News updates from HT: Japan ‘regrets’ Sri Lanka not sticking to trilateral port deal and all the latest news

Here are today’s top news, analysis and opinion. Know all about the latest news and other news updates from Hindustan Times.

‘Regrettable’: Japan on Sri Lanka not sticking to trilateral deal for port

Japan on Wednesday said it was “regrettable” that the Sri Lankan government had opted to hand over the operations of a key port terminal in Colombo to a state-run body instead of sticking to a trilateral agreement involving India for the development of the facility. Read more

Ahead of polls, TMC woos ST voters with demand for recognition of Sarna dharma

With an eye on the crucial assembly elections due in two months, the ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal has raised the demand of giving recognition to Sarna dharma as a separate religious code in a bid to woo the state’s tribal voters. Read more

'What is Parliament for?': Shashi Tharoor on Centre's refusal to debate on farmers' protest

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday questioned the government's stubborn attitude for refusing the demands of the opposition parties to debate on the three contentious farm laws against which farmers' unions have been protesting since November. Read more

1998 Gujarat IPS cadre officer Praveen Sinha appointed interim director of CBI

The government has appointed 1998 Gujarat cadre IPS officer Praveen Sinha as interim director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday. Read more

India vs England: 'He'll be desperate to make his own point', Knight expects Kohli to come back stronger

Former England batsman Nick Knight believes Virat Kohli will have a point to prove as he returns to lead India in the Test series against England starting February 5 in Chennai. Kohli, who went without scoring a century in the year 2020, first time it has happened in 12 years, last captained India during the Adelaide Test which the team lost by eight wickets before heading back home for the birth of his first child. Read more

Suniel Shetty takes on critics of his ‘India against propaganda’ tweet: ‘I'm a farmer myself’

Suniel Shetty joined a host of Bollywood celebrities, including Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn, Karan Johar, Ekta Kapoor and Anupam Kher, and tweeted about the ongoing farmers’ protest with the hashtag ‘India Against Propaganda’. Read more

Microsoft reminds business users of July-end deadline to migrate from Skype for Business Online to Teams

Microsoft has issued a reminder to businesses that are still using its Skype for Business Online service that they have only six months to migrate to the company’s lean and feature-packed Microsoft Teams service by July 31, before the former is permanently retired. Read more

Kamala Harris criticised for wearing 'racist' Dolce and Gabbana

Kamala Harris' fashion has been the subject of much scrutiny, will some choices being applauded and others being heavily critcised. Most recently the Vice President of the United States of America wore an outfit by Italian luxury brand Dolce and Gabbana, which has drawn flak in the past for its racially offensive advertising. Read more

BMC official mistakenly drinks sanitiser instead of water, video goes viral

A senior BMC official erroneously drank sanitiser instead of water in Mumbai. The official was presenting the civic body's education budget on Wednesday afternoon. However, the official immediately realised his mistake and spat it out. The official, Ramesh Pawar, is an assistant municipal commissioner with BMC. Watch