- Lawmakers are voting on 16 seats to the Rajya Sabha in a closely watched contest in four states. Forty-one seats were filled by candidates elected unopposed. The Rajya Sabha Election is crucial in view of the Presidential elections next month. The toughest fights are taking place in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Haryana where MLAs had been corralled to resorts to prevent poaching. However, in Karnataka, at least one Janata Dal Secular MLA K Srinivasa Gowda says he voted for the Congress 'because he loved it'. JDS chief HD Kumaraswamy alleges 'horse-trading' and says, '30 out of 32 stood by us.' In Rajasthan, too, the ruling Congress is said to have received two votes from the BJP. Denting the BJP's prospects further. 2. The Bombay High Court rejects Maharashtra minister and NCP leader Nawab Malik's petition seeking release from jail to enable him to cast his vote in the Rajya Sabha elections, polling for which is underway. Mr Malik had sought that he be either released from custody on a bond or be permitted to go with a police escort to the Vidhan Bhavan for voting. A single bench presided over by Justice PD Naik says that although Mr Malik had avoided the use of the word 'bail' the tenor of his plea was that of seeking bail and therefore, he must file an appeal challenging the special court that denied him temporary bail on Thursday. 3. The rupee depreciates 8 paise to a record low of 77.82 against the US dollar in opening trade today, tracking the strength of the greenback in the overseas market. 4. India's COVID-19 case tally rises by 7,584 in a day to reach 4,32,05,106 while the number of active cases increase to 36,267, according to Union Health Ministry data. 5. Curfew is imposed and Internet services have been suspended in major towns of Chinab valley region in Jammu and Kashmir after protests over objectionable social media post. There is also spontaneous shutdown in Srinagar and the internet is suspended in the capital city as well. 6. According to the police, a case has been registered over a 'threat letter' received by the judge who ordered the filming of the Gyanvapi mosque complex in Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi. 7. The India Meteorological Department issues a red alert for Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Meghalaya for the next two days as extremely heavy rainfall has been predicted in these states since the monsoon has covered the entire northeastern region.