The big news: Chief of Defence Staff Bipin Rawat dies in helicopter crash, and 9 other top stories

A look at the headlines right now:

Chief of Defence Staff Bipin Rawat, 12 others die in IAF chopper crash: The only survivor, an Air Force Group Captain, is being treated for injuries. Tributes poured in after the deaths in the aircraft crash.No decision on calling off protests, but farmers accept Centre’s new proposal on pending demands: The farmer leaders are expected to meet again at 12 pm on Thursday at Delhi’s Singhu border for a formal decision ‘to lift the morchas’. Meanwhile, at the Congress Parliamentary Party meeting in Delhi, Sonia Gandhi said that the Narendra Modi-led government repealed farm laws undemocratically.Omicron variant unlikely to fully evade vaccine protection, says WHO official: The variant does not seem to cause more severe disease than earlier strains of the coronavirus, said Micahel Ryan, an executive director at the health body.Opposition leaders criticise PMO for tweeting Modi’s ‘laal topi’ comment about Samajwadi Party: The politicians questioned the use of a government Twitter handle for posting a political comment on the red caps typically worn by Samajwadi Party members.96 civilians in Jammu and Kashmir died after special status revoked, Centre tells Parliament: Since August 2019, the number of militants killed was 366 and 81 members of the security forces also died. Meanwhile, security forces killed three suspected militants in gunfight in Shopian district.Activist Sudha Bharadwaj can…

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