Convention Centre. Roads from Connaught Place (CP), Jantar Mantar and Sansad Marg are to remain closed from 2:30 pm to 5 pm.