Happy New Year 2021 Celebrations Live Updates: This is How the World is Welcoming New Year
Hyderabad News: The Hyderabad Traffic police on Wednesday issued traffic diversions ahead of the New Year celebrations and stated that except Begumpet flyover all other flyovers in the city will remain closed from Thursday night till Friday morning. Also the restrictions will be imposed around Hussain Sagar. Read Full Story
Telangana government on Wednesday announced that all the wine will be opened till 12 am on New Year eve (i.e, on December 31). Read Full Story
New Year's Eve fireworks display over Sydney Harbour as Australia ushers in 2021
Turkey to clamp down on New Year's parties amid virus curfew
A four-day lockdown is set to begin in Turkey at 9 p.m. Thursday — New Year’s Eve — in a bid to stem the spread of COVID-19, and measures against New Year’s gatherings are to be enforced.
Turkey’s president has warned parties will not be allowed and law enforcement will monitor for any violations. The interior ministry said gathering would be banned “not as a preference but as a necessity” for public health.
Istanbul’s governor said Thursday some 34,000 law enforcement personnel would be on duty to enforce the rules in Turkey’s most populous city. The interior ministry announced more than 208,000 officers would be working across the country and have set up thousands of control points.
Tourists, who have so far been exempt from lockdowns, will also not be allowed to go to symbolic squares and avenues. (AP)
Bomb-sniffing dogs? Check. Times Square crowd? Not this year
New York City police turned to familiar tactics ahead of Thursday's New Year's Eve celebrations, deploying bomb-sniffing dogs and sand-filled sanitation trucks intended to guard against explosions. But the department's playbook this year includes an unusual mandate: preventing crowds of any size from gathering in Times Square.
Citing concerns over the spread of COVID-19, police closed the Crossroads of the World to vehicles and pedestrians at midnight and said they would disperse any onlookers venturing into a so-called “frozen zone' — the blocks surrounding the ball that historically draw shoulder-to-shoulder crowds.
The coronavirus has upended public life for months, and New Year's Eve will be no different. This year, police said, revelers headed to Times Square won't be permitted past police lines. (AP)
Kolkatans shed COVID fears for fine dining in year-end
Residents of Kolkata were seen thronging fine dining restaurants from Christmas to New Year's eve, shedding their COVID fears. Owners of several renowned restaurants in the metropolis have reported increased footfalls in the last one week. Nitin Kothari, owner of Park Street restaurants 'Peter Cat' and 'Mocambo', said the establishments have remained filled till late evening hours in the last few days.
"We have reduced the number of seats by half from 180 in each restaurant as per the COVID-19 norms but there has not been a decline in the number of patrons," Kothari told PTI. To supplement the reduced number of seats, home delivery has increased and now comprises a significant part of the day's sale in both the restaurants, he said. (PTI)
Pope Francis will not lead New Year services because of flare up of leg pain, reports Reuters
On occasion of New Year, I extend my heartiest greetings & best wishes to all our fellow citizens living in India & abroad. Every New Year provides an opportunity to make a new beginning & emphasizes our resolve for individual & collective development: President Ram Nath Kovind